Renée
Believe me, I love Italy. The first thing that comes to mind when I come back from Italy is going back to Italy. I cry when I arrive in Italy, with joy. And I cry when I leave, like a small child, then I need a long time to get used to the Netherlands again. And actually I'm not used to it until I know that I'm going back to Italy. After our holiday in Lecce, this feeling was stronger than ever.
Waking up the first morning in a B&B, apartment, hotel room or tent is always a bit of a thing for me. Italy or no Italy, I always sleep badly the first night, almost not and then I fall asleep somewhere during the night, because when I wake up, I always ask myself two things when I open my eyes: 'Where? am I?' and 'Why am I here?' This takes about ten seconds, sometimes (usually) I am startled by the person next to me, but after that everything falls into place immediately.
Waking up in a dream
Waking up in our B&B – Palazzo Gorgonia – was a dream. We had a large room. The starry ceiling seemed infinite, the bed huge and the bathroom cute. That bathroom was a bit on the small side, especially the shower for my girlfriend with her beautiful Dutch height, but that didn't matter. I couldn't believe how little we paid for over two weeks at this B&B.
It was also nice that there was an espresso machine in the hallway, so you could make delicious espresso in the morning. There was also a cold water machine and the owner Marta made sure that Italian 'dolce' was ready on a dish in the hall. Italian sweets, sometimes it looked like bonbons, sometimes small pastries. You can hardly wake up any better, can you?
Every morning Marta was there around ten o'clock. Whenever we left the B&B she was always there for any questions and help. That was nice, because every morning we could ask Marta which beach would be the best to visit for the day in question.
It's in Lecce, Salento because it goes without saying that you look at 'how the wind is' before you decide which beach to go to. We, as true Dutch sunbathers, had never heard of this before, let alone thought about it.
it was hot
I remember well how warm it was the first morning in Lecce. It wasn't warm, it was hot. It was delicious. Of course, the Netherlands had had a warm summer and it had also been a good, warm summer in London, where my girlfriend lives.
Yet this felt different. Italian warmth. The sun burned, without being annoying or sticky. I believe we both immediately had a smile on our face. "How wonderful it is here!" and 'Am I brown yet?' We hadn't even left our street yet.
We walked past Mama Elvira (Via Umberto I 19), where we had eaten the day before and past the bar where we had met the Italian boys the night before. The staff was already working and waved goodbye to us. 'Ciao, ragazze Dutch!We waved back enthusiastically.
Never eat breakfast anywhere else again
Our entire holiday we had breakfast at Caffè Cittadino, Via Francesco Rubichi 35. In my opinion the best and nicest place in Lecce to start your day. I'm also guessing it's one of the most visited cafes from breakfast to dinner in the center of Lecce. There were always people, but it was never too busy. As in all of Italy, most people come for an espresso and drink it at the bar.
We sat at the same table every day, inside, because it was too hot outside to have an extensive breakfast. At Cittadino we got a caffe ghiacchio. A caffé ghiacchio is an espresso with almond milk, ice cream and sugar (you choose the amount of sugar yourself). With 35 degrees that is a real treat.
And that combined with a pasticiotto is a true gift. Pasticiotto is the delicacy of Salento, Apulia (Puglia). A kind of dough, filled with yellow custard in the shape of a boat. In the end, we usually also had a multigrain croissant with this. Never again for breakfast anywhere else, we decided satisfied.
Salento bus
The first few days we didn't have a car and we traveled with the Salentobus. The Salentobus is the main means of transport for tourists during the summer months. There are several bus lines of the Salentobus, which run to almost all villages and coastal areas. They are quite luxurious buses with good air conditioning, so once you are seated, you are very relaxed. The only drawback to the bus is the travel time. You should always take into account an hour to an hour and a half of sitting.
The first day we made a small mistake by traveling to Gallipoli and getting off a little too early, so that we were in the beautiful center of Gallipoli, but then had to walk two hours to the beach. Error, thank you!
Marta had told us that morning that the coast in Gallipoli would be the best for the day, I could also swear she mentioned a specific name for a beach, but of course we had long forgotten that name.
Baywatch Men
We left the first few beach bars behind us, but the urge to swim eventually became too much for us and we succumbed to one of the countless beach bars in front of us. We looked at the Baywatch men on the beach, what did they look like? We thought it was a good indicator. I have to say, that view wasn't bad.
We paid for our beach beds, 10 euros per person, and were escorted to our spot. Gallipoli's coastline is quite narrow. You are close to the sea. The seats are quite close together, but I never have that much trouble with it.
It was quiet on the beach, calm. Nice. Two beers for five euros, also nice. It was a nice day, full of sun, full of sea and peace. When the day was over, we were eager to leave. But how? Not walking back two hours again. We ordered two more beers and decided to watch the sunset from the lounge. We asked the manager of the beach bar to call a taxi for us, which would take us to the bus station. He laughed just a little too amusingly.
tuktuk
We wait for the taxi in front of the beach bar and it soon became clear why the manager had laughed so strangely. It was a motorcycle taxi. A kind of tuk-tuk with tropical music. "Do we dare this?" I asked my girlfriend. She nodded and we got in.
I wouldn't know how to describe the ride. In the Netherlands we probably would have been pulled over by the police in no time or we probably could have had a fatal accident about six times. We screamed, laughed, cried with laughter, the environment was beautiful, we saw the sun set from a motorbike.
When we got back to the B&B, it was time to chill, take a shower, change (150 outfits on) and then hit the road again.
Dutch giantesses in Lecce
Fresh and beautiful back into the heat, out on the streets, strolling. Find a restaurant, add a bottle of wine, complain about the heat the Dutch way and people watch. After dinner and wine we met up with the Italian boys again. They wanted to take us to another famous cocktail bar and why not? We didn't know the city well enough yet, so we could use a guide.
We walked together on Piazza S. Oronzo, the main square of Lecce, where everything comes together and we talked about the endlessly long legs of Dutch women. That keeps Italians busy. We couldn't escape it anymore, like giantesses in the picture with a mini-Italian, how wonderful life is.
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