Even if our main destination was Gallipoli, we wanted to explore the local area so every other day the big boy would skip his afternoon nap, driving us to a different town. The little boy would pass out in the back of the car and he would wake fresh and ready to kick the ball in one of the towns not so far from Gallipoli.

Twenty minutes ride from north from Gallipoli lays the town of Nardò.

With almost 32,000 inhabitants it is the second largest and most populated city in the Province, right after Lecce.

For centuries, Nardò had been one of the central cities of the Byzantine Empire.

In the late 1400 the ducal House of Acquaviva acquired it under their domain and during those years it became the main cultural hotspot of Salento, seat of many Universities, Academies, literary and philosophical studies. Later on it was given the name of Nuoua Atene litterarum.

Summer days in Italy, especially during the month of July when locals are still at work, means that the towns are pretty much dead in afternoon.

So, a walk through the town, ice cream and a visit to the shady garden with playground were the highlight of our visit to Nardò.