Going to a farm

Our time in Monopoli had come to an end.  We had spent a few blissful days there.  The region had so far met and exceeded all of my expectations.  The next stop on our journey was further south.  We decided to base ourselves at a masseria south of Lecce and close to a beach for the next part of the holiday. From this spot, we would be able to explore the southern part of Puglia.

The drive was a bit under 2 hours.  As we left the northern part of Puglia, the surroundings became more rural and everything seemed to become more sparse.  There were still towns and there was still activity by the side of the highways, but it felt less developed.  About half way through the journey, we stopped for a rest on the outskirts of Lecce.  We weren't going to go in to explore too much at this time, but we had a nice lunch.  From even this brief stop, we could see that Lecce was a beautiful city and we made notes in our minds of things we saw in the distance that we wanted to see more of.  

We drove less than an hour from Lecce to get to the masseria.  It was very close to Otranto, and we could see its walls rising up in the distance and then as we passed by.  We would soon see much more of this perfectly maintained little town as well.  For now, we only had the last few minutes of driving before we were at the masseria.  We turned off the main road and down the smaller streets, lined with small houses and farm stays.  The quality of the street started to get worse and eventually we went from paved to unpaved.  The dust flew as the car drove and then we were away from all of the surrounding buildings and properties, with wheat fields on either side.  In the distance I could see the walls of what I thought was the masseria, with the path close to it lined with tall poplar trees.  We drove through the gates and staff quickly appeared to greet us.

 

As our luggage was taken away and our room prepared, we immediately took advantage of the grounds of the masseria.  It was late afternoon, and the light of the day was fading.  It was warm and comfortable.  It was quiet.  The sound of the wind blowing through the nearby fields and trees seemed to immediately calm and relax us.  It was wonderfully soothing.  Pickle and Veronica played and ran around in the orchard and on the grass as I went in to arrange our check in.

As the sun began to set, it seemed to all get even more peaceful.  The gentle sounds of the local natural environment could be heard, birds singing and insects chirping.  I felt this strong feeling of release.  I looked around at the calm and the beautiful surroundings.  The next few days would hopefully be relaxing.