Lecce

The first quirk Tony notices during the journey are the announcements. After departing from each major stop there are announcements (Italian and English) on how to make a complaint. Tony had thought an Inter-City train would be fast. It is, but stops a lot. Frecciarossa are the ones we should be using. Akin to the French TGV. Can travel at 300km/h and don’t stop much. Next time. Upon wandering the train the only possibility for sustenance is a carriage containing vending machines. No food. Only packets and drinks containing sugar, salt, flavourings, filler and fat. We did bring a little water, some grapes and peanuts. Roll on Lecce.
After a scenic trip hugging the Adriatic coast for much of the way we arrive in Lecce soon after 5pm. Pleasant walk to our accommodation, alle Porte del Barocco House. Our landlady, Lina, arrives as we do. She is immaculately made up and has been shopping - for us. She has provided more of the necessities than most places and lots of sundries like rubbish bags and paper towel. Our one bedroom apartment is spotless and has everything we need. It’s on the ground floor and looks dark so we appear less than enthusiastic to Lina who is disappointed at our response. Opening the shutters remedies the darkness so we feel a lot more positive and we let her know that we like the place.
Now, no shopping for us. Drinks at Greengo bar a 60m walk away. Clean and new inside. Excellent drinks and price. Like our apartment, it is just outside the historic town walls, across a busy divided road. Dinner at a nearby restaurant, Sud Kitchen, which provides interesting flavours with a touch of Moroccan.
Saturday 27th September is our first day in Lecce. To start the day Tony has a pressing engagement. The Wallabies play the All Blacks starting at 7am here. Tony is able to watch most of the match via the in-house slowish pocket WiFi, streaming to his computer. Then we go shopping (there are 2 Conads nearby) and sightseeing. The town is gloriously historic, trendy and full of baroque architecture. Lots of fellow tourists. We have a good look around in the warm sunshine. Lecce is a very tourist-oriented town. The free tourist map costs €2.50.
Elena (remember – our tour leader and Italian teacher extraordinaire) arrives this afternoon and suggests meeting this evening for aperitivi. We meet a few of the others in our group, then split for dinner with Rachel who arrived late. We have a really good chat over pizza. Later she announces “I have just bought an apartment in Verona”. She and her husband really love Italy.
On Sunday 28th Sept we cruise up town for a coffee. Gary, one of our tour group, sends a WhatsApp message: “If you see an old, overweight and bald Aussie please feel free to say Buongiorno”. We saw him and had a very pleasant coffee and chat at Café Alvina (mark this down if you ever come here). Loved the pasticciotto there. This is the local small cake; with crisp outside, and softer cake-like behind this with almondy custard inside. Really nice coffees also. Cappucino there costs €1.80 (3.21 AUD)!!!
Big excitement today. Tony’s trusty battered orange suitcase, the companion for many trips, has lost some ‘tyres’ and cracked the wheels. We find a cheap replacement in town here. Hope it lasts. Tonight is a dinner at Risorgimento Resort to kick-start the tour. Absolutely delicious gourmet food and wine. One of the standouts was the tiramisu which were presented as little ‘puddings’ with crisp but thin casings and glorious sweet coffee, chocolate, cake and cream inside.
On Monday 29th September the business end of the tour starts. Our accommodation is only a short walk from the language school, Scuola Mondo Italia so it is easy to get there by 9am. Classes will run from 9 to 11 daily. Tony is in the beginners group: Travellers. Ursula is several groups higher: Navigators. The classes are a humbling experience for Tony who is not used to being at the bottom end of his class. Upside is that there are lots of laughs. Tasmania provides many jokes. Also Zoltan (thrice married) provides some fun at his penchant for Brazilian women. Ursula’s class is more intense, with lots of conversation and grammar. There are only 3 in her class, and our mate Gary is one of them.
The week continues with classes then several other activities such as guided town walking tour; tasting of our friend pasticciotto with Caffe Leccese (strong sweet coffee with almond syrup and ice); oil and wine tasting; aperitivo in a trendy bar (Italian for ‘trendy’, anyone?) and a Pizzica experience (not food, but a folk dance). We also dine out some evenings with others from the group, mostly women. Lots of laughing, good food and wine.Read more