Devil Gate Drive (Lecce)

Time to slow down a little, dear reader. It's all well to travel a country, but there comes a time when that journey needs to be more moderately paced. After all, that is why I booked a minimum 4 night stay everywhere except Rome and Florence, both places we have previously visited.

Today we were attempting to find a supermarket and a bakery and somewhere to have our daily coffee and pastry. Google suggested a piazza roughly between us and the old town. The rain had gone, but the wind had not and the forecast temperature was only 20° without the wind chill.

Piazza Mazzini, recommended by Google, has a massive fountain in the centre and was surrounded by banks, as far as we could see. Or designer stores. We ventured down one side street to find more of the same and no café or supermarket. Not to worry, we turned towards the old town and walked down the corso, lined with expensive stores and an anomalous McDonalds. The cancer is everywhere.

Big piazza, big fountain, big disappointment.

Back in the old town, we searched for a café that was a little protected from the wind and had tables in the sun. We found one in the south-east corner, aptly titled the South-East Café. The coffee was good but they had no croissants or brioche left. We would have to wait until later for sustenance.

I wanted to walk around the town just inside the walls but this proved to be impossible. There was not one road to circumnavigate old Lecce. Alora, I settled for walking to the three gates. The fourth was destroyed at some point and built over. Unusual.

Porta Napoli.

Unfortunately the first gate on our list, Porta Napoli, had us following a school excursion of 14 year olds. It appears 'boy behaviour' is the same the world over. Who'd be a high school teacher?

The gate is plain on the inside and decorated on the outside. Just beyond it, in the real world, is an obelisk.

The obelisk.

The next gate, Porta Rudiae, was not far away, down some reasonably quiet streets, in the university section of the old town. There were still cafés and restaurants and small shops, selling Lecce crafted materials, but the crowds and tour groups were missing. One had material hanging between the buildings and was decorated with fairy lights. It would be quite the picture at night.

A side street.

We also came a cross a doorway that had prickly pear, fico d'India, hanging from the metal frame. I'm uncertain why. It is the fruit that is eaten not the leaves.

I'm not sure what's going on here.

Porta Rudiae was the entrance closest to the university of the arts and was different in style to Porta Napoli. The decorative façade faced out to greet visitors.

What happened here? On the wall of the University of the Arts.

Porta Rudiae.

Thoughts of a birra became stronger as the day wore on but I was mindful that we had not eaten. As we walked towards our third gate, we passed a trattoria that sold traditional Lecce dishes. Clotilde had recommended it yesterday. They also sold alla spina, draught beer. Bonus. Deciding which version of pucce to have was not easy until the owner recommended the 'pucce of the day' caramelised onion, zucchini flowers, mozzarella, speck and other things I can no longer recall. It was absolutely delicious.

The final door was Porta San Biagio and we meandered our way there, only following a mapped course as we neared the gate itself. You never know what you'll find wandering the lanes and streets of an old town. The Duomo often appeared above the other buildings acting as a focal point and guide, helping us to re-orient ourselves.

Porta San Biagio.

The final gate checked off, we walked to a nearby supermarket to buy the supplies we couldn't get earlier in the day. We walked in and walked out. Let's say that the proprietors weren't Italian and no-one from Lecce would be spruiking the quality of the produce on sale here.

Back home and back to Google. Our afternoon excursion proved to be more fruitful (see what I did there?). It directed us to another supermarket and bakery. Curiously, it was the one we were sent to in the morning in Piazza Mazzini, except this time the map brought us in the other end, straight past the boulangerie to the Coop. In our morning exploration we had opted to check out the other side of the piazza. 

Coop was the first stop. I have found a new favourite brand of chips, San Carlo 1936 or San Carlo Rustica. Either will do. They are excellent.

The Boulangerie has a cheese and charcuterie counter as well as pastries and breads. This is where we will come for breakfast. All we needed for tonight was some cheese to go with the left over pizza and wine we had already purchased. Happy days!

