When we made plans to go to Rome, the purpose wasn’t to take in the sights or to immerse ourselves into the culture. We were going for one reason: to meet my mom and sister. It wasn’t our first time city sightseeing Rome, but it was for them.… Read the rest
Ahhh, welcome to Lecce, Italy; a historically preserved, walled city situated in the heel of Italy’s boot in the Puglia region. Within the old city center are numerous Baroque-style churches, half-buried Roman ruins, locally-run restaurants, a plethora of shops and artist studios.… Read the rest
It is amazing how quickly a month can go by; it feels like we just arrived in Lecce and we are already packing up to leave. We booked a month-long stay in Lecce because we wanted to experience living in – not just visiting – a small European town (and to test the waters to see if we could really live abroad someday).… Read the rest
It took us some time to understand the typical hours of eating in Lecce, Italy and, while our first impressions of typical Lecce cuisine still stand, once we really got it figured out we were introduced to an abundance of dining options.… Read the rest
We didn’t have high expectations for the bars in Lecce, Italy. It is a small, historic town that markets its architecture more than its nightlife. Being in the middle of a lesser-known wine region, we knew wine would be flowing, but we weren’t sure what we would find in the way of craft beer and cocktails.… Read the rest
Lecce is home to an astounding number of churches; there are 22 churches of Lecce, Italy listed on the local tourist map of the historic city center. Even after our month-long stay we haven’t seen them all. Visiting hours vary, but are usually reserved for the morning with a few reopening in the evening, but even posted times aren’t exact (making it a little difficult to time our stops).… Read the rest
The historic center of Lecce has three remaining gates of entry: Porta Rudiae, Porta San Biagio and Porta Napoli. It’s easy to see all three Lecce, Italy city gates on a simple stroll through town and it’s worth it to pass through the gates to the ‘outside’ of the city to get the view looking back in.… Read the rest
The last three cities we’ve stayed in have been landlocked (Seville, Madrid and Lecce) and it had been far too long since we’ve seen the sea. From Lecce, the Ionian and Adriatic Seas are just a short (and inexpensive) one hour train ride away, so we headed west to the Ionian Sea for a day trip to Gallipoli, Italy.… Read the rest
I’ve previously stated that we rarely spend time visiting museums, but in Lecce we’re making an exception. Museums abound in this city that has both an archeological significant past and an intense art history. Combine that with the current string of rainy days and museums are quickly becoming a desirable option.… Read the rest
The weather forecast for Lecce was riddled with rain, but that wasn’t going to dampen our spirits. Our friends, Noel and Susan – affectionately nicknamed, “The Noels” – were making the long haul from Phoenix, Arizona to visit us. For the third time on our journey, we were being joined by friends and we were ecstatic that we were welcoming this couple on our trip.… Read the rest