Rides on Bike

OTRANTO FILM FUND FESTIVAL (OFFF ) – Cinema e Territori (13-9-2014)

Later, on our first Saturday in Lecce we participated in one of the activities of the 6th edition of the “OFF”which included a bike ride through the region of Ortanto. Besides Sara and Nunzia, there were also Angela, Fernando and Pinuccio who joined us on the trip. Stefania met up with us later, on a stop we made in Porto Badisco.

  

It’s a very beautiful area! Apart from the landscapes, we could see traces of ancient civilizations, megaliths, tapirs and a cave with paintings from the Byzantine epoch. We also visited some places which were used as sets of some movies, for example, Masseria Cippano  - the movie set of ‘Mine vaganti’ by Ferzan Ozpetek or Porto Badisco – the movie set of ‘Anima gemella’ by Sergio Rubini. In the foundation “Le Constantine” we saw some traditional looms which are used even today by the women to produce beautiful textiles 

 

For lunch we tried delicious snacks typical of this region. After that we listened  and danced to “Pizzica Salentina” – a popular folk dance (one of the Tarantelle dances) characterized by an upbeat rhythm.

MANIFESTATION AGAINST TAP (20-9-2014) 

Ciclofiicina organised a bike trip from Lecce to San Foca, through Meride and Vernole (50 km round trip) with 15 Italian and 2 Portuguese (António and Manuel) participants. The main goal was to join the manifestation on the beach of Santa Foca, against the construction of a Trans-Adriatic pipeline known by the acronym of TAP. 

Apart from taking part in the manifestation, the group of Italians and Portuguese took advantage of the trip and took an energizing bath in the Adriatic Sea. At night, on the way home to Lecce participants organized another little break to try some local fish and seafood specialties. It was a great pretext to spend some more time altogether and broaden the knowledge of the local reality.

TOGETHER ON A BIKE... DIRECTION: ACAYA!! (27-9-2014) 

Marco and Andreia from Cicloffina together with António and Manuel organized another bike trip. This time the goal was to visit the Castle of Acaya which served as an outpost during the defense of Lecce against the Turks.

After a little coffee-break in Cicloffina we departed towards to Alcaya.

On the way home we stopped to admire a huge and very old oak tree. Once there were enormous oak forests in the area of Salento and its wood was used by the Venetians to build boats. Now it's almost only olive trees growing in Salento.

BICYCLES INVADE THE CENTRE OF GALATINA (2-10-2014)

There are some days when the Police of Civil Protection in Galatina (about 20 km from Lecce) close the traffic and allow almost one hundred cyclists to circulate. The main goals of the manifestation organised by Spazio Bicivetta/Ciclofficina Sociale – the organisation that fights for the preservation of this mean of transport - was to encourage others to use bicycles, draw attention to create more bike lines on the roads of Galatina and to foment the culture of mutual tolerance between the drivers, pedestrians and bikers.

Without banners but with some noise, the participants of this marathon – youngsters and kids accompanied by their parents drew attention to the importance of a bicycle as a silent and pollution free means of transport.

There was also a representation of Ciclofficina, from Lecce, present on the manifestation. Ciclofficina is an organisation that shares the ideals and goals proclaimed by Bicivetta/Ciclofficina Sociale.

At the end of the event there was a big gathering between all of the participants”. Manuel Vitorino