Livin’ in Lecce

Allora, welcome to our blog on our past two weeks in Lecce. Last week's blog was short, but it's been a busy couple of weeks here in Lecce, so this installment is pretty long.

In our first three weeks as nomads, we lived in Pescara, a suburb of a small city and then in the small resort town of Polignano a Mare. This past two weeks in Lecce, we've gotten closer to our goal of just living our regular lives, only in different places and countries. What we mean by that is, living as we did in South Philly and Rittenhouse Square: reading, exercising, planning meals, going out to lunch or dinner, streaming the latest Netflix or Prime series…you know, the life of average retired folks.

Lecce

Lecce is a university town in the heel of the boot of Italian peninsula. Our apartment is in the center of the old section of the city, which is surrounded by a large wall.

We’re within steps of the duomo as seen at the top of this installment (shrouded in early morning fog). During the day, this part of the city is frequented by tour groups, school groups, and just individual tourists and locals shopping for tonight’s dinner. There’s a ton of shops and restaurants along the narrow winding streets.

Our apartment, Palazzo Spada, is a wonderful example of late 16th century architecture.

The main floor of the apartment has a large bedroom with bath, a smaller bedroom (that John uses as his art room and Nancy uses as her exercise room), and a very large living room overlooking the duomo. Up a few stairs is a dining room, a smaller bath, and a tiny kitchen. Out the dining room doors is a large deck, on which we have thoroughly enjoyed having our lunch or dinner.

From the balconies of the palazzo we have also enjoyed watching the free entertainment, such as the accordion player who often serenades us in the early evening.

The only issue with our place is the 62 steps it takes to get from the street to the door of our apartment! It does help us work off those long wonderful Italian lunches. We were going to add a video of the walk up, but we're both too winded, so we took a nap instead.

Halloween in Lecce

Halloween was a hoot from our balcony. The Italians have only recently embraced Halloween and the alleys were crowded with families with little kids “trick or treating” at the stores and shops that lined the streets. Not only Halloween, but also the Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos or The Day of the Dead on November 1.

Families "Trick or Treating, a scary skeleton waiting for a server outside a Mexican restaurant (yes, Lecce has Mexican, sushi, and even poke restaurants), and a Day of the Dead display at the same restaurant.

What to Wear, What to Wear?

When we planned this adventure, we looked at the weather for the towns we would visit and thinking that it would be fall, we packed accordingly, warmer cloths like sweaters and turtlenecks. The weather however, had a different take on fall. It’s been unseasonably warm. John especially had the wrong cloths; heavy jeans and thick long sleeve shirts not made for sticky days. So, what did we do? We went to a mall of course! About 10 minutes outside center city Lecce is the Centro Commerciale Mongolfiera. This mall looked like King of Prussia, with one of the biggest grocery stores we’ve ever seen. Besides picking up a few lighter weight shirts at an outdoor market, John picked up a pair of light weight pants and Nancy got two lighter shirts.

And, since we've been away for a month we both needed haircuts. John got his at a local barber right down the alley, where they didn’t really understand his Italian when he asked for a haircut…but not too short. Nancy got a new “do" at a place closer to city central (and it looks really good too!)

Sights and Sounds of Lecce

One day we decided to take a walk in an area we’d not been to before and came across a Roman amphitheater. Along the walkway near the amphitheater was a guy playing a piano (with wheels).

A Sunday Tradition Continued

Last Sunday we continued the tradition, which we started in Pescara, by going to Sunday lunch. Last week we went to a place called Ristorantino da Fabio. On Sundays, it opens at 12:30 so we made a reservation for 1:00, thinking we should arrive later, like Italians. However, when we arrived all of the dining rooms were packed with families.

When we came in, John said (in Italian, which he’d been practicing) that we had a reservation under the name Zuchero ("Abbiamo una prenotazione a nome Zucchero"). As some of you might know, "Zucchero" in Italian means “sugar.” We got lots of smiles for “Mr. Sugar.”

The entrance to Fabio's - Our table for two as we arrived - One of the small rooms with tables of families.

The restaurant has only about two or three tables for two. We got one in a room with a family of about seven women ranging in age from late teens to 83 and one lone man, who was probably there to pay the bill! The other table was for a party of four. All the seats were filled and everyone was already tucking into their antipasti when we arrived.

We let the waitress select our antipasti, which turned out to be a sampler of fishes, mollusks, and crustaceans---raw, fried and poached. For entrée we selected from an assortment of pasta and fish dishes.

Nancy with our selection of antipasto's - our kindly waitress - John's entree of crepes filled with monk fish and lobster.

The food was excellent as was the ambience: the owner, Fabio came to our table and said (in English), “how is everything John?” Talk about friendly personal service.

During the meal Nancy kept directing John’s attention to an older woman at the large table, saying she was quite distinctive. By the end of the meal, Nancy had introduced herself to the family, telling the matriarch how beautiful she was.

Nights When We Don't Go Out

On nights we don't go out, John cooks in our tiny kitchen. One night he made chicken cutlets with a lemon sauce. On another night, a wild mushroom soup, on another Osso Bucco, and finally, an Italian American south Philly favorite, Chicken Parmesan.

A few nights ago, we were a little tired of big meals and decided we just wanted pizza. Down the street was a place Nancy heard about called Pizza & Co., which doesn’t sound like a classic Italian pizza place, but the reviews were great, so we went and took home some of the best pizza this side of South Philly. The owner loved that we wanted to try his pizza and posed with his brother for Nancy’s camera.

Last night we decided that we NEEDED a hamburger and fries, which you don't see at many restaurants. So, we headed out of the old town to a restaurant named Number 23. The place was a cocktail and hamburger joint where you could just go up to the outdoor window and order a drink to takeaway. BTW, we were by far the oldest clientele. But, we got just what we "needed," an Old Fashioned for Nancy, a Manhattan for John, plus a couple of burgers and fries...heaven.

Stay Tuned

On Monday we’re off to Matera for one night before we spend a night in a town named Filadelfia, before heading to Sicily for six weeks.

Ciao, until next time!