The big swim is over so it’s back in the car to cross back to Puglia. 

  
The drive along the coast was lovely. The water is such a beautiful blue. 

  
So Thursday is an observation day. 

How Italians drive is one observation I could go on about for ever: but just a few ……

They love speed…… It’s nothing to do 120 in an 80 zone

They overtake whenever they want. Don’t worry about lines crossed, safety, another car coming in opposite direction. They just assume they can poke back into the line of traffic and everyone will be happy. 

They always drive with one arm dangling out of the window. Perhaps they don’t like air con as the window is open for the dangle. 

The roads here are lined with oleander bushes. Pink and white and they look beautiful. 

To finish our drive to Lecce we saw the funniest thing. We’re driving along doing about 100 and a car whooped by doing at least 130, and as it passed us we both gasped and laughed. It was a hearse, and the back door had opened up so you could see the coffin inside. It was a very nice brown teak and we thought it would come flying out at any moment. 

About 500 metres down the road the driver must have realised and pulled over.  Two mins later the same car went past at 140 this time the back lift up door was closed. May they RIP!

  
This is not a 2 lane road. It is someone overtaking with a truck coming towards him! 
We arrived in Lecce around 3.30 and I had messaged Antonio. Yes another Antonio. This one is the landlord of our air BnB. It’s great. Typical Italian apartment. A little door on to our Vico  (small street) with a sitting room, larger bedroom kitchen and bathroom. In quiet, but in the old city, with real neighbours around us. 

It will be perfect. We had a siesta for a short while but I gave up and went out walking by myself to get a feel for the city as siesta was finishing and all the local businesses were opening. 

It’s a lovely Baroque town sometimes known as the ‘Rome of the South’ or ‘Florence of the Baroque’. But it dates back to old Roman times and has a theatre and amphitheatre – but the period which led to town’s current fame was the 17th century. A period of prosperity led to grand developments and the wholesale construction of palaces and churches. These buildings adapted the fashionable Baroque style to the soft local stone, with decorations and cherubs extravagantly covering facades and doorways. This local style is known as barocco Leccese (‘Lecce Baroque’). And it’s beautiful. 

  
We walked our own style of Passeggiata, had an Appertivo and went to a local restaurant for some home cooking. 

We didn’t expect horse to be on the menu but it was, and we managed to avoid it. I had vegetables with grilled chicken and Steve had baked pasta then sausages local style. 

Naturally we finished with a gelato and limoncello. 

  
 

Swimming has brought us many friends and now we can add two more.

Carlo Francolini and Guiseipp Montesanti. They turned out to be great guys. Friendly, funny and just the right pace of swimming. Guiseipp was a little faster than Steve – and 15 years younger! Carlo was slower. So they swam together and bonded as you do when you are sharing a goal.

   

The Captain ran the show in his budgie smugglers, thongs and deep tan. He was assisted by two young lifeguards in a small boat like a rubber duck. There was the Doctor and the  paramedic who arrived by ambulance and boarded the boat looking very professional. Well the Paramedic did, the doctor had cut off jeans and a striped shirt. He was lovely.

 

 
We were a little concerned by all these people. Was it going to be that hard? And then the Coast Guard boat turned up to accompany us all the way!

They got underway around 9! A little later than expected due to two large ships passing through the Strait. They then set a cracking pace and didn’t stop till they reached the other side spot on hour later. Great 3.6km swim and very fast.

  
A quick break for drinks and a hug and then they set out to cross back. This time the wind and currents made the going tougher and the Captain altered the course. He didn’t really tell them they weren’t aiming for the red tower and they zig zagged a little; but with the change in arrival place I jumped in with just over 1/2 km to go and swam with Carlo – who had a troublesome shoulder. Guiseipp and Steve hit out and finished the total 7.5km in 2 hrs 38 minutes. Strong currents on the way back!

A great effort by all.

 
Carlo and Steve showing off their swim wear. Carlo has Espana and Steve Australian. Guiseipp takes on the scrum!  
A lovely lunch followed – as you do after a big swim. And new friends made.

  
Now on the ferry heading back to mainland Italy to spend the night a a lovely beachside place called Scilla.

A little R&R for Steve and a few drinks later.

Today was a travel day. 

Thank goodness not by train. There was a terrible train crash in Puglia – but we were driving to Sicily. 

Tomorrow is the big day. Steve is swimming from Torre Faro at the tip of Sicily to Calabria. And back. 

When we arrived in Sicily we booked into our hotel , which claims it’s a modern resort but is more like a step back in time to Fawlty Towers. Then we checked out where the swim would start and went to meet the boat captain. 

He is an Italian – a real Sicilian named Giovanni. He was a very good swimmer and held the record for the fastest swim to Calabria for about 30 years! He’s weathered and smiley and doesn’t speak English! 

 

 
We also met the two Italian men swimming along with Steve. Carlo is in his 40’s and sports mad. He’s a Rugby tragic and only stopped when broke a bone ( through the skin) in his hip playing 7’s ! He now swims. The other guy is also a big ex rugby player who lives to swim. Both are lovely. 

Carlo speaks English but Guiseippe doesn’t. So my Italian is getting a workout. 

We met at Giovanni’s home and his sweet wife made us an almond flavoured drink. We had the briefing for tomorrow. He feels they will swim fast. There are winds and currents to think about,  also the shark that was seen today ( but we’re not thinking about that – much!) Ge said it would be perfect. 

We then piled into a small car and went to  a local cafe  ( Giovanni wanted to treat the swimmers) for a Granita – that lovely icy drink to wish them all good luck. No beer or champagne for them yet. 

