{"id":9985,"date":"2024-09-25T18:53:47","date_gmt":"2024-09-25T17:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/?p=9985"},"modified":"2024-09-25T19:35:51","modified_gmt":"2024-09-25T18:35:51","slug":"day-52-gallipoli","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/09\/25\/day-52-gallipoli\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 52 – Gallipoli"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After making our way yesterday from Brindisi to just outside Gallipoli, through Lecce, we were destined to head into Gallipoli today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a sunny start to the day, but way too early. We\u2019re right next to the loos at this site and the cleaners were chatting loudly to each other and even having phone calls at 6:30 this morning. So we were ready, after showers and breakfast, long before the shuttle to Gallipoli (derived from Greek for beautiful city).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
We were very entertained by Hulk Hogan packing up next to us, nice slide out drawers though!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The shuttle driver spoke no English at all, so other than knowing we were heading somewhere into town, we didn\u2019t really understand the options. Later we realized that he was also going to the town market that was on today. We weren\u2019t particularly interested in that so it was fine that he dropped us off at the port.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Gallipoli Port Dropoff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The shuttle service was perfectly adequate, but I would have preferred a working seat belt in the front \ud83e\udd37\u200d\u2642\ufe0f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We then headed into the old town over the bridge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Apple Maps – Gallipoli Old Town on an island<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Had a coffee to start off the day and then wandered around for the next 3 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
How are you supposed to hold a cup with hardly any handle?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Old town surrounded by water<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
At least there does seem to be a surviving fishing industry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Lots of ornate stonework everywhere<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Front of Cathedral<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The cathedral is a bit bizarre. And I guess easily explained by the small island nature of the old town. But for such an ornate and imposing building it sits within just a few feet of its neighboring shops and houses. You really struggle to see the front facade of the building as you\u2019re just too close to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Inside Gallipoli Cathedral<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
You often see odd hands and feet poking out of pulpits, this one holding up JC on the cross<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Lots of buildings being worked on<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You get a sense that Gallipoli still retains its sense of being a residents town. But you have to think that all the work that\u2019s going on is probably making hotels and apartments. Over the next 50 years you can see residents selling up through economic or death events and the whole place becoming like Dubrovnik.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last thing this town needs is a Cruise ship capable port!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By mid morning the place was filling up with tourists and a few tour parties. But nothing like Lecce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to be fair, while the architecture dates from around the same period and with the same sort of influences, Gallipoli is a much lesser Lecce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The beach was pretty and popular, especially for an out of season Tuesday at the end of September<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
St Pio is a relatively new statue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Tuk-tuk style fruit sellers roam the streets<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Another fruit seller<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Lots of scooters (of course) and properties being worked on<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By 12 we were ready for another coffee. So sat at a cafe just next to the cathedral, where a concert stage was being dismantled. There must have been no room at all for the concert in the narrow streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so we started to think about heading back to our pickup point, but via the castle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was \u20ac5 each to get in, and money well spent. We had a guided tour and found out that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • The Spanish occupied the city from the 14th to 18th C<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Olive oil pressing was the main export from the town. The oil powered many of the lamps across Europe, including England. It burnt more cleanly than other oils or candles.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The castle was heavily fortified<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • \u201cFinancial police\u201d (we suspect tax collectors) controlled the importing and exporting of goods through the town<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 13th C frescoes just left to deteriorate having previously plastered over for admin offices<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Moat built over in 19th C for market. Who doesn\u2019t need more flip flops, suntan lotion and fridge magnets? Shame about the dried sea creatures. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"
    Castle courtyard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    The castle is fairly small and has some fascinating hemispherical rooms. The largest of which was created in 1543 and has holes in the walls for gun slits and apertures halfway up the dome for cannon emplacements. The dome must be around 25m in diameter and the walls 4m to thick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Difficult to convey the gob-smackingness of this hemispherical room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"
    Life not worth living without a full suite of 360 degree and mirrorless cameras! #fullytooledup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"
    One stone shows the date it was built, 1543<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    After the tour we were invited to wander the ramparts\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    View from the castle ramparts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"
    Who on earth allowed this monstrosity to be built just off the old town island. It dominates the skyline for miles!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    \u2026 and view the olive oil museum display. Oddly there was also a display of old telephones in the same room. Right up my street!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Old telephones, but no videophones like in Edinburgh museum!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"
