Visiting Salento is always a good idea even if we are in winter. In this period of the year you can spend your holidays taking part to many typical events. You can taste some unique specialty foods, as well!
Enjoy our advice about the things that you can do in Salento and have a Merry Christmas!
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
Even if you can’t have a swim in the crystal clear sea of Salento, you can do a lot of things in this time of the year. The weather is still not too cold e in the sunny days you can go outside for trekking.
You can choose “il sentiero dell’Acquaviva”, a 3km path from Diso to Acquaviva di Marittima, on the adriatic coast, near Castro. Or you can choose “il sentiero Vie del Sale”, from Corsano, to see the beauty of the landscape and the great number of dry-stone walls, a typical feature of Salento.
If you like walking around the streets to meet local people and to know his traditions, you must visit Scorrano, a small village (about 40 km away from Lecce).
Scorrano is famous all over the world for its illuminations. During the Christmas holidays, hundreds of lights will shine all over the streets and the squares of the village.
FAIR
If you are keen in Christmas stuff you must visit “La fiera dei pupi” in Lecce, an exhibition where you can buy the typical figurines for the nativity scene. You can also admire the figurines of “cartapesta” (papier-mâché).
LIVING NATIVITY SCENE
One of the holiest Christmas traditions for Catholics is to assist to the living nativity scene, where the birth of Jesus is represented by actors. You can travel with the time machine in the past, walking around the streets of Bethlehem.
The living nativity scene of Caprarica (15 km away from Lecce) is one of the oldest of Salento. The nativity scene is represented by local people who play different roles, reproducing the different jobs of that time. During the ride you can taste some typical food of Salento, including cheese and wine.
EVENTS
If you want to live a unique experience you can assist to the first dawn of the year in Otranto. Otranto is the estern-most point in Italy. Local people celebrate the New Year’s Day waiting for the dawn in the main square of the village with music and dance.
For the more romantics, of course, it is possibile to wait for the 2018, watching the breathtaking view under the lighthouse of Punta Palascìa, near Porto Badisco, on the adriatic coast.
FOOD
Visiting Salento on Christmas can be a one-time opportunity to taste some typical local food.
“Pittule” are tiny balls of fried dough that you can fill with vegetables or fish. You can taste them very hot with wine and before the main course. Salted codfish is a typical dish for Christmas (you can taste it in pittule) as well as homemade pasta: housewives use to make it for lunch on Christmas Day.
You know that Christmas is the “sweetest” time of the year. So here they are some typical Christmas candy:
- “ncarteddhrate” are spirals of fried dough dipped in wine or honey
- “purceddhruzzi” are tiny balls of fried dough, flavored with oranges and lemons and dipped in honey
- “pesce di Natale” is a fish shaped marzipan, filled with cream or jam.
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