OK. So we hit all the gates. Isn't that enough to go all Suzi? Devil Gate Drive Come on, you know you want to.

Wednesday

Breakfast was at the Boulangerie. The people were so lovely and welcoming and we appeared to be the only ones who were not local. The doppio was excellent. I had a strudel which was delicious and Jayne had a pasticciotto, an apple and cinnamon filled traditional Lecce cake. I'll be trying that tomorrow.

Back into the old town, we went to the Castle of Charles V. Eventually. The access roads to it were being excavated with bull dozers this time, no trowels (yet), so we had a round-a-bout walk to get there. The next tour was 11:30am so we purchased tickets and burnt some time back in the main square.

The new statue of Sant'Oronzo.

The reviews on Google were quite mixed. A couple of patrons had a sook about the fact that the guide spoke only Italian and the non-Italian speakers were forced to use an audio guide. The other issue was that you could only access the interesting places on a tour. Obviously some areas were being protected.

The original statue, protected from the weather.

Today was the first day I walked out of the apartment with out my ear buds. If I'd had them, we could have listened to the guide who provided more in depth information. Without them it was audio guides and ear phones for us.

The tour itself was interesting and much of the castle is a work in progress where careful excavation continues. Like many of the buildings in Lecce, it is a celebration of many different eras, medieval, renaissance and baroque. Parts of it have been built over or around and it was altered to the tastes of whoever was ruling the day.

The original doorway has been altered for an upstairs addition.

A fresco in a side hall.

The dungeon was probably one of the more interesting stops. Complete with graffiti from its occupants, in fact one carved a letter about his unjust imprisonment. It reminded us of our tour of the castle in Cognac many years ago.

I'd put my coat of arms on the ceiling too. If I had one.

I'm innocent, exclaimed Victor.

Castle tour done, well not quite. The last stop was a papier mâché museum. Yes, you read that correctly. They take the art/craft very seriously here. Here are some photos. Without comment. Or smirks.

It was time to check out the inside of the Basilica Santa Croce and the Duomo with its crypt. No access without a ticket. €22 for the two of us to visit 5 churches and a museum. Happily, we do not have to do all of this in one day as the entry ticket remains valid for two weeks. We will split our visits over the remaining two days, because we can.

I am not sure how many more times a church can deliver the wow factor, dear reader. I have seen a few in my time, but today they both did. The numerous side altars with staggering Baroque decorative detail, the paintings, the papier mâché figurines, the carved ceilings with inlaid frescoes. The exterior façades prepare you for what you will see inside but the Basilica and the Cathedral are also quite different. 

The Cathedral has a lot more colour with stained glass windows and gold guilt edging on its side altars where Santa Croce is more monochrome, relying on the Lecce Baroque carving for its wow factor, with the exception of the centre piece behind the main altar.

Where they believe they have a relic of the cross of Jesus.

A side altar.

The main altar.

The ceiling.

The Duomo also has its crypt which features fairly unadorned walls and arches but has grills in the floor to see the excavations below including ossuaries, and multiple pairs of glasses that people have lost when they have obviously leaned over too far to have a good look. Rather weird looking down at skulls lying alongside name brand sunnies ...

Sorry, I missed the sunnies.

A side altar.

The main altar.

The Last Supper. On the ceiling.

I'd just like to point out that the Last Supper on the ceiling of the Duomo has people seated on both sides of the table. I'm sure it's much easier to get a booking that way. Imagine asking for a table that seats 13 all facing the artist?

The crypt.

The crypt had four arms.

Our touristing almost complete for today, we returned to the Duomo Piazza to go back to the wonderful store we had visited with Clotilde two nights ago. Here we purchased the delectable limoncello balls and some more Puglia wine and then, happily it was birra time at a sunny table in another piazza before heading home with our purchases. 

Curiously every time we were assailed by dodgy non-Italian hawkers, they spoke to us in French. I'm not sure if that is to represent what they see as the dominant language of visitors, or if we suddenly look Gallic. I mean, I have opted for a hat rather than a cap. 

