Lecce, journey to Sorrento

LECCE Sunday August 21, Monday August 22, Tuesday August 23 and departure Wed August 24

Sunday, Aug 21 was a very slow day.  I spent most of the day catching up on past blogs and doing laundry.  Their washing machines aren’t very big and a normal cycle takes a very long time.  It was great to have a slow day.

Monday, Aug. 22 – This morning we decided to go to the old market and purchase several items for me to cook for dinner the next couple of nights.  We bought some chicken wrapped in bacon and then a beef patty that had spinach and cheese rolled inside.  I also purchased a couple of eggplant and two figs.  All of this cost 7 euros.  After Cham took the items back to the apt., we decided to go to the number one attraction in Lecce according to Trip Advisor.  A family owned a building for 50 years and rented the rooms to tenants.  There were always complaints of a bad sewer system. The owner had been a cook in a restaurant for years and decided to open one of his own, but he was determined to fix the pipe before he opened.  He and his sons started digging and found-out after the archeological authorities became involved that the building they owned had been a convent from the 1200 – 1600’s and the building was originally a Knight’s Templar home used from about 1000 to 1200.  Can you imagine finding this in your home?  Of course they got in the trouble with the authorities, who confiscated all of the significant objects ( abishop’s ring, plates, various other objects) that were uncovered in the renovation process because anything within 10 cm of ground belongs by the antiquary laws to the state and finished the project under the supervision of several archeological groups.  I think I’ve failed to mention that Lecce is built on a pretty big underground river.  The problem with the sewer was that there was a well in the floor with direct access to the river so it made the house very damp.  The pictures shown include an inscribed “rose,” a very interesting red painted symbol which was in the top of the watch tour and part of an inscribed Latin greeting which was found in the rumble.  The other half hasn’t been found.  I also thought it was interesting that they included bits of used pottery in their mortar.  It’s very colorful and practical.

I cooked the chicken with and broiled the eggplant for dinner that evening.  Afterwards, we did what so many families do and took a turn around the Plaza.  We watched several performers and then turned in for the night.  Another interesting day in Lecce.

Tuesday, August 23

We decided to find the local history museum which is supposed to be extremely interesting.  I don’t know what to say other than after three very frustrating hours of trying to find it, we gave up. We received several directions, all incorrect, and found ourselves in areas we knew were incorrect, but on the other hand also saw some areas within the old city after we felt like we had seen all there was to see. It started sprinkling so we ducked into an amazing restaurant for lunch.  It was a very nice restaurant which offered local Lecce cuisine.  They were very pleased when we ordered those items.  Some weren’t very good, but they do have an excellent almost riced potato they layer with an olive tapenade. That was outstanding.  Can’t wait to try and make it.  On our last night, we went back to the Plaza for our evening stroll.  As they were getting ready for the big festival the following night, lots of family had come in from out of town and many street performers had arrived.  We were very happy to run into our friends, Cosimo and Aetna from the beach trip, so it was nice to say hello and good bye to them again.

Cham and I had had an interesting discussion at dinner that night about immigration and, this is extremely simplified, what do you do when all these families want is a better life for themselves?  God always puts such interesting people in your path at the right time. A young Muslim, about 18, and his mother sat next to me on the wall in the plaza.  He was from Morocco and studying languages in Lecce.  He told me he hoped I knew how fortunate we were and how all the young people in Morocco want to move to the US.  I asked him if there were jobs there and he said, no, only if you know someone who knows someone.  “There is no future in my country.” Ahhh, a difficult problem to say the least. When we went home for the night, I wished him all the best and told his mother that she had a very nice son.  I pray he finds his way.

