Monday 21 October 2024

After last nights ‘sumptuous’ dinner I was looking forward to a crack at the breakfast buffet to fuel up for a walk along the coast to Santa Cenarea Terme. It is renowned for its thermal hot spa treatments which supposedly fix everything from arthritis to mental illness. Jesus somebody had read my medical bio.

The first assignment was getting untangled from the curtains around the four poster bed. That was followed by a 400 metre hike from the garden to the restaurant, via the series of caves.

Must say all efforts were worthwhile with a best on tour offering including my now favourite sweet start  to the day – the Lecce Cake.

Well fed it was off on what started as an almost circular walk through the olive groves,most healthy new growth stock, to to reacquaint ourselves with the narrow path steamrolled flat by yesterdays cycle race.

It made for easy passsge with the mud flattened, only disappointing thing was the rubbish left by cyclists as they dropped their empty packaging along the way – so much for cycling being environmentally friendly,

The track followed a huge fissure in the ground which finished at a bridge under where a weir / dam structure was built.  Too bad about the lack of water. 

The track dropped down into the gully, which required a 3 metre bumdlife due to track erosion.

The track turned into a road as we wound our way up past a not particularly appealing little beach and onto the coast where we had a great view back down the coast. 

Found a Supermarket  and then a cafe where we managed a coffee and cake plus a panini for lunch. It was no easy walk with 7.5 Kms taking 3 hours. Only downside was the horde of cats sitting around as we had coffee.

The next few kilometres were a tough slog, albeit with great views, along the rocky shoreline. It was a bit reminiscent of Turkey where every step needed to be measured to avoid an appointment with the sharp rocks.

The torre’s continued to dot the coast line and were a great landmark, though keeping hills on the right and sea on the left was about as technical as directions got. Played some tortoise and harr with three other couples doing the walk, with us tortoises eventually winning as the others lost their way.

Left the coast at a sunbathing deck perched on the coast below a ritzy resort and again ended up following the narrow trail shaped  by the bikers. 

It was again stony fields with sparse olive groves and in many cases just piles of rocks where farmers tried to clear areas for use.

The last thing you expect to see in the middle of nowhere is an abandoned sports stadium intact with lighting, parking areas and next door a huge building also abandoned. The Balmain Tigers would have drooled at such amenities. A  scamper through some blackberries  to a peep hole showed the ground completely grown over. Later we found out it was built 10 years ago and never used, with nobody able to explain why.

Soon we turned back to the sea and caught our first glimpses of Santa Cesarea Terme. What a sight with modern and old houses and hotels perched along the coastline. One in particular would not have been out of place in Istanbul. Sadly we didn’t get to visit as it was under renovation.

It was a very steep run down roads and stone paths to reach our modern hotel with stunning views from the terrace. The track was littered with burnt trees courtesy of a recent bushfire which threatened the town and needed aerial bombing to douse.

It was probably the hottest day of the walk and with luggage not arriving till later we had nothing to do but hydrate on the terrace

Once luggage did arrive we spruced up and did a lap of town. It was showing signs of end of season with very few tourists, other than those at a huge thermal spa , and many shops closed.

With these amazing views and plentiful sea water it’s a bit of a disappointment that there are few if any swimming spots. 

Complete a lap of town before drinking with the locals at the ‘Disco Bar’ which had a very eclectic collection of customers from bikers to business men to a bloke wandering around aimlessly outside clutching two unopened bottles of beer having animated phone discussions.

A little stair climb back to the hotel where the ‘swimming opportunity was a cuddle puddle ( spa for two) which was occupied.

We enjoyed  dinner on the terrace with a very small crowd and retired early.