Beautiful sunny morning and had to head out to get out breakfast (using a voucher) from the Cin Cin Cafe. Ordered a coffee and asked for pastiocotto’s – liked them very much. A sort of light, crumbly, almond cake filled with light lemon cream/soft custard (the closest we’d have to this would be something like a vanilla slice, but you can’t really compare them). Hmmm.
Lecce’s a nice compact old town good for wandering around, making sure you keep looking up to see what’s above street level. Lots of amazing porticos, doorways, balconies, carvings, windows and sculptured bits. The town is built mostly of a stone called St. Pietro (something) and has a nice golden, creamy glow in the early morning light, but fades out when the sun is overhead. Went to find a supermarket and wandered through the outdoor market set up along the est side of the old castle. Lots of household goods, flowers & plants, clothes, shoes etc., and I nearly bought something but they didn’t have my size. Did a few laps/blocks before we found the underground Carrefoure supermarket and then back through the public gardens where we heard a whistle and saw a uniformed person having a go at a young person for littering. We’d also seen a parking inspector blow a whistle while reaching for his book to write a ticket and within 5 seconds a woman appeared and hopped in the car and drove away. Very interesting that you get a warning just before they book you…
Lecce is also know as the Florence of the south with a distinct baroque flavour to many of the buildings. The decorations on a few churches here is to be seen to be believed. Way over the top, and so much detailed carving and sculpture, all thanks to the talent of the brothers Antonio and Guiseppe Zimbalo. We just made it to the Basilica de Santa Croce before they shut at 12:00, and the old church is a highlight – the more you look at the facade the more you notice in the intricate detail.
Had a little rest before heading out again in the quiet afternoon to wander the streets. Found the three old gates that would have been built into the walls of the old city. Enjoyed the meander through the mostly deserted streets while siesta was happening and managed to get into the duomo just as it opened again at 5 o’clock (unfortunately we couldn’t get into the crypt with its 98 columns). Things started to get busy with lots of people coming our for their stroll and much gelato was being consumed. I can’t understand how all the expensive boutiques survive – but then maybe they don’t need to sell much at their prices to turn a profit…
Tried some more local cuisine for dinner and ended up in the vaulted second floor of a restaurant and took a while to decipher the menu. An Italian gentleman at the next table helped us a bit and I ended up with a steak, Maryann some gnocchi and Wendy some slabs of fried cheese! We had a giggle over that and did share some of our food/flavours around so Wendy wouldn’t get too much carbohydrate in her diet. The cheese was nice enough, but it was really just two chunks/medallions of pan fried cheese the size of a piece of thick sliced toast bread, but round. We asked for a 1/4 of house wine and got what looked like a jug big enough to hold a quart (2 litres)! It didn’t hold that much but had more than the couple of glasses we expected.
Wedding seem to happen at anytime and on any day. We’ve seen the red carpet rolled down the stairs in front to cathedrals, orange Hummer’s carrying the bridal party, lots of flowers, organ music and Ave Maria’s and also saw a stand full of paper cones of rice for guests to throw at the happy couple.