On Thursday we got a break from the rigors of our culinary curriculum. We met at the Caffe at 11 for our usual espresso or cappuccino, and then Giorgio, who is like Silvestro’s COO, took us to the market to buy picnic fixin’s: Prosciutto, cheese, ciabatta, arugula and tomatoes.

Giorgio setting up the sandwich station

Back at the scuola, we assembled sandwiches, and then loaded into a van driven by our muscle-bound “macchinista”, Antonio, a.k.a. Fabio (think Furio from “The Soprano’s” with bigger muscles).

Our destination was Otranto, a beautiful medieval city on the coast, about a 30 minute drive from Lecce. We arrived at a small park near the harbor, then walked out onto the stone jetty for our picnic.

Otranto Harbor

The weather was perfect. Mostly blue sky, light breeze, not too hot. We happily munched on our sandwiches, had a few glasses of wine and watched the fishermen(people) reel in some decent sized fishies.

After lunch, we toured the city and it’s beautiful basilica that has amazing mosaic floor. We made time for gelato and later an Aperol spritz.

Our evening was free, so we did some shopping and took a break from preparing and eating multi-course meals. Not that anyone is complaining about the amazing food we’ve made here…..

Here are more pix:

Face in Otranto