The Salento

Puglia has three sub-regions: the Gargano in the north, the Murgia (with the Itria Valley) in the middle, and the Salento in the south. We did not ride in the Gargano but we cycled through the Itria Valley and the Salento. I'll talk about the Itria Valley in another post but this one is about the Salento.

The word is a corruption of dialectical terms for Sun, Sea, and Wind. And that's what you have in abundance. The land is rougher and there are fewer olive trees. Residents take pride in a distinctive culture with unique foods, music, dance and, of course, scenery.

Here is a video of our ride along the Salento coast. We are leaving Porto Badisco and on our way to Capo d'Otranto, the easternmost point of the Italian peninsula. Tell me this isn't gorgeous or what. Sorry about the jerky camera movements but we were riding up hill at the time.