Florence of the South

On our drive to the masseria, we had stopped briefly on the outskirts of Lecce.  We only stayed long enough for a short break and a meal and hadn't explored any further.  It was the middle of the day and the heat was obscene.  We tried to hide in the shade of the trees as we made our way to some restaurants we had looked up online.  We stayed on the outskirts and didn't go to the old city centre.  Everything was quiet during the middle of the day, but we were happy to find our restaurant relatively quickly and even happier with the quality of the food.  Inside the vibrant and noisy restaurant, the tables were fill with families, couples and groups of friends of all ages.  We soon came to chatting with the tables around us.  Everyone was delighted by baby Pickle and his antics, especially the older folk.  I tried my best to communicate and chat in my slowly improving Italian.  One older lady could hardly believe I was speaking in Italian to her (albeit poor Italian).  Did we live in Lecce?  How did I come to speak Italian?  Why was I learning?  It was all amazing to her and she was even more shocked when I explained that I had been learning using a combination of apps and online teachers.

We didn't come straight back to Lecce.  After arriving at the masseria, we instead decided to relax at the location and to enjoy visits to some of the even closer locations.  A few days past, it seemed like a good time to venture out a bit further to see a bit more of what Lecce had to offer.

We drove back in from the masseria.  The drive itself wasn't too bad and it was faster than the 40 minutes set out on the phone.  Most of the drive was on modern and high quality highways, but even with all the wonderfully constructed roads they still managed to incorporate a few poorly signed and abrupt turnoffs.  It didn't make much sense to me why they spent so much time and effort on these roads to then include such sloppy little touches at such important locations.  It was a constant theme of all my driving in Italy it seemed.  Parking at the same spot we had been the last time, we made our way into the old town.

Almost immediately, I was taken aback by the beauty of this city.  It was refined.  It was elegant.  The design and the buildings seemed to capture a combination of the high and grand European architecture of other cities with the warm glow of the Mediterranean.  

We had arrived in the early afternoon during the brightest time during the day.  The sun shone brightly and the whole city had a pale glow.  As the sun started to set and the day gave way to dusk, the streets darkened and became more intimate.  The bright glow changed to a subtle reflected shine that made everything seem even more beautiful.

Since we were so enamoured with the place, we decided to visit several more times during the course of our visit in the region.  Each time, we seemed to find a bit more to like about the city.  Beyond just the stunning facade, there were churches and museums and a huge number of stores that seemed to interest Veronica.  

We also found the food scene in Lecce to be bigger and more varied than other places we had visited.  This was definitely a bigger city than the other places we had been so far, so it made sense that there would be more options available.  However, there also seemed to be a refinement and class to the city that elevated many of the dining establishments and provided more high end options as well.  Each place we ate at was enjoyable.  The food was regional, but all just a bit classier.  Yet they still served and looked after us with kindness.  Traveling with the baby Pickle was never an issue and they always seemed to enjoy having us there.

 

On the outskirts of the old town, the grand and impressive buildings gave way to beautiful parks.  They were well maintained and buzzed with locals and their children.  Even during the heat of the day, these parks seemed to be a bit cooler.  The trees were tall and numerous, providing ample shade.  There was playground equipment for baby Pickle to explore as well as places for us to get water and cool off.  It seemed the city had everything we could want in a place to visit.

Every visit we made to Lecce seemed to strengthen and reinforce for me the true loveliness of this city.  Its nickname of the "Florence of the South" seemed perfect to me.  Very often, these names make me roll my eyes as only there is usually only the briefest and smallest of resemblance to the more famous (and usually much nicer) namesake.  For Lecce, I felt this name may even be a bit of a disservice.  It is a wonderfully beautiful city, and for it to only be seen as a southern version of Florence doesn't capture all the special and unique parts of the city.  There was a reason we visited so many times and it was a place I wanted to visit again in the future.