Dinner tonight was at the restaurant that Clotilde recommended on our first night, Osteria Vecchia. Happily it was open tonight. Unhappily a very large tour group had booked out the inside restaurant. The less said about the better. 

We could eat outside or find somewhere else. It wasn't that cold, except for the breeze, so we opted for an outside table. We sat and watched as more and more people were turned away. It was particularly gratifying when some marched to the door and expected to be seated and were not.

The food was excellent. And, yes, it was very cold outside due to the breeze.

Alla prossima.

Dig, Lazarus, Dig (Bari and Lecce)

Our last full day in Bari was marred by the weather, dear reader. It was windy, and chilly - for here; the locals were all wearing coats and jumpers. Squalls of rain swept in intermittently and without much warning. It was not going to be a day to stray far from the hotel.

In itself, that was ok because we had done most of the things on our list. The only outstanding item was the opera house, Teatro Petruzzelli, but in all honesty I wasn't that keen. We did La Scala in Milano last month and we've seen houses of opera in Paris, Barcelona, Oslo, Vienna and Sydney of course. The idea of turning up in the hope of getting a ticket for the only time slot of the day in this weather, with a couple of cruise ships in port ... yeah, nah.

Ok, before I forget, we have crossed the 'beer line'. How to explain ... back in the day, Tasmania had two brewers, Boags and Cascade. There was an invisible line across Tassie and when you crossed it, you changed to the other beer. It appears there is a similar thing in Italy. At some point, we switched from drinking Moretti to Peroni. I mean they're both good and I'm not going to argue the virtues of one over the other.

The only site I wanted to revisit was the "stunning wire mesh installation" of Edoardo Tresoldi. We walked past it on our first day, not really knowing what it was or the story behind it. It is located in the aptly named archaeological precinct San Pietro. And I assumed, incorrectly, that access would be more open and revealing there.

The mesh makes it look blurred.

We walked the 15 minutes to the site, located on the edge of the old town, to find it is still a work in progress, after four years. The piazza side of the site is boarded up the same as it is on the road. There is a series of boards explaining the work and its significance, but no access for a closer look.

It looks like a cathedral from a distance and is not blurry at all. The eye can see through the mesh which creates a clear image. The camera can't adjust like our eyes do. 

A logical conclusion would be that a cathedral stood on the site. But, no. It is on the site of a former hospital that was collateral damage when the Germans bombed a US ship moored in Bari during WW2. I don't think Trump has claimed credit for ending that war. Yet.

Being the intrepid travellers that we are, we walked back into the maze of streets that is the old town and chose streets at random. We ended up back at the castle and then decided to check out the local street markets. It was like a garage sale at your nanna's place. Lots of kitsch from the '70s and objets d'art that no-one ever found a use for, old books, second hand records and hand made jewellery. Nothing to hold my interest for any longer than it took to walk the length of the market.

Not worth the walk.

Back at the hotel, we researched some of the other restaurants recommended by Adriano and prepared a list of things to do in Lecce.

The day ended with a bottle of rosé made from a grape we've not seen in Australia. It is now Jayne's new favourite. And left over pizza from last night's dinner.

Grape variety: bombino.

The locals are very proud of their wines, particularly rosé, so I imagine I will be seeing more of this on the table over the next couple of weeks.

Monday

Another transit day, a relatively short train journey to Lecce, the sworn enemy of all people from Bari. Lecce is sometimes referred to as the Florence of the South because of its baroque architecture.

The day began with probably the best weather we've had. A pity we weren't staying around to enjoy it. Breakfast over, we returned to our room to pack and wait. We had a midday check out and our train didn't depart until 12:45pm. If it was on time. Bahahahahaha.

The view from the breakfast terrazza.

Shortly after 9:30am, we could hear what sounded like a protest rally. A quick internet search revealed it was the striking public transport workers, meeting in the government square not far from our hotel. Their chanting and singing carried very clearly to us. The strike concluded at 12:30pm and we would be on our way by then, but would be sure to stay away from the rally.

