We left Matera to head to Lecce and on the way we had a couple of stops. First one was at Taranto , Puglia’s second largest city, and known as the “City of the two seas”. The old town sits on an island and it has the usual narrow streets and alleyways that we love to wander around.We came across the Cathedral San Cataldo and although quite pretty from the outside, the interior was stunning.

We then continued on to have a wine tasting at San Mazarno winery which is in an area of Primitivo red wine that Greg loves.We spent a great 2 hours tasting some beautiful wines and of course purchased quite a few bottles!

We then arrived in Lecce which is known as “The Florence of the South”, it is a beautiful 17th Century Baroque city. Every corner you turn there is a new vista , usually a church, which is magnificent. There are 22 churches in the old town. Our favourite was the Basilica di Santa Croce. It has one of the most intricate baroque facades in Italy. It took over 200 years to build and is richly decorated facade includes animals, grotesque figures and even vegetables. It was a feast for the eyes!

We spent a day driving down the Adriatic Coast . First stop was the beach resort of San Cataldo, the local beach for those who live in Lecce. It was a nice sandy beach and full of people swimming. We went further along to Torre dell’Orso, which a rocky coastline.

Next stop was Otranto, a nice coastal town with , of course , another lovely old town with narrow streets. One place which we intended to visit was the Cathedral as the inside is “apparently” spectacular, however, our TD (Rhonda) did not do her research properly. It was closed between 12 noon and 3PM….we arrived at 12:07!!!!!

We continued down the coast to the tip of Italy, the heel of the boot, to Santa Maria di Leuca where the Mediterranean meets the Adriatic Sea. Of course to celebrate , we stopped for a drink!

As it was Friday night , it was pizza night, and it wasnt too bad at all!

We spent another day doing a self-guided walk through the streets of Lecce. Rhonda was sacked as Tour Director for this walk, so Greg took on the role! We saw 2 of the gates to the old town, the Porta San Biagio was built in 1773, and the Porta Rudiae was built in 1703. Both were very noble looking.

In the centre of the old town is the Roman amphitheatre, with only half visible to the eye. The rest is still covered under roads! It is thought to be dated between the first and second century AD and was only discovered in the early 1900’s when excavations began for the construction of a bank!

As you would imagine there were loads of churches along our walk amongst them The Church of the Carmine, the Church of Santa Maria della Alacantarine. Don’t worry we haven’t got photos of all the churches we saw.

We were wandering along, minding our own business, when suddenly we came across a few “ladies” standing in doorways, quite scantily dressed! Yep we were in the red light district of Lecce and we weren’t sure whether our TD had researched this before we began!!!!! They all disappeared inside as soon as Greg’s camera came out!

The Piazza del Duomo in the centre of the Old town is amazing. It has the Cathedral as its centrepiece which was originally built in 1144, but not fully decorated in the baroque style until the 1600’s. The Seminary is considered to be the finest baroque architecture in all of Lecce.

We ate well in Lecce, both at some restaurants and at home. Greg cooked us some spigola on the charcoal grill plus some very tasty bombettes and some great pasta.

We ventured down the coast on the Mediterranean side on another day. Our first stop was the very small Baroque town of Galatina that they say has remained virtually intact over the centuries. We checked out the Basilica of Santa Caterina d’Alessandria, desribed as “an overstuffed jewel box laden with frescoes”.It was rather pretty on the outside but inside it was stunning. It was built between 1382 and 1391 with frescoes of early fifteenth century. Even the cloisters next to the church were lovely.

Our next port of call was Gallipoli, no not the one in Turkey.We wandered the Centro Storico , situated on a limestone island. The Castle Angevin stands at the entrance to the island and was the fortress built to protect the island when the Venetians took hold. We saw the Cathedral of Saint Agatha, but we are almost over churches so sat and admired the outside while having a drink. The beaches around Gallipoli looked quite inviting but no time to swim. We enjoyed a nice lunch in the back streets.

So in a nut shell, that was our week in Lecce, an absolutely amazing city. WE are now in the midst of Trulli territory, so loads of photos to come, particularly of our beautiful accommodation.

So its , that time, time for a swim and a drink.

ciao ciao till next time

Love Greg and Rhonda and Judy.