Brindisi and Lecce

Once again we had strong winds forecast, 30 knots was expected to blow for three days.  We decided to secure Dragonfly in the marina at Brindisi, rent a car and discover Puglia.  It's tough sleeping onboard in a windy marina, cleats creek and the boat heaves on her mooring lines so we planned to stay on land for a night or two.

Julia has managed cooked up quite a few delicious feasts with our limited kitchen facilities!

In anticipation of strong gusts we secured Dragonfly with double lines and springs. We also packed away all cushions and wrapped up the bimini & flag.

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Our trusty blue stead for the next 4 days -Panda's are the only car to be seen in here in Puglia!

Wet Lecce!

We all had soaking wet feet all day & competed for wrinkliest toes that evening!

Lecce has a plethora of elaborate Baroque monuments built from beautiful soft limestone.  This stone rapidly erodes creating beautiful patination and patchworks of repairs.  After struggling to park the car we were pleased to find the city not too crowded.  Limited by the walking range of Zefi and Dor we found an efficient route recommended online that passed the most important spots.

Our hotel that night had a Moroccan theme. We chose it because it had an indoor pool as well as an outdoor pool.  The strong winds had begun so the outside was a bit chilly and it was still too early in the season for outdoor unheated pools.

The pool was fantastic, with an indoor and outdoor section, also heated to about 29'.  We bumped into some of the only other guests at the hotel -a couple with a 3 year old boy. They were from Sicily where they too had a sailing boat. Needless to say the kids and grown-ups bonded quickly.

It was a long day and both Zefi and Dor were exhausted and fell asleep during supper. If you look closely at this photo you can see where we tucked a sleeping Theodore while we finished supper.

We were all very grateful for a good night's sleep in a real bed!

Delicious breakfast, a quick game of chess and we're off to our next destination.