Mon Sept 29 We ended our cruising with the Burns at Bari. As usual, Dennis had much grander plans of getting us around the boot to Taranto but the distance from Ancona to Bari with a stop at the Tremiti Islands was already beyond the Burns' expectations, so we put the boat in a marina so that we could do some land travel in the Puglia area. The Bari marina we chose (blindly) turned out to be mostly a boatyard/work yard with facilities that matched (pretty rough). But as we didn't plan to spend much time on the boat, we figured we could endure the conditions for the time we'd be there. Our first trip was to take the train down to Lecce for 2 days, 1 night. It's quite a bit into the heel of the boot. The attraction was its nickname as "the Florence of Southern Italy". We arrived at the train station a little early and decided to have an early lunch as it would be a two hour ride to Lecce with no food available on the train. There was a small café in the station from which we ordered a few items. It was so disappointing that it became a running joke that whatever meal we would have from that point on would have to be better, thus we got the bad meal of the trip out of the way before we even left Bari. We left Bari at 1130 and arrived in Lecce around 1350pm.

A beautiful flowing fountain greeted us. Our hotel was a short walk from the train station, in fact our patios had a view of the train track but we didn't hear the trains at night with the wooden inner patio door closed - quite peaceful and so convenient. We were only staying over one night so we got right to the sightseeing. That first afternoon we walked about town checking out the neighborhood and its beautiful old buildings. We happened upon the University's modern art courtyard. The current exhibit was sculptures by Pietro Guida. They were all of people engaged in some activity - a couple dancing, a mother holding a playful child in her arms, a group of chamber musicians. There were a couple stranger ones such as the woman looking at a severed head on a platter. While the exhibit was contemporary art, the building was old, beautiful, with some frescoes above the doors. As we continued to wander, of course we saw several churches and began to see why it's called the Florence of Southern Italy as the architecture and ornamentation was impressive. The significant difference we noticed was that in Florence and other northern Italian cities, marble and granite are the materials of choice (being readily available from the local mountains) while in Lecce, they were limited to sandstone and limestone. Weathering of these softer materials was clearly apparent. At the Piazza Duomo we bought a local map which made it easier to navigate to specific sites. We each picked out one thing we wanted to see and Scott served as our navigator. We visited numerous churches (including the very ornate Basilica Santa Croce), an elementary school, a beautiful park, a Roman Amphitheater, and the City Gates...among other things. We stopped in an Information Center and asked about concerts or plays that evening. They told us about an outdoor jazz concert that night at 9pm and we put it on our schedule. We went back to the hotel late afternoon for a short rest and then headed back out to dinner. We never found the jazz concert, but we had a great dinner in a very quaint restaurant. We paid an evening visit to some of the churches that had been closed that afternoon. Virginia sometimes will light a candle for a special intention. In Lecce they had electric candles. You put your donation in the box and just flick the switch near your chosen candle. They are of course much safer than traditional flamed candles but somehow just don't evoke the same feeling. All along the way we were enjoying the decorative old architecture of all the buildings and the very ornate interiors of the churches.

Tues Sept 30 We checked out of the hotel, leaving our bags there for a few hours while we wandered town again. Lisa and Virginia wanted to do some shopping. The teakettle on Libertad had broken and Lisa was in search of some sandals. We also stopped in a few more churches, after all that is where you see a lot of the artwork. Chiesa San Giovanni Battista had a unique interior, utilizing colorful fabrics to skirt the altars and on the walls behind the altars. Chiesa Santa Teresa was one of the most elaborately decorated churches in Lecce. They had one unique sculpture which was the body of Christ laid in a glass sea-through casket - quite striking.

We had lunch at a courtyard restaurant with lots of ambiance. At least we thought it was a courtyard until a car pulled in and honked. All the waiters came running to move tables and chairs to let the car into its carport. The 'courtyard' was a driveway that the restaurant must have received an easement to operate in. In conversing with our very sociable, young waitress we learned she had studied English for 3 months in New York and told us how much she wanted to go back to the US and in particular New York. Scott and Dennis mentioned the Rotary Group Study Exchange program, gave her their contact information, and told her to get in touch with one of the local clubs (there are two in Lecce). She was so excited.

We collected our bags from the hotel and headed for the station. We took the 1315pm train back to Bari, arriving there 2 hours later. During the train ride we discussed renting a car the next day and touring a bit more of the Puglia Area. That evening, we had dinner at a nearby seafood restaurant on the waterfront a few minutes' walk from the marina. Virginia wanted to try Prosecco and we ordered a bottle and toasted our great trip to Lecce.