Two to Four

Where'd Everyone Go?

It was suggested we call ahead to let the folk at the apartment know when we would be arriving, so once we had our train tickets, we did so. We were informed that it would be better if we caught an earlier train or a much later one, because our arrival, at what we felt was a convenient 2:00 pm, seemed to fall when the reception desk would be closed for a two hour "break". As it happened, we arrived before break time and did get checked in.

I thought this afternoon "siesta" was a Spanish thing. We discovered it in Spain and learned to live with it there, but did not expect it here. Apparently it is a Mediterranean thing.

The whole place shuts down for two hours in the afternoon. Well, not actually everything, but a significant part of the population shuts the doors, pulls down the shutters and turns out the lights at 2:00 pm. At 4:00 pm suddenly everything comes alive again.

We have not quite gotten the hang of this yet, and we always seem to be out looking for something, or wanting something done, when everyone disappears. I have suggested to Regis that we need to start living on "Italian time" while we are here, but she always seem to need something at that time.

I am not sure what everyone does between 2:00 and 4:00. They do not work, that is for sure, perhaps they go home and have a big mid day meal and take a nap or other things you do behind closed doors.

I do not know how this works with people who commute, where do they go for two hours? I'm just going to have to continue to explore this concept. Don't call me for two hours, I'm taking a break.

About Lecce, Italy

The Streets of Lecce

Street From The Roof

We are staying in a city called Lecce. It is one of the most important cities in the southern part of Italy. Dubbed the "Florence" of the south, it houses a lot of the bureaucracy and administration for the Puglia region. It has been an important city for over 2000 years, and it's location in the south meant that it was often attacked by invaders. In the early 16th century the city was fortified and a wall erected around the entire city. These walls still define the old section of the city.

Our apartment for the month is almost right in the middle of this old section. As a result, all the streets are narrow and the widest ones are really only one lane wide. They do allow vehicles in the old city, but they must compete with pedestrian traffic. Many streets are too narrow for any car to use. The buildings are all old and most are only a two stories (well three really because in Europe they call the ground floor "0"). Of course the churches are all taller, and looking out over the city they poke their bell towers above everything else.

The Church is Tallest

Cars, Bicycles, People & Statues

Fortunately, our apartment is on an almost straight street, and we have been able to find our way around by staying on this road, but when you wander off the main streets, it is easy to get confused as the streets go in all directions, turn around and double back. I am slowly exploring and finding my way around.

Now you know a little about Lecce, Italy.

Living in Lecce

Living Area

Well I must admit that my “travel advisor” did a good job this time. This apartment in Lecce is without the doubt the nicest we have had, and we have had some good ones. 

Guest Room

It is huge and everywhere you look there is storage and shelves. It is decorated with an odd mix of antique furniture and modern touches. We have a foyer that is bigger than a Japanese hotel room and you do not use it. Our bedroom is huge, has a king size bed that is very comfortable, and has a large closet. There are two bedrooms and both have an on-suite. the guest room is actually down a half set of stairs, so it has a feeling of privacy. 

Master Bedroom

Foyer

The kitchen is a bit of a disappointment, as we intend to do a lot of our own cooking. It is small and not well equipped with little things although has a good stove, oven and fridge. It will work, but we have had to ask for simple things like a plug for the sink and pot-holders. They have promised to find things we need however. 

View from Roof

There is a very large private terrace right off the living area where we have already been able to eat breakfast there the first day. The sun is on it most of the day. We also have access to the hotel terrace which is the entire rooftop and has many little sitting areas and is covered with interesting plants.  So far I have never seen anyone up there; although it is lovely and warm for us Canadians, they Europeans are still wearing winter coats gloves and scarfs. 

The only thing really missing is a view. We can see all over the city from the roof, but it is just other rooftops as far as you can see. Our other apartments have had a view of the sea or a river. This is the first time we have not been able to look out to see water - must be the maritimer in us . . . .

