Monday and Tuesday

March 15, 2023

We are taking an overnight road trip to Lecce. We plan on staying 2 days there. We packed our bags and got in the car to drive south to Lecce. Along the way we stopped at a few seaside towns. The first was Brindisi. We saw the monument they have commemorating the 6000 Naval Italians lives lost in action. They had an elevator for 3/4 the way up and then we walked to the top where there was a look out. The views were breathtaking.

We stopped at San Gennaro. It is popular in the summer months but was a ghost town today.

We arrived at our hotel the Grand Hotel Lecce. It was about 4 blocks from one of the entrances of Old Town. We walked around looking for a quick but late lunch. Again, we were in the witching hours between 1- 4 so little was open. We found Double 00. It was a beautiful little place and the food was great. Susie had an amazing salad. Jeff had one of his best meals. I had gnocchi. Steve had a pasta with tartufo which is not a dessert, but truffles.

Then we toured around the churches, the duomo and the streets and alleyways of Lecce.

We even saw a man playing the piano outside this church. The acoustics were perfect for the beautiful sounds coming from the piano. He was playing some familiar songs. I gave him 5 euro and asked him to play something from Phantom of the Opera. He said he didn’t know it.

Various churches in Lecce. Also typical local streets in Old Town

We had such a big late lunch, that Steve and I decided to call it a night. Susie and Jeff ventured out for dinner.

Our 2nd day in Lecce was a continuation of Old Town in the morning. We still hadn’t seen another church and the ancient amphitheater. It didn’t disappoint. We also met an artist Oscar Verrico. He works in pencil. Jeff loves pencil art.

In the afternoon we left Lecce for Maglie and the tip of the heel. There was a bridge at Gagliano del Capo. There was a man selling sun dried tomatoes and zucchini. The area was beautiful.

Next we came upon the very tip of Italy where the Adriatic Sea meets the Ionian Sea. The palazzo was beautiful. We thought Mary looked a little small. It’s called Santa Maria di Leuca.