This trip was different from our average trip. Jen needed to be on the continent for 2 weeks which were separated by only one week. Too long for me to join for the entire time, but too short for her to travel to the continent and back.
Instead we both flew to Rome and met up in the airport before flying on to Bari where we set out for a week spent in Puglia.
We haven't flown an Italian airline in many years. Alitalia had since gone under and was replaced by ITA. Since Jen had a head start acclimating to the time change, I spent the week before my flight working myself within striking distance of where I needed to be. It worked reasonably well, I had a light meal and went to bed within the first 2 hours of the flight.
8h Airbus 330-900neo 4,082 mi
We both landed in FCO within a few minutes of each other. After a little early morning struggle searching for the lounge (each of us found lounges, but not the same one as we were on different sides of the Schengen divide). I made my way though the new passport machines where we met up and headed to the ITA lounge.
After a few coffees and some breakfast, we headed to the gate and boarded our flight for Bari.
1h 5m Airbus A320 237 mi
Although we rarely check bags, Jen brought wine from Athens along with her and had to check her larger bag. While she waited for the bags to deplane, I ran ahead to the rental card desk to get our car. Renting a car in Italy is always a special event. This might have been the most expedient process ever. I was able to navigate around all the upgrade attempts. Such as:
| Avis | This is a small car, how many people do you have? |
| Me | 2 |
| Avis | But how much luggage do you have? |
| Me | Just carry on bags |
| Avis | Oh... |
And:
| Avis | This car is a manual. Don't you want an automatic? |
| Me | My car in the States is manual. |
And finally:
| Avis | Can you even drive automatic? |
| Me | Of course I can, does anyone ever say that they can't? |
| Avis | Well all we have is this Lancia Hybrid, which is an automatic. |
| Me | Fine |
After all that, I had the car key in time to work back to the luggage claim exit and we were on our way. Getting used to the energy recovery took a bit, but figuring out how to disable the alerts and annoying speed detection features took longer.
Lecce ( LETCH-ay, Italian: [ˈlettʃe] ) is a city and comune (municipality) in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, and the capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula. With a population of 94,387, it is also the largest city in the province. more
The hotel was just on the outskirts of city center, ~1mi walk to the Duomo. It had one critical feature, which was easy parking.
After a shower and change of clothes, we walked into old town in search of apertivo.
Nice pause across from the Piazzetta Santa Chiara for some spritzes and salumi. There were several spots in a row here. The most "local" looking spot had already closed for the afternoon break.
After apertivo and la passeggiata, we spotted a sign which advertised natural wines. It was too early for food, but they were happy to let us sit at the bar and drink wine. This was the first spot which served us fava beans as a bar snack. We ate them whole, only later learning that one is meant to remove the skin.
After a couple glasses of wine and bar snacks, we meandered over to our dinner reservation. We were the first reservation, I was not quite on the timezone, so needless to say: we were the only ones in the restaurant. Once we acquired some house wine, we ordered our first Orecchiette dish.
Orecchiette is a pasta typical of the Apulia region of Italy. Their name comes from the Italian word for "ear," a reference to their shape. more
We started the day early with breakfast in the hotel and then walked towards the Duomo. I had read that there was a single pass which provided access to many of the locations we wanted to visit and the ticket office was in the Piazza Duomo.
On our way into town, we had our first encounter with the feral cats outside the dry cleaners close to the hotel. Having noticed them, we would see them day and night for the rest of our time in Lecce.
Given the choice, I always want to go "up" and the LeccEcclesiae pass had an "Up!" on offer. We got to the ticket office right when it opened and were the first elevator trip to the Duomo bell tower.
Pass in hand, we commenced collecting all the locations to which it provided access. Many of the churches are extremely Baroque. Apparently this is due to the fact that "Lecce stone" (regional limestone) is very soft and workable.
One of the interesting features of this church was the ceiling, which is flat and appears to be constructed from wood, but in fact the "false ceiling" is made from papier-mâché.
Also extremely Baroque. The high alter is an example of Lecce Baroque style. There's an alter with a fragmented Lecce medieval art of the Madonna della Luce. Comparing my photo of the choir loft to the one on the website, it seems like the organ is under repair as the frame which normally covers the pipes is completely empty.