    Not impressed by the dried out sea creatures in the castle market<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    After the castle we left the island and had a look at the fountain (you can see it in the bottom left of the monstrosity picture above) and a small church that sits just off the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    And then it was back to the shuttle minibus pickup. We rather miscalculated the route unfortunately and hadn\u2019t taken in a railway line with no crossing points. So we had to double back and spend an extra 10 minutes, good job we left with plenty of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    While waiting for the shuttle we couldn\u2019t help ponder which way the port might be\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Errrr\u2026 which way to the port?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    The shuttle was early but 5 minutes later we were back at camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    After an hour or so\u2019s sit down we headed out to Famila supermarket again for some tea, and finally a collander!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Gotta love a great supermarket!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    We\u2019d been looking for a collander for a few weeks, but wanted something smaller than the norm. This one was perfect except for too much handle. So Captain Dremmel got to work (everyone takes a battery operated Dremmel camping don\u2019t they!?) and the handle was no more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Captain Dremmel to the rescue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    We also bought a bug killing machine. Not sure we\u2019ve got the right one, or even one that will work in the van, but Sue got right royally munched last night and I killed at least 6 mozzies in the van as we got ready for bed and in bed. Gotta try something better than we\u2019ve been able to manage to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Not much else to report about the day. Except that we have been wondering whether a bigger van would be better for this sort of trip. After wandering around the campsite it seems the 6m van conversions seem popular, and give you a fixed bed, shower and loo. Hmmm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Possl 6m camper van<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    These campsites can be quite pretty at night\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Torres Sabea Campsite by night <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    We\u2019re off to Matera tomorrow, and to the Olive oil museum. We didn\u2019t go to the similar museum in town today because we\u2019d heard the one in Matera is better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    After making our way yesterday from Brindisi to just outside Gallipoli, through Lecce, we were destined to head into Gallipoli today. It was a sunny start to the day, but way too early. We\u2019re right next to the loos at this site and the cleaners were chatting loudly to each other and even having phone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[53,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2024-summer-holiday-to-greece","category-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7892.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8yl38-2B3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10042,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/09\/26\/day-53-gallipoli-to-matera\/","url_meta":{"origin":9985,"position":0},"title":"Day 53 – Gallipoli to Matera","author":"John Martin","date":"September 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Another travel day\u2026 the relentless pull of the road never ceases! Not much to report today, and the Dashcam was playing silly buggers (needed the SD card reformatting) and so there\u2019s not much from there either. Camping Torre Sabea was a nice little site. Very tired, quirky, but we enjoyed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7981.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9925,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/09\/25\/day-51-lecce\/","url_meta":{"origin":9985,"position":1},"title":"Day 51 – Lecce","author":"John Martin","date":"September 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"If you\u2019ve been following along so far then you\u2019ll know we started today on the outskirts of Brindisi, being woken by the dogs that sent us to sleep last night. We have 2449 km on the SatNav to get us home. But today we\u2019re going to be heading away from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7770.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7770.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7770.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7770.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7770.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_7770.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10060,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/09\/27\/day-54-matera\/","url_meta":{"origin":9985,"position":2},"title":"Day 54 – Matera","author":"John Martin","date":"September 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Well\u2026 it\u2019s another one of those WOW! days. You can see why Matera got used in the latest No Time To Die, Bond film. It was a reasonably leisurely start as we opted to take one of the two complimentary shuttles into town from the campsite. Which dropped us off\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_20240927_192251_868-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_20240927_192251_868-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_20240927_192251_868-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_20240927_192251_868-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_20240927_192251_868-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_20240927_192251_868-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10470,"url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/10\/09\/day-65-home-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":9985,"position":3},"title":"Day 65 – Home Again","author":"John Martin","date":"October 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"And so our mini adventure ends. There\u2019s not much to say about the day itself and I\u2019ll leave the conclusions to further posts where I hope to pull some more considered thoughts together about the trip. However, for today, we did manage to get off from our one night stop\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2024 Summer Holiday to Greece"","block_context":{"text":"2024 Summer Holiday to Greece","link":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/category\/travel\/2024-summer-holiday-to-greece\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/img_8439.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9985"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10030,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9985\/revisions\/10030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}