Trenitalia continued to defy belief and the train arrived early. I should have become suspicious when we tried to board the train and our door was blocked with serving trolleys on board. Down to the other end of the carriage and we push our bags through to seats 14C and 14D to find ... nothing. They didn't exist. We ventured through to the next carriage to be told to return to our seats. I said they didn't exist, nor did seats 15c and 15D also assigned to two other Australians. The trolley person forced me back into carriage 3 and walked us to one of the attendants who looked at our tickets and said we had been re-assigned. I'd like to re-assign a few Trenitalia workers.

This is the second time this has occurred. I understand changes happen when carriages are switched in and out, but they have our details, they knew there was a problem because we were assigned new seats. Why couldn't they email? Or send a message in the App?

Anyway, we had seats in carriage 2. The trip was uneventful. We arrived in Lecce on time, walked the 20 minutes to our apartment and then had to wait 10 minutes until 3pm because all access was electronic and linked to that magic hour.

There were two other groups of people waiting for their access to be granted and at 3 pm, all doors opened and we were inside a very spacious second floor apartment with a living room, kitchen/dining area, bedroom, bathroom, balcony and a European laundry - with no washing machine in it! Not happy since we specifically seek out apartments with decent showers and washing facilities. We had passed by a laundry off the main foyer on the ground floor but it was being used by the building cleaners to launder linen from vacated apartments. 

Upon sending a message to the apartment guide robot function, the only reference to laundry facilities was this common room - permitted hours of operation: 9:30am to 3:30pm. Pretty rich considering the commercial washing was being done in that time period and there are probably upwards of 15 apartments in this building. Luckily, we are not in dire straits and will probably delay our washing until Matera. When you are on the road for over two months, however, laundry is a thing and we are not impressed.

Anyway, we had less than an hour until we were to meet our guide for a hidden gems and tasting tour of Lecce. We were to do this on the morning of the second day but as we have already found out, arrangements made from Australia can be, and often are, changed. Instead of 10am Tuesday, we headed into the old town for a 4:30pm rendez-vous with Clothilde, our guide.

A fountain outside the Castle of Charles V (from somewhere).

On the walk from our apartment into the old town, we had to make a slight detour as one of the roads has been entirely dug up. It looked like typical roadworks, until I noticed one of the workers using a trowel, not a bulldozer, to do the excavation work! I mean over-employment is a thing, but that is ludicrous. Interesting, but no time to stop and ponder this strange observation. 

Our initial walk into Lecce revealed a town uniformly built out of a very light coloured sandstone that gives a golden glow to the place in the late afternoon sun. (Best viewed in the early morning and late afternoon when the light is softest). There were still tour groups around as we found ourselves in one of the main squares, en route to our meeting place, outside the Basilica of Santa Croce.

What? No Lions?

Immediately, as we entered the piazza, in front of us was the Roman amphitheatre, enclosed in the middle of the square, going down below street level. A little further along was another smaller excavation site with a number of different levels of ruins revealed. 

Towards the end of our tour, Clothilde actually explained that the ruins had all been accidentally uncovered when various development works were being carried out. The amphitheatre brought a building project to an end and in fact, only half of the colosseum (and it was a colosseum with massive arches, well before the one in Rome) has been unearthed because the rest lies under multiple buildings around the piazza and into the dug up street that we had passed. Again they had decided to do some improvements and found the other end of the amphitheatre - hence the trowel. Assume that street is not reopening anytime soon. 

Expect the unexpected. Like the Spanish Inquisition.

The other fenced off ruins were supposed to reveal more of the amphitheatre but instead uncovered layers of buildings going back to Norman and Byzantine eras, all built on top of each other. Oops. Gives a whole new meaning to "Dial before you dig."

Anyway, we made our way past the excavations, through the narrow streets to the "Queen of Lecce Baroque" as our guide labelled Basilica Santa Croce at the commencement of the tour. The façade is so ornate, you could stand to look at it for 10 minutes and not take in all the detail that has been worked into the exterior. It is overwhelming in its intricacy and we had not looked inside. That will happen in the days to follow.

