Restaurant / Ресторан Il Mulino di Alcantara, Felline

There are several restaurants where I always want  to come back, and the Restaurant Il Mulino di Alcantara is one of them. I even celebrated my wedding here, so you can imagine how much I like it 🙂 The restaurant is situated in the beautiful square Piazza Caduti in the old town of Felline. It has two storeys  and in summer it occupies the square itself, there is also a small terrace upstairs, for those who want more private/intimate atmosphere (especially in the evening with the candlelight). 

Sunny Lecce / Солнечный Лечче

Basilica Santa Croce

Lecce is situated in the heart of Salento, and it is so called capital of ‘the heel’ of Italy. When you enter its historic centre through one of the three gates (The Triumphal Arch – also called Porta Napoli (Neapolitan Gate), Porta San Biagio and Porta Rudiae), you can’t stop walking until you see all of it:) Under the bright sunlight Lecce seems a golden city, thanks to “pietra leccese” (Lecce stone) – local limestone, which is easy to process and with time it gets a beautiful golden hue. It is also called The Florence of the South due to numerous Baroque architectural monuments, the city is more than 2,000 years old and it has deep Greek roots, as it was founded by the Messapii Italic tribe.

Best Offer / Выгодное предложение – B&B Scoglio di Pirro

Best offer is launched in order to encourage the readers of the blog to choose Salento as their next vacation destination. The new page BEST OFFER has already best deals for B&B and Trattoria-Pizzeria Scoglio di Pirro.

Best Offer (выгодное предложение) запущено в целях поощрения читателей блога выбрать Саленто в качестве своего следующего места отдыха. Новая страница BEST OFFER уже включает в себя предложение B&B и траттория-пиццерия Scoglio di Pirro.

Festivals in May / Фестивали в мае

Festival in Diso

May 1  / 1 мая

Diso – Feast of SS Filippo e Giacomo, which is famous for firework competitions. Праздник Св. Филиппо и Джакомо, который славится конкурсом фейерверков.

Acquarica di Lecce – Market fair, organized by Pro Loco. Ярмарка, организованная Pro Loco

L’Altro Baffo Restaurant, Otranto / Ресторан L’Altro Baffo, Отранто

This was the first time I went to this restaurant, even if I heard a lot about it from my Italian friends, but also in tripadvisor it has a number of positive reviews. So I became curious of it:) It is located in historic centre of Otranto, very near to Aragonese castle. Approaching the restaurant you can see the menu outside (which is very common tradition in Italy, as in this way you can see the list of the meals and the prices), which also gives you an opportunity to see that the meals are quite different here from the typical meals of other restaurants. The restaurant is not big, it has small terrace upstairs, small and cozy space outside and not so bigger one inside, with refined atmosphere and totally white interior. You will be met by Alessandro (who speaks English), who will answer all your questions about menu and I guess about anything else:) we received two glasses of complementary sparkling rose wine and a treat from chef, Cristina Conte. What you notice immediately in this place is the high level of service and of the presentation of every meal, the menu is very innovative and modern.

Hospitable Otranto / Гостеприимный Отранто

The Cathedral

Otranto is one of my favorite towns of Salento, there is a special atmosphere around it… I love to have a walk in its historic centre (ladies, do not wear high heels for a walk in historic centre, as the roads are made of many stones, and heels may be ok, but not the high ones:)), along the streets full of souvenir shops, restaurants, bars and cafes, along the embankment always full of people, tourists from the whole world, to go down to the port through Porta a Mare (Gate to the Sea) or go up the ancient walls and to admire lovely a panorama of the sea port (when the visibility is good, it is even possible to see Albania, as it is exactly in front of Otranto)… It is beautiful also in the evening, and it becomes so romantic with lots of street lights.

Car Rental / Прокат машины

Maybe for someone it will seem obvious, but I would still like to mention this in my blog. In order to discover Salento in the best way, you will have to rent a car. I will explain why it is so…

Here in the south of Italy, without a car you will feel like without legs:) The exception is when you stay in Bari, or Lecce, or Brindisi (the bigger cities) and you don’t have plans to go out of the city, or when you want to stay in a resort the whole vacation without leaving its territory.

The transfer and taxi services here are quite expensive, and public transport is not so developed. Instead if you want to see more of Salento, you will need a vehicle. As you may know, you can take car in one place and drop it off in different location. It will be even cheaper if you book a car in advance, and of course you will have a vaster choice of cars then.

Some details about driving laws in Italy: it is allowed 0.5 grams of alcohol per litre of blood (so let’ say it is permitted to drink 0,3 bottle of beer), seat belts front and rear are obligatory, motorcycle drivers and passengers must wear crash helmets.

Может быть, для кого-то это покажется очевидным, но я все же хотела бы озвучить это в моем блоге. Для того, чтобы раскрыть для себя Саленто наилучшим образом, необходимо взять автомобиль на прокат. Я объясню, почему…

Boat trip from Otranto to San Foca / Водная прогулка из Отранто в Сан-Фока

One day boat trip along the Adriatic coast, departing from Otranto port to San Foca, is a must if you want to really enjoy the beauty of Salento, especially because there are so many beaches that are accessible only from the sea with boat/yacht, and not from the land… The words are not enough to describe the grace and magnificence of the nature, the dance of the sun on the crystal and aquamarine water, the pleasure of total peace and bliss felt during the whole day…

Zoo Safari Fasano / Зоопарк-сафари Фазано

First of all it is great to see a zoo, where animals are not in the cages. Another thing I liked about Fasano zoo safari, is that it has also amusement park there, which is great if you want to spend the whole day there, especially with children… It is amazing that you can even touch all kind of animals (apart predators of course), as you enter their territory with your car, and they even come to the windows of your vehicle, as most of them are very curious and are not afraid of people, and they also think you are going to feed them (there are even nuts for sale outside the park).

Shopping in Salento / Шоппинг в Саленто

Many people associate Italy with shopping, of course Rome and Milan are the paradise for shopping, but also Salento has a lot to offer… as well as in all other parts of Italy, each little town and even village of peninsula has many shops of different brands, not speaking of bigger towns and cities, full of big shopping centers, fashion boutiques, outlets and malls… So you can make your vacation in Salento even more interesting and spectacular, of course if you like shopping. If you also want to get big discounts, like 50% and sometimes even 70%, you should know that in Italy it is possible twice a year: from first weekend of January till the end of January-beginning of February, and from the first weekend of July till the end of July. Isn’t it great?:)