Then off to the point of Sicily to check it out and have a small swim. It was gorgeous in. Clear, blue and perfect temperature. Well it was for us. But Carlo and particularly Giuseippe found it cold and will probably wear a wet suit! What? Wimps comes to mind! 

Although speaking to Guiseippe – he also swam from Spain to Morocco in 2014 and they had the get him out about 1 km from the end as there was a big shark! They moved him along the coast checked the water and he got back in and finished the swim. So perhaps only a wimp when it comes to water temperature! 

We then returned to our ‘resort’ for probably the worst meal of the holiday. Poor Steve he wanted something delicious and carb loading. But it was very average. 

So to bed with dreams of another successful crossing. 

I’ll let you know how it goes but fingers xxxxxx

A morning swim of about a kilometre finished the swims for the week.

25+ km is pretty good and lots of fun – not to mention healthy. That’s if you don’t count the beer and Aperol it took to rehydrate us after our swims.

Then it was a long bus ride with border checks back to Dubrovnik.

Good-bye to Tracey and Michael  at the airport and then onto Dubrovnik. It was hot and so crowded we decided to go straight to Sam and Anya’s hotel and eat and swim there for the afternoon.

Leaving beautiful Perest has been hard.  Swimtrek always seem to be able to find wonderful quiet places to base the swimmers,  and Perest was perfect. Now we were finding it hard to cope with the tourists!

So we enjoyed the afternoon by a lovely hotel pool and waited for our ferry for Italy. 

So  good-bye Swim Trekkers. We look forward to swapping photos (thanks Lucy for setting us up on What’s App) and maybe catching up further down the track .

 

 

 

Last night is alway fun. Everyone is relaxed and ready to party.

No more big swims in the morning. Only an optional one. At 8 o’clock!

We gathered at a restaurant named Armonia…… asnd the waitress was gorgeous. She told us her nickname was John Snow from Game of Thrones. Perhaps she heard about our love of nick names.

Then suddenly it was time for a few awards. Colldark made the first award and one that is a swim trek favourite. ‘Best swim wear ‘ and creating great whoops of excitement  it was announced that the lady with the pink pineapple ensemble was the winner! Who? – me!

Runner up was Yannick our ‘Serial Trekker’

 

 

The next award  The Tea Wallahs award for the best and most constant tea making.

 

 

 

And the final award was for demonstrating the spirit of Swim Trek and guess who won? Stevie or “Bond,the name’s Bond”.

 

Everyone received their certificate and we note we swam about 25km these past 6 days.

 

Back to the Palace we continued our party, until at midnight we finally went to bed.

Last short swim 1km tomorrow.

The last day of a swim trek is full of expectations. Will Swimtrek deliver whatever it is we think it has promised?

Well, we were about to find out.

Would it be as advertised ‘in the brochure’?

It started well. Everyone was on time for breakfast. Such a well behaved group – even if Lady Mary was a bit hung over due to her birthday celebrations last night. The Spirit polished up pretty well as well. Seeing as he only drank …… well, Spirits! He doesn’t drink anything else!

 Down to the boat and a cheery greeting from Pietro and Sasha and out we headed. Today we were going out of the two bays that connect Montenegro to the sea. Pietro gave us a little background history of the place and pointed out the submarine shelters from the war. We would be swimming into one later in the day.

We turned left out of the bay into the sea and conditions changed. The water colour was different, the waves a little choppier. Italy was across from us but we couldn’t see it. We were ready to tackle it.

Along the coast we travelled with other boats. A small regatta of craft all headed for the caves. Sadly we couldn’t swim in this one because of the other boats. Why they let boats go in I don’t know. It has spoilt what could be a great experience,  but our trusty guide Coldark promised we could swim in the next cave.

 So we jumped ship – safely of course and headed towards the next cave. Flower Girl took her go-pro and got some great underwater shots . The water here is clear and there are lots of little fish swimming around the rocks. It’s great to see the bottom of the sea after the more cloudy bay waters.

Then it was time for our daily ‘big swim’ so Pietro took us to a calmer spot and away we went for a 2km swim into a beach and out to the boat. For this swim, the timing  between groups was better and we more or less finished together. I’m still orange cap, but without fins would be behind the pinks! So I’m keeping them on.

 Lunch was at a long table on a shady terrace over looking a pebbly beach with a roped off area for swimmers. Perfect. We had a variety of dishes, but no alcohol as we were planning a 3 km swim this afternoon.

 My theory about ice cream is correct. We had some for lunch and swam so well this afternoon.

We passed around the  headland found a calm spot in the bay and swam off past a  ship wreck and along the coast. We passed beach houses and people fishing,  till we came to the first of the submarine shelters. We had swum for about 3km and were so pleased with ourselves.

 Swimming into the bunker was a little scary but we decided it would be a good place for a swim trek dinner and our event planners ‘One Hit Wonder’ and ‘ Tea Wallah’ could stage the whole event. Chandeliers , mood lighting. ……..

The trip back was full of fun and spirits! Literally as Pietro our boat captain produced a bottle of home made Grappa and how could we refuse! So there we were drinking it out of white plastic cups.

Arriving back into Perest was a little sad. It would be the last time we would arrive back by boat. And it was still 4 pm. The town clock is stuck on 4 so it’s always time for a sundowner!

 And we did.  Made our way to our favourite bar by the water and enjoyed beers and Aperol Spritz.

Back for a quick change before our last BIG night out.

Yes, the Last Day did deliver everything we expected. It was probably our best day of the week. Great swimming. Great fun.