It is too big to capture in one photo.

With the doors.

The levels of the building have been added over time and the progress has been date stamped and  carved into the decorations. Because it is so busy, you need to know where to look though to see these details. 

A short look at the Prefecture next door gave us an inkling into the recurring theme of religious palaces being acquired as public buildings - convents, monasteries, seminaries all now housing the department of justice, the prefecture etc. All of these grand buildings are adjacent to various churches that adorn the old city, all of them testaments to the Lecce Baroque style. In his time Napoleon influenced these changes.

As part of the tour, we actually only went inside one of the many churches, Chiesa di Sant'Irene. This church has multiple side altars that again capture the intricacies of this particular style with depictions of fruit, flowers, ornate spiralling columns, and creatures, all contributing to a complex symbolism and story telling of both Christianity and the history of this ancient town.

A side altar.

Another one. Not too busy?

Lecce was in fact originally called Lupiae by the Romans and the city's emblem is a she wolf under an oak tree, many of which are planted around the old town. The wolf features frequently as does Saint Oronzo, who, during the plague which devastated populations across Europe, is credited with the miracle  that allowed Lecce, Ostuni and Brindisi to be spared. Oronzo features in most churches as well as being captured in bronze (twice) in the main piazza.

Lecce is a city of artisans of all types, jewellers, painters, iron workers, tailors, designers, potters but the standout craft is papier mâché. No, I'm not talking about the sort of stuff you produced in primary school art classes (ah, the memories, all bad). This is serious business with multiple layers contributing to an art form that is sold in multiple shops but also adorns most streets and features heavily in church interiors. This also an inter-generational endeavour, passed down through families. The accident of birth can be cruel.

Paper mache (in Australia).

Papier mâché (in France).

Of course, our tour took us to the Piazza del Duomo and the Cattedrale of Maria Santissima Assunta with its bell tower, 73 metres, the highest point in the town. This was a spectacle of Baroque buildings on all four sides of the square, beautiful in the twilight but magically transformed when the lights suddenly came on while we were looking at the cathedral. The ethereal quality was even more present since we were almost by ourselves after the departure of the day tripper groups (and some swift editing work of the photos).

The Cathedral, actually a side entrance.

The bell tower.

The Bishop's house.

The Cathedral in less flattering light.

To cap off this special experience, we were then led over to a shop on the piazza, run by the most joyful man, who plied us with rosé and then introduced us to ... limoncello balls!!!! OMG - imagine jaffas but made of limoncello. But better. There were variants with orange and chocolate but bags of these are coming home with us. (Well that is the theory, if they don't arrive, forget you ever read this).

Soon we were back in the main piazza, having criss-crossed the old town and, as the rain very lightly started to fall, it was time to bid Clothilde a fond farewell after 3 wonderful hours of introduction to her city. It's now over to us to explore for ourselves with a context and a history behind this ancient town.

On our way home, we felt we needed to eat some dinner but the place Clothilde had recommended was closed on Mondays. We went to the place next door because it was open and it was raining. The less said about that experience the better.

Oh, the title? I'm too tired to explain, surely you get it, dear reader. Here is the link for Dig, Lazarus, Dig! by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Home was only minutes away in the light drizzle. Bed was welcome.

Alla prossima.

So much water so close to home (Bari)

The rain that has been tracking us south finally caught up with us around 5:30am in the form of a massive thunderstorm. Thunder and lightning, very, very frightening. Well, not so much frightening as extremely loud. It actually rivalled the emptying of the hotel's bottle bin at 4:30am. That would have woken the dead. Still, it was pleasant laying in bed, listening to the rain as the lightning crackled through the sky before the thunder rumbled.

Yesterday was such a big day there were things that I forgot to mention. First, Adriano was the consummate guide. If you are down this way WithLocals is the tour company.

