The adjectival Mediterranean

Of all the world's seas and oceans the Mediterranean has to be the most adjectival. All sorts of perfectly respectable nouns are impudently modified by it - diet, climate, look, landscape, type.. This is not the case with the Caspian, Baltic, Weddell or Red.

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We have travelled most of the Mediterranean's European coastline over the past seven years, only the Balkan coast of the Adriatic and the Agean remain unvisited. I figure since we began long term touring we have spent almost two and half years in the company of Mare Nostrum. Despite my attempt to contribute my own phrase - blue Med day - to the rampant mythologising about the place, it's fair to say, as in real life generally, the actual Mediterranean usually falls short of the hype that surrounds it. Sometimes the weather is terrible, the food disappointing, people look fat and ugly, the sea grey, and the undoubtedly lovely landscapes drearily over- developed, litter strewn and unkempt, just like home!

Nevertheless, there remain moments when all those overused adjectival phrases magically comes true, as they have over the last two days. Maybe expectation and disappointment are locked into some kind of toxic relationship whereby the more you anticipate something the more likely you are to be disappointed. I don't think we had any expectations about Otranto whatsoever, other than our daughter's observation that it was a nice place.

If anything this was an understatement. Otranto is lovely and ticks most boxes on our list Mediterranean delights - a beautiful old town on wide rocky bay, the white sand beach peppered with 'la bella figura', a good choice of cafés and restaurants offering interesting dishes, all very affordable, vibrant, but not over developed. Pleasingly adjectival!

We stayed at the Oasi Park sosta, on the edge of town its well designed and carefully maintained. The facilities are ancient and somewhat basic, but functional. The owner was very friendly, his English excellent, honed by a few years living in East London - his view on Seven Sisters - not a very nice area but very friendly.

Reviews of the site claimed it was a 700m walk into the town. We took the rough path through an olive grove at the rear of the site, supposedly a short cut. Even so, we reckoned it was at least a kilometre to the sea front. Like in so many Italian places the pavements were narrow, uneven and full of trip hazards, so a slow kilometres stroll to the old town.

It is a pretty place, the historic centre dominates the bluff at the southern end of the bay. Café's and restaurants line the seafront with narrow streets leading off up the hill into the compact ancient centre.

It comprises of a few old squares, each with a church. These are connected by alley ways with steps leading off onto the ramparts.

A big castle built in the thirteenth century by the Aragonese overlooks the ancient centre.

Otranto's fortifications reflect the town's complicated history, ruled in turn by the Byzantine Greeks, Normans, Angevins, the Turks, briefly and murderously, then finally by a branch of the house of Aragon who ruled the Kingdom of Naples until Italian unification during the 1870s. Throughout the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries Otranto was regularly attacked by Barbary corsairs. The most infamous attack was in 1537 when the garrison was overwhelmed and most of the population rounded up and enslaved.

The town today is one of the most stylish small resorts we have come across on our travels around the Mediterranean. There are a few small hotels and apartment blocks, mainly in the newer part of the town on the opposite side of the bay to the walled citadel. I guess there are many Airbnbs too . In the summer the population must also increase considerably when the yacht marina is in full swing. It's huge.

However the town is a long way from being a tourist trap, it feels lived-in and lively. Maybe Otranto is just a little off the beaten track to attract the masses of tourists that flood into Lecce and Ostuni on excursions from the big cruise boats that dock in Brindisi.

There was one medium sized vessel tied up at the far end of the outer mole. At first I was unsure if it was a very small cruise boat or enormous super-yacht. 

I Googled its name, 'Emerald Azzurra', for today at least the briney it floated in had the good manners to live up to the ship's aspirational moniker. 

It turned out that the vessel was a recently launched mini cruise ship that aimed to give its passengers the experience of being on a super-yacht.  Dubbed 'yacht cruises' they offer a more exclusive 'bijou' experience compared to being packed like sardines into a TUI or MSC behemoth. With only 100 passengers, they are relatively small ships, about 100 metres in length, they can dock in smaller ports such as Calvi or Bonafacio, or like today, Otranto. 

An eight day Mediterranean cruise costs from £3800 per person. Expensive, but not beyond the reach of well paid lawyers, bankers or company directors. Not everyone will be hit by the looming cost of living crisis. I know I would hate every minute even if I could afford it. I have no interest in luxury.

Berthed In Marbella, St Tropez or Sardinia's Magdalena Archipelago the 'Emerald Azzurra' would not looked out of place, but here in Otranto the sight of the Cruise Yacht at the far end of the harbour had a certain UFO quality, it looked 'beamed down', an unwelcome floating object. Not that Otranto lacks style, it's a very cool place, nevertheless it feels welcoming, not at all exclusive. I hope it stays this way.