Aliways and Ulice

 I've got a few minutes before I catch a train... It's delightfully cooler here in Locorotondo this morning - going to say about 21, with a gentle breeze blowing past my door. Last night there were even a few drops of rain. Locorotondo is my last stop before heading back to NZ and there is so much to see  - here and in the neighbouring towns. I'm not sure how much gorgeousness can be in a stone's throw from each other. So first off, let's look at Locorotondo - I caught a train here from Lecce which took me first to the station at Martina Franca - when I got to that station there were no departure notice boards to say when and which binari (platform) for the connecting train to Locorotondo - a train station guy walked past and I asked him - 20 minutes, not sure which binari yet, but it would be ok. I sat. A train appeared, and there was the train station guy waving from the driver's seat, telling me this was the one. Now that's service. And all it took was 8 ...

 There's the smallest slice of moon hanging on the horizon as the sun goes down - I'm sitting on my terasa with the biggest expanse of Lecce skyline, littered with church bell-towers and tv aerials. I've just passed some graffiti in the street over from mine which says (in  English)  TV KILLS YOUR BRAIN. Lotalot of aerials.. I made it to my bike tour this morning - lovely mint green pavement cruiser - 5 of us headed off with Davide, to see what we could see. First stop was the duomo - which I had raced into at 9 this morning given the streets were silent, not a tour group in sight. This is the mother of all cathedrals, in a piazza which is only open at one side (unusual) - think sieges again (with escape routes and secret passages). It seems it was the jolly old Ottomans who made everyone shake in their boots.  This cathedral had the highest ceiling I have seen in a church - 30 meters in the central axis. No idea who keeps the cobwebs under control. Much darker than ...