Second, Bari has a 'lover's arch', a bridge built across a laneway between two houses. It is quite an unusual feature and the legend surrounding it is akin to Romeo and Juliette. The arch, or wonder bridge, was supposedly constructed in one night to allow the passage of the lovers from one house to the other. Today it is only the romantics who subscribe to the theory. Otherwise it was built by the rich Milanese people who lived on either side of the lane.

The Lover's Arch.

Third, you know my hatred of tour groups, dear reader, even accepting that sometimes they are a necessary evil. However, there is a limit. In the Cathedral yesterday there was a group, I assume from the ship that is in port, that numbered well over 50 people. Imagine the issues a group that size creates in an old town with narrow labyrinthine laneways that are supposed to accommodate people on foot as well as the locals on motor scooters. Chaos.

Finally, I applied for a refund from Trenitalia because our train arrived 50 minutes late. they kept making the announcement about compensation, so I thought, why not. I expected nothing beyond recognition of my application. Surprise. I received a 25% refund, €32,95. I have to return to Italy to use it, but hey, we were coming back next year anyway.

Today, breakfast was at the hotel and the rain had stopped by the time we were due to head out to the Palazzo dell'Acquadotto, the Cathedral of Water or the headquarters of Puglia's waterboard, to draw an Australian equivalent. Its origins date back to the original plan to bring water to Puglia. The name Puglia means 'dry land'. 

Need a smaller lens to get the whole building.

We actually wanted to do the tour because of the architectural descriptions we had read about the building being designed, built and decorated to celebrate all things aqua. In fact it is only one of two buildings in the world dedicated to water. It was the first building in Puglia to be connected to running water - as recently as 1934!

When we were trying to book our tour, we couldn't work out why the site was asking us to book an appointment with someone until we worked out that Monday to Friday, this is the waterboard offices so you go there if you have an issue or need something related to your water supply.

The marble staircase.

Therefore tours only happen on the weekends and are limited to 20 people. Anyway, we managed to book the last 2 tickets today at 11am; a leisurely 20 minute stroll into the Murat district away from the old town. The only snag was the tours are only conducted in Italian.

An insurmountable problem you think? Not at all. No, our 4 weeks in Italy have not miraculously resulted in us becoming fluent speakers; aside from ordering caffé or birra. We are however, the proud owners of ear buds that, when connected to the translation app on my iPhone, simultaneously translate, both orally and in text, whatever language is being spoken. Well, not an unlimited number of languages but Italian is certainly in the repertoire. So, one bud each was the plan.

Water motifs everywhere.

We were uncertain about the weather today as the weather app said, like yesterday, that umbrellas would be needed. We headed out to the Murat and wandered through the clearly French influenced streets to the Palazzo, arriving with 5 minutes to spare.

People were milling around in the front foyer and we walked up to the official to show our tour tickets to be told it was not necessary and to just wait. Meanwhile, we observed various examples of how this has become known as the water cathedral - wall decorations, floor mosaics, light fittings, door handles - everything reflected something to do with water. The attention to detail was astonishing.

Snakes on the downpipes.

Then people from the previous tour descended the staircase and our guide appeared from no where. She began to tick off names from a paper list until she came to us - Apologies but the tour is only in Italian. No worries said we and indicated our ear buds and phone. She was a little surprised but launched into her opening spiel in the foyer, outlining the focus of the tour and the floors we would access - only ground, one and two since the other floors are offices for the waterboard workers.

The tree of life.

Our ear buds were working a treat except that there are only 2 choices of English - UK which is almost bordering on a Cockney accent and US which we were clearly not having. Anyway, Jayne held the phone and stayed relatively close by the guide to pick up the commentary and we heard that the tour would not only focus on the building and its furniture, but more importantly on the project that was conceived to bring underground water via aqueducts to Puglia.

Then we were off across the street to consider the grand exterior of the building and its features before heading back inside to the ground floor courtyard and then up to floor one to the museum exhibits and photos that chronicle the inception of the 'utopian' project that no one believed could become reality and the steps that saw it realised in the 20th century, under the patronage of Victorio Emanuele II.

