April in Puglia is the perfect vision of spring. Finally, the winter cold breaks, flowers are in bloom everywhere sprouting a magnificent rainbow of colours and, best of all, Puglian towns are full of life. Easter time is an important holiday for many Italians. Buona Pasqua themed treats are everywhere as families prepare for the Good Friday processions, Sunday Easter feast and Monday Pasquetta meal. Even if you aren’t celebrating the holiday, it’s a perfect time to be out, exploring the town, watching people passing up and down the streets and enjoying better weather.
Leading up to Easter weekend, we found ourselves in Porto Cesareo and town hopping along the western coast of Puglia, overlooking the Ionian sea. Seaside Porto Cesareo was our first stop and the town was bustling on a sunny Sunday. We waded through boisterous families and groups of friends occupying the many restaurants along the pier, through the various stalls and along the sandy beaches. Every bench hosted locals and visitors simply enjoying a slow afternoon. We sat at a cafe to take in the scene. Parents and grandparents chased children who held dripping gelato cones, while couples strolled aimlessly along the water’s edge, often with their dogs leading the way.
We sipped our afternoon coffee and then plotted along the boardwalk. At the beach, children were flying kites in the breeze, with many sun bathers sitting below, still donning jackets but happy to bask in the sun. We decided to make our way along through the narrow streets, peering into various shops and stopping to admire the large carousel set up for children. Eventually we found our way back to our car and journeyed north up the coast.
Our next stop would be Punta Prosciutto beach where the long, sandy beach and calm waters were alluring. We stopped at a tiny restaurant right near the ocean for a frittura di calamari snack. Several families had the same idea and even this late in the afternoon were enjoying large family-style platters of fried fish and huge portions of pasta with mussels (cozze) and clams (vongole), coupled of course with carafes of house wine. Animated conversations could be heard over clinking glasses and dishware.
We finished our meal and, as it was late in the afternoon, made our way back along the waterfront towns to Gallipoli where the restaurants, bars, cafes and sidewalk patios were rife with patrons well into the evening hours. An after-dinner stroll inside the walls of the old town (centro storico) showed a calmer side to the otherwise busy weekend destination. Diners remained in small restaurants, finishing their dessert (dolce) and extending the last hours of the weekend festivities. We walked slowly through the streets as shops closed their doors, taking in their wares for the evening, until the sun finally set and the old town became sleepy again. Walking home along the Corso Roma, Gallipoli’s main downtown street, the once heavily-populated patios were finally quiet with only a few patrons sipping an evening beverage before heading home to start another week.