Because of the vacation season starting up there in Italy we had to change hotels mid-week to one in Lecce. This particular hotel is pretty much in the middle of town and one of the side benefits of this is getting to spend a little time in the old part of the city during down time (i.e. Dinner time). Lecce is the capital of the province (a state capital essentially) and has some really cool historical sites in it. Not the least of which is an old amphitheater which they still use for events. The first night we went strolling around there was a group there doing Swan Lake. We didn’t go in, but we were able to stand around the edges and get a peak of what was going on. While we stood there the Police behind the short fences would have parents pass their kids over and have them lift them up so they could see what was going on. Sadly, they refused to do that for me. Deeper into the older portion of the city is a little maze of shops and restaurants on the incredibly narrow stone streets. Every now and again you turn a corner and find yourself in a large courtyard or piazza. Now is a good time to explain what little we’ve learned so far about how some of this works. Pretty much everywhere closes around 2PM save for a handful of things (this handful includes where Amy will be working). After 2 the place looks like a small town on a school night. On a side note, if you plan on eating lunch, you better be walking out of the restaurant by 2 or cooking it yourself. This is riposo (siesta, essentially), where they close things down during the heat of the day and open back up in the evening as late as 7:30 ish (restaurants anyway, you know, important stuff :). From here things will stay open at least until midnight while everyone hangs out in the piazza and eats dinner and gelato. Probably the weirdest thing was around midnight there were still parents wheeling around their kids in strollers who were wide awake while the two of us were threatening to turn back into pumpkins (I don’t know about Amy but my glass slippers were killing me). The sites are worth it though, the pictures don’t quite do them justice.
Cool
These pictures look like everythink I always thought Italy would be. Beautiful! Keep ’em coming! I can’t wait to see what you two can get into there! Love to you both!
Bethany