Amphora in the window.

Basically on the surface, Puglia seems dry but in reality, it lies on top of a network of underground water sources that needed to be brought to the surface using pipes and aqueduct systems that relied on the force of gravity to move the water to where it was needed. 

Water themed inlays in the furniture.

The building contains the general offices along with those of the president of the waterboard and its members who meet there to control all things water in Puglia. It also contains living quarters for important water people and their families and guests, although the beds did not look comfortable and the rooms were stiflingly hot on a relatively cool day. It wouldn't have been much more than 20°C.

Waves for door handles.

Everything, and I mean everything, is designed to reflect the core business, including the furniture, the frescoes, the windows, the light fittings, the floor ...

In the stairwell.

Anyway, the building lived up to the hype we had read about and the ear buds are a game changer. We thanked the tour guide after the tour was concluded and she was clearly delighted by our use of technology to access her commentary. A fabulous investment which we will definitely continue to use - not sure if its repertoire includes Egyptian for our Cairo/Nile leg.

On the floor.

There were really only one or two last things to check off Jayne's list, aside from the day trips which the weather has ruled out. One was the witches' arch. The Masciare were figures from Bari Vecchia who, legend says, were not proper witches. They were 'ordinary women' who went about their daily lives but at night rubbed special oil into their bodies to transform themselves into black cats, after which they would gather under the arch to perform nocturnal rites (Not sure about what, use your imagination. On second thought don't). Anyway, the locals still have a script they say if they come across a black cat, to protect themselves from the evil eye.

It was complex getting to the arch. Jayne's paper map has icons plastered all over it which makes guess work as relevant as map reading skills. We combined that with my iPhone map and found a local brewer that we saw yesterday near the lover's arch. Clearly that was a message. Beer o'clock at Birrificio Svevo. We had a chat with the owner and settled down for a Bari beer and some olives. Our timing was impeccable. We were comfortable when people arrived form everywhere. No outside tables vacant.

We crossed referenced our maps as we enjoyed our beer and were certain we could find the witches arch. As it was nearing time to leave, a couple arrived with a baby in a pram, clearly looking for an outside table. I signalled to them that we were leaving and we cleared our table and went inside to pay. They were most grateful and I understand why, it was very hot inside.

Eventually we found the witches arch, unspectacular as it is. But we found it. Then it was back to the hotel to see if the weather really was going to close in.

Not a witch or a black cat in sight.

Remarkably, it didn't, so we decided a walk along the Lungomare, this time towards the Bread and Tomato Beach would be a good way to spend the afternoon. The seats along the promenade were full of locals enjoying the afternoon. There were yachts out on the water, in training, supported by motor boats.

Learning to race.

The walk along the promenade towards the beach is very French. The buildings are French provincial, the lamp posts would not be out of place on a bridge across the Seine. It was easy to forget where we were. It was a lovely stroll and we sat down where the seats stopped and acted like the locals.

Very French.

Today's title is relevant to the palazzo and also to the view across the water. You can choose, dear reader. The Australian story teller, Paul Kelly, penned So much water so close to home. It s a classic from 1989.

There was lightning on the horizon over towards Albania and the clouds behind us looked threatening so it was time to head back to the hotel for an aperitvo before deciding on tonight's dinner venue.

Despite threatening all day, the rain held off and we ventured down towards the city centre for dinner at a restaurant recommended by Adriano, La Baresana. It's a pizza and pasta place, no surprise there. It opens at 7:30pm and, being unable to book unless you phoned, we arrived at 7:25pm with a mass of locals and secured a table on the corso under one the large umbrellas.

Orders were quickly taken and drinks arrived and the queue to get a table grew longer. Some people gave up. More tables were procured from inside and set up away from the shelter. Fortunately for the people seated there it did not rain. The pizzas were excellent, not quite Napoli or Romano, but somewhere in between.

We made it back to the hotel to discover chocolates on our pillows. A nice touch. It is supposed to rain most of tonight and into tomorrow. We shall see.

Alla prossima.