Thursday, August 24

This was a huge travel day for us as we are taking the train from Lecce to Sorrento. It involved two train transfers, one with a very short time frame, and we were both very anxious about it. Plus, we had tried to get the tickets in advance and had a hard time making the reservations so we decided we’d just get them at the station.  It doesn’t help when you pull the Italian rail station website up and the first sentence says something like the Naples train station has the highest incidence of pickpockets in Italy.  Great. We had already contacted our Airbnb host in Sorrento and Antonio had offered to pick us up at the train.  He mentioned, remember, Naples isn’t like the rest of Italy.  Keep your eyes open and watch for pickpockets. Another great warning.  Our wonderful host, Steve, drove us to the train station and on the way in his very bad English said, Naples isn’t like the rest of Italy.  You need to watch for . . .  and I filled in the blank for him.  Si, si, he nodded.  

Steve dropped us off, Cham went to purchase the tickets and came back saying the train was sold out and we were going to have to take the bus.  It was a 6 hour trip and we needed to wait 2 hours until we could catch the bus.  The other option was to rent a car and drive and Cham said those days were over, and I certainly couldn’t blame him.  So we caught a cab to the bus station and waited.  At least there was a nice breeze blowing while we were waiting.

It turns out the bus was a great experience.  We didn’t need to worry about the tight transfer, we each had two seats and we saw some amazing scenery.  The earthquake had happened the night before and while we didn’t go through the area, I imagine the terrain wasn’t too different. Very, very steep looks like limestone, bare mountains.  We went through a number of tunnels but also had to make a detour around a major part of the highway that was closed for renovation. Previous sections were hanging off the side and the current highway looked like it was suspended around the mountain.  My guess is that it was either unstable from earthquakes or the torrential rains that roll through there in the spring.  We also went through parts that you understood why the films were called spaghetti westerns.  At one of our two rest stops, the restaurant was selling Clint Eastwood memorophlia.    

We finally arrived in Naples, 15 minutes late, but the train to Sorrento runs every half an hour so we weren’t concerned.  

I’m sorry if I offend anyone by saying this, but Naples is truly one of the nastiest places I’ve ever been in my entire life.  It’s filthy, graffiti is on every square inch of building, and there are literally slam shacks like you see in pictures of India along the highway. It does house one of the finest archeological museums and cruise lines are starting to come in, but if I saw Naples on my cruise itinerary, I wouldn’t go. It is absolutely controlled by the Mafia and everyone knows it.  

Now we had to roll our luggage from the bus terminal to the train station.  It turned out to be easier than I originally thought even though someone kept asking me if I wanted a cab and I finally had to shout, No, Grazie!  We had to carry our luggage down a long staircase to get on the regional train, no signage, just had to ask people, bought the tickets and took another set of long steps down to the tracks.  The train came, and we started on the next section of our journey. Unfortunatelywe got off one station stop too early, called Antonio and he graciously tracked us down and took us to our amazing apartment in Sorrento.  Truly, thank God for being with us during the journey and now a brand new three days in beautiful Sorrento !

Salento - Saturday, Aug 20

SALENTO Saturday August 20

This was day was one of the many highlights of our trip.  Cham made arrangements for us to go on an all day (9:30 to 6:00 ) tour of the local sea side area south of Lecce called the Salento with a guide, Roberto.  There was another older couple in the car, Cosimo who was about 4’10 and his wife, Aetna who was average size.  They spoke no English so Roberto would tell us about the area in Italian and English.  I had brought my bathing suit just in case I would be able to swim and was thrilled to be able to swim at two beaches.  

We left at 9:30 and headed to Otrando, one of the few sandy beaches in Italy.  It is also the home of 300 skeletal remains enclosed in glass behind the altar.  After a bloody siege and fight, the Turks took this section for approximately three years.  Many people had fled, but the some were determined to fight to the end.  After the surrender, the Turks killed all of the survivors and buried them in a mass grave.  When the Venetians liberated the area, they dug up the remains and buried them behind the altar in the ossuary as a monument to their steadfastness. The cathedral is very austere and the remains are located in a side chapel.  The church is very active with the services happening in the basement where beautiful frescoes have been uncovered.