Before we went to the next church, we stopped for more coffee. Early in our Italian travels, we learned to always order "caffe" to make sure that we would get espresso. The last couple of trips we have noticed that if we order caffe, we are still asked: "espresso?" It seems to be one circumstance where our appearance as tourists outweighs our doing the correct Italian thing.
While walking, we noticed several shops serving Quartta Caffe and stopped at one such place and ordered our espresso at the bar. In some of the larger Italian cities, one has to pay before presenting the receipt to actually get what you ordered. Most folks were confused by our attempts to pay first.
Despite the website for 'Scante claiming they opened at 18:30, when we got there they were not ready for guests. We took our passeggiata back to Piazzetta Santa Chiara and stopped at Gemelli for apertivo.
It was another fine apertivo experience. They had quite a list of cocktails. I had the Negroni-adjacent Coo (Campari, Ippocrasso, and soda) for me and wine for Jen. Also, crisps and olives.
After our apertivo and passeggiata part two, we were back at 'Scante and they were ready.
I ordered another Orecchiette dish (with tiny polpette) and Jen ordered Ciceri e tria:
Ciceri e tria (Italian: [ˈtʃiːtʃeri e tˈtriːa]) is a pasta dish originating in the Salento region. It is prepared with pasta and chickpeas as the primary ingredients, and includes fried pasta. It has been described as a "classic and emblematic dish of Salentine cuisine" and as a specialty dish of Apulia. more
We eventually saw this dish a few places and ordered it at least one other time.
We started early again and after breakfast, we drove south to Melendugno.
Melendugno (Salentino: Melendugnu or Malandugnu) is a town and comune in the province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-east Italy. more
Unfortunately, the famous Lover's Arch collapsed into the sea in February, which makes us 2 for 2 on natural arches which collapsed immediately prior to our visit (the Azure Window being the other).
The coast line was still breathtaking and the water and the cliffs were beautiful.
Otranto (UK: ,US: , Italian: [ˈɔːtranto]; Salentino: Oṭṛàntu; Griko: Δερεντό, romanized: Derentò; Ancient Greek: Ὑδροῦς, romanized: Hudroûs; Latin: Hydruntum) is a coastal town, port and comune in the province of Lecce (Apulia, Italy), in a fertile region once famous for its breed of horses. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). more
We noticed this place as we were walking into the city and stopped for a Caffè Leccese. They had a selection of natural wines, so we marked so that we could return for lunch and wine later.
When we returned for lunch, we found they had an amazing back garden. We sat in the shade and enjoyed our wine with cheese and sandwiches before buying a few bottles on our way back to the car and Lecce.
We returned to Pezzetto for apertivo followed by dinner. We tried a few different wines (our server was amused by my description of the "trattore" wine I had previously enjoyed). We enjoyed a fresh citrus salad followed by ciceri a tria and orecchiette with "turnip tops."
Hilton Garden Inn Lecce
We checked out of the hotel and headed north to see some sights before checking into the next hotel.
Alberobello (Italian: [ˌalberoˈbɛllo]; literally "beautiful tree"; Barese: Ajarubbédde) is a small town and comune of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. It has 10,237 inhabitants (2022) and is famous for its unique trullo buildings. The trulli of Alberobello have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. Alberobello is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). more
Alberobello is very touristy, but is just a place one has to go at least once. It is known as a town with a high concentration of Trulli.
A trullo (plural, trulli) is a traditional Apulian dry stone hut with a conical roof. Their style of construction is specific to the Itria Valley, in the Murge area of the Italian region of Apulia. Trulli were generally constructed as temporary field shelters and storehouses or as permanent dwellings by small proprietors or agricultural labourers. In the town of Alberobello, in the province of Bari, whole districts contain dense concentrations of trulli. The golden age of trulli was the nineteenth century, especially its final decades, which were marked by the development of wine growing. more
We drove in pretty early, and yet there were still many tourists parking their cars. We did nab a spot in our first pass, but then proceeded to wait in line for the parking ticket machine. In the time we were waiting, Jen managed to download, install, and pay for parking via the mobile app.
