M.

Let me start with a few disparaging words about Off Exploring (OE) as a blog site. We have used it a couple of times in the past, and its limitations were obvious but bearable then.For this trip I looked hard at an alternative that was easy to share and could be readily printed as a book. It's nice to get the book version. Even though OE seems not to have a significant update in four years, these are two boxes that OE does tick. I couldn't find a suitable, easy to use alternative so decided to stick with what we knew. Having lost a couple of drafts when using the app, I sent in a help request and was simply told that the app wasn't really all that good, so should try the website. Strange admission, but ok... The website has some advantages over the app. For example you can load up more than one picture at a time! However, as became apparent over the last couple of days, it still has a tendency to lose drafts, so you are now reading the second go at Lecce (imagine my joy!) this time being typed in Notes plus,so if we copy and paste and lose, we'll still have the draft. I think we can safely assume that after this bye bye OE.

OK - Lecce. Famed as a magnificent example of baroque art and architecture. Renowned for the honeyed tones of its limestone. And only about an hour and forty from Bari. So, another early start - earlier than necessary, because we booked a train for a 10am guided tour only to be advised to meet at 1030. As the rail schedule goes, we could have left an hour later. First world vacationer problem. Our train piled in at ten to seven. It was actually the overnight sleeper - not sure from where. Not everyone was in a sleeper. We took up the last two seats in a dog box that had been occupied by an Italian family for what they admitted had been a long night with two young kids - about 10 and 7 or 8?

The early arrival meant we could locate the meeting spot and retire to a cafe for coffee and cornetto. Not the ice cream - what we would call a croissant.The Italian breakfast of champions.

We met Giorgio, our guide under the Porta Napoli- a fragment of the original city walls. And we were the entire tour group. Lovely. Giorgio was a mild and slightly nervous thirty something. Slightly overweight, and sufficiently unsure of his English to bring a friend called Ilaria - Ila, whose assistance he really needed very little. As I said to him, his English was a lot better than my Italian, and he certainly knew the city. Like many young Italians he could not find work in his chosen field - in this case political science- and was doing guiding and work in another business to make ends meet.

Lecce had been an important commercial town, and the twin themes of business and religion, intertwined with a healthy dose of baroque and rococo made up much of our two hour tour. Our attention was drawn to the highly ornate balcony supports - symbols of the owner's wealth. Some of the limestone has been well preserved. Others are showing the effects of pollution over the years, now under control as a consequence of declaring the old city a limited traffic zone.

We visited several churches, and to be honest the details quickly began to blur. The main churches we saw were Santa Maria della Grazia, the Duomo and the Chiesa di Sant'Irene. I'll include some pictures, but you can see that the church bought into baroque big time. Probably the most stunning example - of a style that I don't really like, it must be said - was the marble work in St Irene, in particular one of the side altars where the detail in the columns is magnificent.

Now, I know you can't wait to ask me who the patron Saint of Lecce is? I knew it. Hands up all those who have a particular devotion to St Orontius? Who have heard of him? I thought as much. Orontius, known as Oronzo in these parts, was converted to Christianity by St Paul, eventually suffering martyrdom by axe in the 12th century. Now, he wasn't the first patron. That was .... you guessed it ... St Irene. She got the shove. More chauvinism? Well, was she a martyr? Yes, actually. She gave her father a hard time about being a pagan and refused to marry the pagan man he chose for her. Consequences, ugly. Ah, but did she appear after her death to end the plague in Lecce in 1656? I don't think so. Or the cholera in Turi a couple of hundred years after that? Nope. Whatever, she lost out in the patron stakes, and good old Oronzo is everywhere. On the duomo, on a large column in the the square named after him - everywhere.

One of the major crafts of Lecce is papier mache' - carta pesta in Italian. We called in to one of the many shops selling these lovely pieces. The level of craftsmanship is extraordinary, with the skills passed on from generation to generation.

Ultimately, and particularly when the sun shines, the single dominant impression one gets in Lecce is of the honey gold of the limestone. The buildings just seem to light up, drawing your attention to the buildings as a whole, and then to the ornate decorations on windows and doors ,to the statues, and to the balconies.

Once Giorgio set us free we drew on Anne's research to find a place to head for - 9cento, known for its Puglia street food.I had a Lucia - a distinctive style of Leccese bun - in my case with porchetta. The bread was terrific, but the porchetta couldn't compete with the stuff we got at the market in Rome. Anne had a pizza. I also had my second craft beer from an Italian company called Brewdog. This one was called Terminal, a pale ale with 3.7 percent alcohol. The previous one, in Rome, was Spaceman at over 7%. An IPA. Interesting that they use English names for all the beers. 9cento had a wide range of craft beers, which are clearly a growing trend here, like in Oz. So pizza, puccia, and birra under the arched ceiling of 9cento made for an interesting lunch.

The trip back to Bari was on a regional train, which took very little longer than the morning train. Just a few extra stops, arriving about 4.15. We parted at the station so I could head up to the tourist info to inquire about a walking tour on New Years Eve, and Anne could get some shopping. The tour was confirmed as running, no need to book. And that's about all we had the strength for! Colds and coughs mean we are still a bit under par.