Breakfast on the Terrace

OMG The Food

No Go Once More

We should have purchased our train tickets in advance, because when we got to the station this morning, the early trains were completely booked, and the earliest we could catch a train was at 4:06 pm. Not a big deal, it just meant we had additional time to explore Rome rather than Bari. We had spent four days in Rome previously, so we thought we might go see the Coliseum which we did not see on the last trip. However, once more, the line-ups were miles long, and we just did not feel like spending our morning standing in a line. 

Great Italian Food

Instead we decided to walk around, and find the restaurant suggested by the host at the Dreamstation (our hotel), and sample some more delicious Italian food. Last night we found the place too late, and had to enjoy a meal across the street. So, instead of reading about a tumble-down Roman ruin, you get to hear about some of the amazing Italian food we have found. 

Beer in a wine glass - an Italian thing?

Last night I had spaghetti, but it was unlike any spaghetti I have ever had. This was sea bream fish with tomato and zucchini in a light sauce. I do not know what they call sea bream on our side of the Atlantic, because I have never seen it available in the stores, but it was one of my favourite fish when we visited Portugal. I was not expecting to see it mixed with pasta however, but my adventurous side prevailed and I ordered it. Absolutely amazing; the best pasta dish I have had in a long time. Little chunks of the fish, mixed with halved cherry tomatoes and shredded zucchini. I allowed Regis to sample it, although it was not a dish I wanted to share.

Regis' Ravioli

Today, Regis pasta dish was the amazing one. She decided to order the ravioli, but did not even ask what was in it. Served with a light basil and tomato sauce, the ravioli was stuffed with another fish, this time grouper, but again she started raving about it on the first bite. My delicious pasta with meat sauce paled in comparison with her ravioli. 

I think she liked it.

Today, as we had time to spare until our train, we ordered an appetizer, and it was equally delicious. Imagine battered deep fried stuffed olives, artichoke blossoms in tempura, and fried vanilla cream. Oh, there was also a couple of pieces of an Italian salami, and this was one occasion where I had to say that the meat was completely overshadowed by the vegetables. 

I cannot wait to see what other surprises the Italian chefs have for me. 

Italy Again

Tired, but still time for wine

Well, after a few glitches, we are off on our latest adventure. While exploring the Internet for possible places to visit I found the Puglia area of Southern Italy. They had these unique conical roofed houses called Trulli, and I thought it might be interesting to rent one of these. I mentioned this to Regis and she was immediately researching the idea.

The first “glitch” arrived when we discovered that these Trulli were in fact originally grain storage barns, but the locals discovered that the tax rate on barns was WAY less than a house so they built these trulli and lived in them. This meant that the majority of them were country houses, and since we try to travel “Car-free”, this was a problem.

A nice Italian beer

Next we discovered a nice interesting historic city in the area where we could find a good selection of apartments to rent. So the trulli idea was discarded in favor of this city called Lecce. We discovered a good selection of apartments that met our requirements. After narrowing it down, we inquired about the ones we liked best. Although most were listed as available, once we actually attempted to rent them they were not. One owner said that he had been renting to a friend who decided he wanted to stay. It seemed that this was the standard; these rentals are given to friends until someone else wants to rent it. They probably give the friends a “deal” until some tourist asked to rent. We ran into this problem so often we almost decided to look elsewhere. Finally we received a positive response and found a nice apartment for a great price. Then we tried to pay for it. Paypal would not accept our payment, nor would the listing company. It seemed that since the owner turned us down once, the system would not allow us to pay. Finally after a phone call to Italy the apartment was held for us without deposit and we could pay upon arrival.

Our Room in Rome

The apartment out of the way we decided to look into renting a car to drive from the airport in Rome to Lecce. This was downright scary. Reviews of most of the car rental agencies reported completely shady and dodgy activity. People reported being charged hundreds of Euros extra when returning the car for strange reasons, and one company routinely called the local police when anyone complained. We decided to take the train . . . .

