It is always exciting to start (or finish) where the land ends.
First of all, my walk will cross the whole of Salento, which in ancient times was called Iapigia, land between the two seas on which, according to Herodotus, the Cretans landed following a shipwreck, founding the Messapian civilization.
Not even half a day goes by and I’m already excited about the first encounters as if they were long-awaited events.
I get acquainted with two local gentlemen and one from Milan who moved here, with two guys who do civil service at the Pro Loco and then with a retired Latin and Greek professor who introduces me to the most important site of Leuca, Porcinara cave, a coastal sanctuary where a deity of sailors was venerated.
Mostly I’m happy to ask simple questions and see what happens. Often from what comes out, you can create a contact, a relationship of trust, albeit short.
I get that all authentic human relationships are based on a sense of mutual trust, on realising that the human being in front of us feels, sees and lives the same things that we do. Sometimes this happens in ten minutes, and it always seems extraordinary to me.
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