The beachfront very much reminds you of a much smaller Myrtle Beach.  It has a wide somewhat white beach with a gentle surf, think Gulf coast FL, and hotels surrounding the beach. As is typical for European beaches, there are private beaches and the public beach.  We decided to do the public beach because I had only 45 min. to swim.  I changed in the WC for 0.50 euros and hit the water. The water was a murky green from a distance.  The water wasn’t the best I had been in, but it was the sea and very salty.  Unfortunately, I stepped in a couple of goo holes which always freaks me out a little bit, but now I knew where they were and knew I would avoid them.  There were so many Italian families having the best time in the water.  I loved watching all of them play with one another.  It was time to go so I paid another 0.50 euros to change and we got back in the car.  

Our next destination was Castro, we stopped by Cesare Terme, an area known for their waters.  I have never been somewhere that the entire town smelled like Sulphur and it is right on the ocean.  While some items are being checked off of the bucket list, some are being added and staying in this town is definitely on the list.

Then we went to Castro beach.  I had asked one of the girls at the information desk what her favorite beach was and she said Castro, but it’s rocks. After a 30 min. drive along the coast with stunning views we arrived in Castro where I was told I had an hour to swim.  I was the only one swimming and I was so happy I could do it the first time, that I said, no that’s okay, until I saw the water and knew I had to go swimming. I once again paid 0.50 euro to change at the public bathroon, but the nice young man didn’t charge me on the return visit because I think he saw how happy I was. The water was absolutely beautiful. It’s not like Nice which has a rock beach, it is a public landing that has been built that you take a ladder down and enter the water with perhaps a couple of rocks you can stand on, but after 5 feet, it’s all deep water rocks and absolutely beautiful.  The other way to get into the water is to jump from the other rocks surrounding the area which are about 15 feet. I decided that didn’t need to be part of the bucket list.  I had a great time watching people screw up their courage to take the leap and children run and jump as if they were born doing it.  I also witnessed a woman in her 70’s with long white hair and bikini loving every minute of it. Especially touching was watching a woman and man in their early 40’s helps a blind man in his 40’s down the ladder and into the water where they handed him a noodle. Absolutely magical.  The town has hotels and restaurants that surround the beach and it had many families enjoying this different style of beach.  So, now we have to decide if we’re going to Castro for a week or Cesare Terme, probably a combination of the two!

As you’re driving to these beach areas, cars are parked on each side of the road and sometimes only one person can pass at a time.  No one seems to be particularly bothered by this.  Then you’ll see these small gates which mark a beach entrance to a home which you cannot see from the road and which from the side of the road looks like it has to be a straight vertical drop.  

After Castro we headed to Leuga where some of the most beautiful villas in the world are located. (We found out during this portion of the trip that Cosimo actually spoke a little English so he and Cham had a conversation.  They were a delightful couple. She was wearing support hose so she was very hot the entire time, totally get it, but had the dress and accessories to match.  Quite the lady.) Back to the villas, unfortunately, you could only guess because you have to see them from the water.  Roberto stopped on the other side of this huge bridge so we could walk over it and take a look down.  Absolutely incredible!  The bridge goes over a deep gorge.  People walk down the gorge and enter the water which forms this gorgeous channel into the sea.  There’s also a grotto which I guess has some kind of barrier because people would only go so far into it.  Once again, some of the most beautiful water I’ve ever seen.

We continued to Leuga city which doesn’t appear have any beaches but an amazing number of boats. It’s also known as the white city as the buildings are all white.  Leuga is also known for two other things:

1. St. Peter landed here for his first visit to Europe / Italy and when his foot hit land, the Roman temple that had been erected to Minervacollapsed.

2. This is the very end point of the heel of Italy. You can spend your day just moving from the Adriatic to the Ionic sea.  It sounds corny, but it was interesting to see.  A gentleman was pointing out the horizon to this wife.  You could barely see Albania to the left and directly in front was Morocco.  We’re not in Kansas anymore . . . 

After Leuga, we headed to Gallipoli, which name means the beautiful city, again breathtaking views of the sea.It is a huge port and we entered by the fish market which must be a marvel when you’re there in the morning.  Gallipoli is actually an island connected by a bridge.  We were pretty tired by this point and I was very hungry because I swam instead of eating lunch.  We ended up getting a gelato and walking around the upper street.  The sunset is supposed to be amazing there, but we needed to get back.  Roberto told us that Gallipoli is a favorite spot for German tourists.  We had noticed a lot of Germans there, so we just confirmed what we had witnessed.  If you’re into boating I guess it’s a good place to go, but it looked like a big port city to me.  But, I’m glad I saw it.    