Then Regis’s mom took ill and was hospitalized two weeks before we were to leave. Although all of Regis’s siblings insisted they were capable of managing their mother’s care while she took her well deserved vacation, she was hesitant. Finally our children offered to come home and help out and her mother rallied (As she usually does) and although will still need care, Regis felt comfortable with leaving her in everyone else’s care. My point is that by this time she NEEDS a vacation.

One Piece At A Time

-->

Johnny Cash wrote a song called “One Piece At A Time”, (Click if you want to hear the song) where he brought one piece of a Cadillac home from the factory each day in his lunch box and assembled them all into a Frankenstein Cadillac based on a number of models and years. Walking along the roadways here in the city, I think the same thing is happening in reverse, with cars slowly falling apart “One Piece at a Time”.

I started noticing car parts along the sides of the road as I walked, and one day I took my camera and started taking photos of all the bits and pieces I saw.

Some items you see are pretty obvious, such as the assortment of hubcaps. It was the hubcaps that first got me looking at the side of the roads. Alisha had complained of loosing

one of her hubcaps and I found a perfectly good Toyota hubcap sitting leaning against a guardrail. I picked it up, brought it home and sent a photo to Alisha to see if it matched her car. She felt it might, so I actually took it all the way to Ottawa with me only to discover that it did not fit. I’m still looking for a match for her car . . . .

One day I found an obviously newly deposited large bolt sitting on the sidewalk in the freshly plowed snow. It was shiny and new, so I picked it up and put it in my pocket (Never know when you might need a good bolt to MacGyver something). I had to give that nice find up as I found a tractor up the street clearing the sidewalk and the operator quickly switched the machine off to check where it belonged when I showed it to him.

Some of the other stuff I have found has obviously fallen of cars speeding by with their drivers oblivious to the slow dismantling of their vehicles. Body panels, trim pieces, exhaust parts, and even brake pads. Perhaps after years of doing my own auto maintenance I’m more aware of the health of my cars, but I have to wonder if they even noticed the feel of the brakes change when the whole disk brake pad fell out. As well it is amazing how many large nuts and bolts you can see lying on the side of the road. You would think that a large bolt was probably

holding something important together. I have even seen the entire plastic front body section of a car sitting beside the highway, obviously the result of an accident, and the easiest way to get the car home was just to remove the damaged parts – haven’t these people ever heard of Duct-Tape?

 

I’m still on the look-out for Alisha’s hub-cap . . . .

Walking Backwards

No I do not actually mean walking backwards, what I mean is walking a route that you know

Shube at its best

well only doing it in the opposite way you normally do.

Since I discovered that I need to control my blood pressure I have found that walking is particularly effective as keeping it down. I therefore find any excuse to go for a walk. We have a lovely city park within a pleasant walking distance and I enjoy walking a loop of the park every second day. I have one route that takes me in on one end of the park and I walk a loop that takes me almost all the way around the park. Another enjoyable walk which is also a loop takes me through the park and then all the way around Lake Micmac. Both of these loops take around an hour and although Regis teases me that my walks are “boring”, I love seeing how the park changes with the seasons and the weather.

Fall in the park

Because both of these walks are loops, I normally walk them in the same direction every time. However I have discovered that even though I know the routes very well, if I walk the route backwards – starting where I normally end and exiting at my regular starting point, you see different things or see familiar things in a different way.

A family walk in the park

On one route, there is a large rock at one side of the trail, and I walked by it many times, but walking backwards I discovered that it was not just a ordinary rock. Coming upon it from the other direction I could clearly see that it was a failed attempt to cut a shape from the rock, either for a mill stone or perhaps a stone for lining one of the locks in the Shubenacadie canal system. As well there is a particularly attractive section that I have photographed under different lighting and conditions with intentions of painting a picture of it, but coming upon it from the opposite direction you hardly notice it; looks ordinary from the other direction.

Snow and animal footprints

Out of the park is the same; walking in the opposite direction forces you on the other side of the street and I suddenly noticed that although I had passed the houses on that side many times, you do not really take note of the details of the houses on the other side of the street.

Want to make a routine walk a bit more interesting? Try walking it backwards.