Anne and I got a van ride this morning, along with our bikes, to the town of Lecci, This reduced our journey to Otranto, a seaside resort town, to 31 miles, It is palm Sunday and we got to observe a street procession by a local church in celebration of the event. There are several large cathedrals in Lecci, so they all had something special going on for the day. We hopped on our bikes and had a pleasant ride with a good tail wind to boost our speed. One of my pictures is of Anne going ahead of me through a tunnel of trees. After our arrival in Otranto, we visited a local castle and then took some pictures of the setting sun giving a good glow to the foliage surrounding a tomb of eight hundred Christian martyrs. The death of the martyrs occurred during a time of Arab control of the region. This is another reminder of how close southern Italy is to the middle east, Africa, and Greece. Northern Italy and southern Italy truly seem like to different countries in their historical ties and resulting cultures.
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