It was absolutely an amazing day.  We saw desolate landscapes and an Italian naval station where they watch for Chinese subs which occasionally surface.  But, then there were the seas, Adriatic and then the Ionian and the fabulous views. It is really neat to trace our journey on the map. I can only hope my pictures can do it justice.  It was a fantastic day and once again, I thank Cham for his fabulous research in making it happen.  

Lecce - Days One and two, Aug 18 and 19

Lecce, located in the heel of Italy the

Arrived Thursday August 18 and left Wed August 24

We left our mountain top spa retreat of Aqua Petra in Telesia Terme around 11:00 knowing it was about a four hour drive to Lecce.  The landscape became very dry as we entered the Puglia area.  We saw many grape vines with huge white covers over them, these are there to keep the grapes from either ripening too fast or drying out in the hot, intense sun.  We also entered the olive tree “breadbasket” of Italy.  Miles after miles of olive trees apparently all owned by the same company.  Thegroves had what looked like housing huts about every 15 miles.  It was honestly a pretty boring drive. Unfortunately, just like Sicily, there are a lot of prickly pear cactus, they need to watch-out or they will take over.  It was out of control in some areas, but they’re ahead of the curve in others because they have also planted oleander, a native plant, along the road and that has taken over instead.  It’s much prettier to look at and I think much easier to control.  It looked like some of the prickly pear had engulfed some old olive trees. We caught our first glimpse of the Adriatic about two hours into the drive.  Traffic was traveling at a nice clip and we made great time.  The drivers were also fine until we hit Lecce.  That’s when all of the tales you hear about crazy Italian drivers become reality.  We were extremely fortunate because it looked like we just missed a whale of a rain storm which would have made the adventure even more challenging. We could smell the rain as we were driving in and it smelled very different than at home, very sweet and smelled like fresh grass.  Everything was great until once again the GPS messed up.  It’s too long to go into, but we could have been at the apt two hours sooner than originally planned.  Fortunately, at the last minute we asked our host, “Steve”, if he could pick us up at the Avis Rental office instead of meeting us at a parking lot where Cham would have taken the car back the following day.  After we got into City Center we knew for sure how fortunate we were that Steve met us.  We’re calling our host Steve because he looks just like Cham’s cousin, Steve Sachtjen in Wisconsin.  Totally astounding.  Lecce Steve is a very nice guy just like cousin Steve Sachtjen.

We were a little surprised when we first came into Lecce.  We knew we were in a poorer region of Italy, but had also heard that we were in the Florence of the South.  So far, we were a little dubious.  Steve drove us to a typical double wooden doorsbuilding, we went up a flight of marble stairs and entered our best Airbnbapartment thus far.  He does a five-night minimum booking.  The apartment was huge with a fantastic kitchen (his family owns a kitchen goods store), an air conditioner and a small terrace. Now, European air conditioning is an oxymoron because they still like their open windows, but it was something. He has stocked our refrigerator was all kinds of goodies including milk, juice, water, some beers, a bottle of local rose wine which turned-out to be very good. He showed us a map with our location and told us to go out and take a right, right, left and we’d be at a square.  It was like entering the Emerald City.  We had no idea when we took that left, we’d be in a massive square with one square after another. They were also constructing a huge white lattice ornamental tour with hundreds of red, green and white lights.  All of this is happening in the plaza where some of the Roman amphitheater is exposed, the tour office and the best seats for street performers in the evening.  Lecce does very much follow the closing at 2:00 and reopening at 5:00 schedule that Spain follows.  Everyone walks the plazas in the evening and they eat around 9:00.  After several menu investigations, we found a great restaurant where Cham enjoyed grilled octopus.  It was very difficult to sleep that night because it was really hot, the a.c. was quite inefficient and we couldn’t keep the windows open because of the noise outside.   I asked Steve for a fan the next day and he also told me to turn on the a.c. in the other room and open the door. Hehad failed to mention that one when he showed us the apartment.  After that the apartment was much more comfortable and he also brought a fan. 