The town was lovely and all the Trulli are impressive to see in situ. This was one of the warmest days, and I felt that the white of all the buildings reflecting the sun really contributed to how warm I felt. Also, how much I needed more sunscreen.
One of the larger, non-trulli, buildings in Alberobello is the Basilica of Cosma and Damian. There was not much information in English about these saints in the basilica, but afterwards we did some research.
Cosmas and Damian (c. 3rd century – c. 287 or c. 303 AD) were two Arab physicians and early Christian martyrs. They practised their profession in the seaport of Aegeae, then in the Roman province of Cilicia. more
This was the day with the best overall weather (warm, clear, and sunny). We found that all of the white buildings contributed to the heat by reflecting all the sun right back at us. The entire time I wanted to be wearing more sunscreen.
Kind of desperate to get out of the sun, we arrived at Paco Wines before they opened. So after a brief additional wander, we looped back and entered the wine cave.
Ostuni (Ostunese: Štunë; Salentino: Štuni) is a city and comune, located about 8 km from the coast, in the province of Brindisi, region of Apulia, Italy. The town has a population of about 30,000 during the winter, but can swell to 200,000 inhabitants during summer, being among the main towns attracting tourists in Apulia. It also has a continuous British and German immigrant community and an industrial zone. The region is a producer of high quality olive oil and wine. more
Ostuni Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Ostuni; Basilica concattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Ostuni, province of Brindisi, region of Apulia, Italy. The dedication is to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Formerly the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Ostuni, it has been since 1986 a co-cathedral of the Archdiocese of Brindisi-Ostuni. more
We set out early from Ostuni and headed north to Polignano a Mare. When we got there, we unexpectedly discovered many barriers setup on the roads into town. Following the drivers in front of me, we just drove around them. Only to find more and more roads closed off the closer we got to the center. We started diverting around the closed roads to get over to the area with parking lots. When we got to the parking lots, there were no empty spots and many cars just circling around.
After following several cars into a dead end section of one lot, which required everyone to back out or make a several point maneuver (all while much Italian was spoken), we gave up and moved forward our plan to visit Monopoli.
Monopoli (Italian: [moˈnɔːpoli]; Monopolitan: Menòpele [məˈnɔːpələ] ) is a town and municipality in Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Bari and region of Apulia. The town is roughly 156 square kilometres (60 sq mi) in area and lies on the Adriatic Sea about 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Bari. It has a population of 49,246 (2014), and is important mostly as an agricultural, industrial and tourist centre. more
Monopoli Cathedral, otherwise the Basilica of the Madonna della Madia or Santa Maria della Madia (Italian: Duomo di Monopoli; Basilica Concattedrale di Maria Santissima della Madia) is a Latin Catholic cathedral in the town of Monopoli, in the province of Bari, region of Apulia, Italy. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the title of the Madonna della Madia, after an icon kept here. Formerly the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Monopoli, it has been since 1986 a co-cathedral in the Diocese of Conversano-Monopoli. more
We stopped at a small chain for lunch before we got back on the road.
At breakfast, we learned that the previous day was an Italian bank holiday. Which explained all the extra visitors to Polignano a Mare. Undeterred, we planned to set out early to ensure we could find parking.
Polignano a Mare (Italian: [poliɲˈɲaːno a mˈmaːre]; Barese: Peghegnéne [pəɡəɲˈɲeːnə]) is a town and municipality (Italian: comune) in the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy, located on the Adriatic Sea. The local economy mostly depends on tourism, agriculture and fishing. more
We made our way to the parking lot area and there were no closed roads at all. Being so early in the day, the lots were mostly empty despite the continued holiday weekend.
VISTA Ostuni
Bari ( BAR-ee, Italian: [ˈbaːri] ; Barese: Bare [ˈbæːrə]; Latin: Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is one of the most important economic centres of mainland southern Italy. It is a port and university city as well as the city of Saint Nicholas. The city itself has a population of 315,473 inhabitants, and an area of over 116 square kilometres (45 mi2), while the urban area has approximately 750,000 inhabitants. Its metropolitan province has 1.2 million inhabitants. more
Parco dei Principi Hotel Congress & Spa
1h 10m Airbus A220-300 237 mi
9h 15m Airbus 330-900neo 4,082 mi