Lecce, Italy

I’ve just returned from an amazing 10 days in Italy. We joined two of our nearest and dearest friends in Lecce (in the heel of the boot) for a week then drove through the mountains to Rome, said goodbye to our friends and Will & I spent 3 days in Rome. I thought I would share a few photos if you’d like to see…

We stayed in Old Town Lecce, full of baroque architecture, a Roman amphitheatre, gorgeous churches, good pizza and traditional Salentine cuisine. Our friends planned this entire trip and they graciously let us step in at the last minute, so if you are headed to Puglia and want some more specific recommendations, let me know. I had too many road wines to share any specifics…

Most evenings we stopped at this little place that sold local wine in plastic cups for 1.50, then took a long walk with our ‘road wines’, enjoying the perfect light and temperatures. We were some of the only Americans in Lecce. A lot of Italians seem to vacation there, so I stumbled through the 5 Italian words I know (vino, si, basta, grazie, ciao).

Lecce is definitely more ‘rough around the edges’ than other Italian cities (so I’ve been told – this was my first time in Italy). What I loved so much about Lecce was that we had a diverse experience: beautiful old city, close beaches & water, traditional regional food and great local markets. The people were lovely and warm; we felt very safe.

We’d come back and have a late dinner on the roof. Italians don’t eat until 9:30 or 10! One night after a long day at the beach, we ordered Pizza & Co take away (that super fresh mozz on top!). The boys hilariously bought a dusty bottle of Jim Beam that an old Italian man had to climb a ladder to get down.

Lecce is about 20 minutes away from both the Ionian & Adriatic, so most days we would drive to a beach, armed with stuff to make prosciutto sandwiches and lots of weird stone fruit that I’d never eaten before. Oh and of course some potato chips.

One day we rented a boat and drove up the Ionian coast. The water is so clear and gorgeous! This was definitely one of my favourite days that I will remember on these upcoming cold & dreary days in London.

Lecce – you stole my heart! Ostuni and Roma are coming up later this week!