We did a petit tourist train tour the next morning and it was fascinating.  I think I know my way around the city, but maps are useless. It’s a series of haphazard roads which change names on a whim and they neglect to change that on a map.  There are also a lot of dead ends.  I tried using map quest, but that was totally worthless so we just started going more by landmarks.  

Lecce is a very interesting city.  It was originally a Greek settlement and then taken over by the Romans.  They too have the wolf involved in their folklore.  They have also been under the rule of Venice, Normandy, and Spain.  Their architecture was a combination of Spanish, French Baroque and Palm Beach all mixed up into one.  There is a beautiful Baroque church on every block, they have their own distinctive architectural style called Lecce Baroque. The interiors usually don’t have a lot of stained glass because the gold gilded cravings are magnificent.  PapierMache is an art here.  Small artisan shops created beautiful crèches.  One of the churches had amazing life size papier Mache figures.  Their faces were extremely expressive.  They were really quite beautiful.

We had heard this was the area that the Italians go to vacation and that was absolutely correct.  While we have heard reports of a declining population, it appeared 75 percent of the tourists had baby carriages.  The appeal of the area is very apparent because of all the places we’ve been, it’s inexpensive, close to the beaches and large plazas where the children can run.  It’s also very safe.  Our massive front door didn’t have a lock on it and the door to the apt had a pretty flimsy lock.  The apartment building itself was extremely old and built like a fortress.  

Because we were located near a plaza, our street is where the 14-16 year old’schose to hang out.  This was an issue the first night, but we noticed the second night they disappeared around 10:30 and that happened the remaining nights as well.  I had to think back to the time when I was that age – not old enough to drive, but too old to want to be at the house; it’s really a perfect location because you have privacy, but because it’s a residential street, someone can always hear you.  People started coming in the night before the festival so the city was packed. That night, the kids left at 10:00 but some migrated back.  I heard someone clap their hands twice and they all dispersed.  Can you imagine?  You clap your hands at teenagers, they know exactly what they’re supposed to do and they do it?  I was extremely impressed.

We’ve been grateful to spend this time in Italy.  We’ve found the people very helpful, much quieter than Americans and especially infinitely patient.  Perhaps it’s because they don’t really depend on directions so theirs is a more when we get there, we get there attitude.  We talked with a couple from Australia last night and we all commented on the lack of direction and how it’s no big deal attitude.  We had to laugh at ourselves because typically people of northern Europe and the British Isles want to know all the directional facts.  Obviously, this is a huge generalization, but I think it’s pretty true.  If the operator thinks about it, they’ll announce a train or bus stop, but in the more rural areas, it’s an afterthought.  It’s definitely made us realize, hey, just go with it, not necessarily a bad thing.

All of these are obviously comments are obviously personal opinion, but we’ve also found that the prices can vary, always benefitting the consumer.  If there is some kind of change involved or it’s an odd number, they just as soon knock it down until it’s even.  Certainly makes the book keeping easier.

Tomorrow we head to the surrounding countryside and beaches!

update on location

Once again I'm terribly behind.  I had planned on catching up on the train to from Lecce to Naples, but the train was sold out so we had to take the bus and it was way to shakey to write anything.  Just a note to let everyone know we're fine and are in Lovely Sorrento.  I promise I will get caught up soon!  ciao!

August 17 - Telese Terme

After a fantastic time in Siena, it as time to head Southeast and the Adriatic to Lecce, the Florence of the south.  Lecce is located in Puglia, the heel of Italy. It's one of the poorest areas in Italy, but it's also the area where Italians go to the beach.  Although we had heard stories about the crazy driving style in the area, the train ride was going to be 13 hours so we decided to rent the car and break the trip in half. Cham went onto via Micheln, a terrfic website and found a Terme (water spa) about half way through the trip.  One thing we have noticed on our travels is the use of solar panels at the restaurant/rest areas along the way.  Not only do they provide shade for the cars, but also generate electricity. Pretty smart idea.

