Last night the Monet crossed the Adriatic from Albania into Italy, docking in Otranto. Soon after breakfast we boarded the bus for Lecce, a small old town in Italy.
While driving to Lecce we passed loads of dead olive groves, dead as the result of a bacteria from a city in South America which destroyed 20 million out of 60 million trees.
The Italians have found a new cultivar that they have started planting as it is resistant to this bacteria.
First of all, Lecce is a beautiful place. Baroque architecture is literally everywhere.
There is nothing to do in Lecce and people happily stroll around all day with no purpose. In the mornings and afternoons, they leisurely sit outside in the city’s many cafes, scattered around a maze of little alleys and squares, and sip a strange sort of iced coffee sweetened with almond syrup.
In the evenings, they again find their way to the bars and cafes this time for an “aperitivo”, an Italian pre-dinner snack which includes a drink (usually alcoholic) and lots of little treats to nibble on.
I tried their local “pasticciotto” which is a shortcrust pastry jewel box filled with custard… always served warm.
Lecce is without any doubt the most beautiful city in Southern Italy. Its historic core is a glorious and well-preserved collection of opulent Baroque and Rococo architecture that is a visual delight.
Lecce's lesser known Roman amphitheater surrounded by buildings and trees in the historic center.
But above all, Lecce is a place for Papier Mâché! A craft that is so quintessentially baroque, Papier Mâché is everywhere in Lecce. You’ll see it on shrines, statues in churches, and even the ceiling.
No comments:
Post a Comment