Lecce, 5/13/2016

Lecce, Puglia, Italy
May 13, 2016

When you mention, Lecce, to an Italian, they cannot help themselves. Immediately, they say, bellissima.  And it is.  The historic center, contained by an ancient wall, is dense with exceptional baroque churches in outstanding condition. The streets are worn white marble cobble stone. There are two Roman theaters from about two-thousand years ago. There is a jewel box of a concert hall with brocade upholstered walls and crystal and fold-leaf. It has four tiers of boxes, yet seats only three-hundred people. Very intimate. We heard a lovely performance there by a twelve year old girl. With poise, excellent technique, and a wonderful musical personality she played a concert by Haydn for piano and orchestra. Her father, an opera director of note, sat proudly beside us in an adjacent box.

Lecce is crawling with wine bars. The general Puglia region grows lots of grapes and makes lots of wine. Dante Alighieri said, about Puglia, "a beautiful land where the sun becomes wine".  The wine bars have long lists of wines by the glass, dozens of them. They offer food, too, a limited menu. Very few things, served in small portions, but very tasty. Very easy on the mouth. One in particular, Mamma Elvira, was packed at sundown and for food reason. We had three super tasty small plates. Sauteed green peppers strewn over wine-cured smoked sliced pork capocolla. Bombette di Martina Franca: items the size of stuffed grape leaves, rolled meat wrapped in lardo and capocolla then oven baked in local rose wine. Involtini di Melanzane: slices of eggplant rolled around smoked cheese, baked then dressed with wildly delicious tomato sauce.

For fans of wine, these are the local common wine grapes. The most common white grapes are: Bombino Bianco, Malvasia Bianca, Verdeca, Fiano, Bianco d'Alessano, Muscat Blanc and Pampanuto.  The most common red berried grapes in Apulia are: Negroamaro, Primitivo, Uva di Troia, Malvasia Nera, Montepulciano, Sangiovese, Aglianico, Aleatico, Bombino Nero, Susumaniello and Ottavianello.

One meal in particular stood out. It was on a side street with not much foot traffic. The covered yet open air dining area is the former space where you would have parked your large horse carriage. It has a large arched doorway which looks down and attractive lane. In the vestibule, there is an ice tray filled with fresh fish. I ordered what I thought would be a little calamari followed by a little steak. What arrived was a huge, entire, intact calamari and a huge sliced steak smothered with the arugula, parmigiano, and olive oil combination. The calamari made me swoon. I cannot remember ever having an entire calamari from the grill like that. It was outstanding. I ate myself silly. Every bite. Interestingly, I did not feel stuffed. The ristorante was called ???   We also had a pasta with fried noodle strips in it and hick peas. I was interested to learn they do not use egg in their pasta dough. We were introduced to an interesting hot weather dish: hard crusts of bread the size of an egg which are meant to be quick-soaked in water and mixed with chopped tomato, olive oil, fresh oregano and salt. You do this because in the hot summer one cannot be bothered with a heavy and hot meal. Another common dish is pureed fava beans accompanied with sauteed chicory. They can be eaten combined or separate, but must be drizzled with good olive oil. Italian chicory is unfamiliar to us. It is like a cross between swiss chard, firm spinach and broccolini.

Wes found us an outstanding place to stay. It is in an old, four-story, stone town house. With twenty-two rooms. We have a suite—two bedrooms, two bathrooms, full kitchen and sprawling outdoor garden—which occupies the rooftop.  The roof is paved with polished tile and has a lush garden which consists of fragrant and colorful plants overflowing their containers of terra cotta or stone. There are shaded areas and there are chairs and tables for lounging and for eating.  The views, in all directions, are of baroque church tops and terra cotta tiled roofs.

One particular sight is the lovely and excellent campanile—bell tower—of the duomo—main cathedral.  It is the work of "Lo Zingarello"—the gypsy—Giuseppe Zimballo. He lived for ninety years and worked, until his last day, designing and building baroque church facades mostly in Lecce.  Basta—enough—was not in his vocabulary. If there could be more, he made more. His columns twist and turn. When that is not enough, flowers sprout. Then stone animals nibble at the flowers while angels, in clusters, peek, point, smile and laugh from above. Joyous.

Speaking of joyous, we are joyous when breakfast arrives. Our bedroom is furnished in old world elegant style. There is beautiful polished wood, tile, brass, brocade upholstery, everything very fine and in excellent taste. I particularly enjoy the little brass figures on the chandelier that dance, smile and watch over the bed.

In the morning, we climb out from under the fine embroidered bed linens. Step out of the curved wood bed frame. Shuffle sleepily to the front door. Admire the garden. Then gasp at the wicker basket. It is large. There are silk ribbons tied on the handle. It is lined with crisply ironed white linen. It is overflowing. A gift from the Goddess of breakfast, Elisabetta. Hot-from-the-oven, flaky, buttery french pastries. Glass jars filled with yogurt swirled with Elisabetta's preserved watermelon. a glass bowl filled with sliced sweet melon and strawberries and peaches.

The "bed and breakfast", (when did Italy eliminate the term "pensione"?), is called Rooftop Barocco Suites. Our innkeeper, Elisabetta, and her husband, appear to let out their roof top suite for their pleasure. It did not feel like a commercial transaction. We were treated as esteemed house guests. You cannot put a price on that experience.

Wes and Marlow
Lecce, Puglia, Italy
May 13, 2016