As we traveled south, we came upon huge tracts of wheat and corn.  We got off the main highway in Campaignia and headed into a huge valley surrounded by very steep mountains.  It was absolutely beautiful and a stark contrast to the gentle hills of Tuscany and Umbria. Cham also encountered our first real Italian drivers. This is obviously a generalization but if it's a two lane road, they drive toward the outside of the lane and use the center as a passing lane whether it's marked or not. If it's a four lane road, they tend to drive in the left lane with two tires almost in the right lane.  I don't know, I guess it's to dart and move faster?  We were using a GPS, made the necessary turns and found ourselves in an agricultural outskirts of town which had definitely seen better days. There were several miles of abandoned processing plants, greenhouses and shipping areas. It was really quite eerie.  Cham and I looked at each other because this was supposed to be a really nice spa . . . We eventually found ourselves definitely not where we wanted to be.  We are also now in a section of Italy where very little English is spoken.  We stopped at a vine bar, showed the bar keep the name, he nodded and drew us a map - totally wrong. Cham decided to go to the police dept which was closed.  He saw a man washing his laundry in the garage so he stopped by to ask him.  He shook his head and motioned for Cham to follow him. He led him to a computer store where a young man spoke some English but not enough to help. The gentleman motioned to Cham again, got the wife and gestured for us to follow them.  Truly, we would never have found this place if not for this couple.  We offered them payment which they refused so I gave them a bag of snack crackers which they accepted. Truly, once again, the kindness of complete strangers. I hope when I return home I will always remember how kind people were to us and I will treat others accordingly. When we checked in we mentioned how hard it was to find and she just said all the guests say that.  Maria was a lovely young woman who asked for our passports and ruefully said she had relatives who had left for jobs in NJ.  she hoped to visit someday. She also said, "you do know how fortunate you are, don't you, that you have jobs?" Wow, good to get a little kick in the rear now and then.  After a moment I said, yes, we are very blessed.  She upgraded us to a junior suite and Ali led us to the room.  Ironically, a lot of immigrants have landed in this poor section of Italy. We can only imagine they are in the area as migrant workers.  Ali spoke some English so I assign that's why the hotel hired him.  If you ever truly want to get away, this is the place.  Its a huge stone facility which took 5 years to build in the middle of no where. Our room had a nice balcony which overlooked the mountains and a church.  The room was beautifully decorated, but we wanted to hit the water.  The spa had a huge outdoor pool and a smaller indoor pool, sauna and treatment options.  I assume it was natural water because there wasn't any literature, but it didn't have any telltale aroma. While lost in the town, we passed a pueblo spa which appeared to be closed, but there was obviously a history of water works.   Dinner was included and the restaurant had received marvelous reviews with a focus on local products.  We entered the dining room around 8:30. It was a little depressing to me because we were in this massive stone dining room with more wait people than guests.  The maitre d' was from Naples and very professional. He reminded me of the host on the Bachelor/Bachelorette shows.  We asked him about the abandoned plants. It was obviously a very sore subject.  He said it had been a thriving agricultural area at one time, but when they joined the EU, it all ended. He said they used to produce fantastic tomatoes but now they had to import them from Spain.  Many of the other crops had met the same fate.  He was not happy with the result. It's hard to think globally when you're getting hit locally.  Dinner was outstanding. Our  young wine steward was so pleased to select a local wine and with great ceremony presented and prepared it for us.  I had local grilled lamb chops and Cham had local black pork.  We still are unsure what that meant but both dishes were delicious.  The restaurant definitely lived up to its reputation.  We got up the next morning to a lovely breakfast which had a large variety of local jams.  The fruit in Italy has been delicious even though it may not be the country of origin . . . We went to the spa for a couple of hours before heading to our next stop, Lecce.  It was another interesting adventure in a part of the world I'll probably never visit again.