Hallelujah Chorus (Lecce)

It was back to the boulangerie for a more traditional Italian breakfast of strong coffee accompanied by something sweet. Today we both had the pasticciotto, dear reader. They look like over sized Madeleine cakes until you pick one up and bite into it. They are surprisingly heavy with their apple filling. We had a lost in translation moment when ordering the pasticciotto because we accidentally dropped the last syllable. That was soon sorted by yesterday's waitress who greeted us like old friends and translated for us. The coffee and food soon arrived to power us through the day.

Certainly that is one observation of difference between the north and the less travelled parts of the south - noticeably fewer locals speak English. Not a huge problem with technology available, nor do we just expect people to all speak English.  Certainly, our attempts at Italian generate a lot of laughs!

Dinner tonight will be at the apartment to ensure we eat what supplies we have left. Tomorrow is a transit day, by bus, a new and interesting experience. At the boulangerie, we purchased two rosetta rolls, one large, the other Jayne sized. Then it was over to the Coop to buy a couple of tomatoes. Silly us, we went to the check out to pay and the server had to take the tomatoes back, weigh them and create a sales sticker. Unusual system. More unusual, they wouldn't take cash for a purchase of €1,02.

We entered the old town via the same path as yesterday. The wind had dropped a little but it could still be chilly in the shade. There was not much left on our Lecce to do list. First stop was to the bancomato. The tourist tax in Sorrento needs to be paid in cash and although we could wait until Matera, we know where there are a couple of ATMs in Lecce.

Long story short, Bari did not charge a service fee for using an ATM. The first bank I tried here wanted €3,90 or $6.25, the next one wanted €5 or just over $8, as did the next one. It came down to the cheaper option or try the Credit Union on the way home and just accept whatever they charged. I went for the known and the cheapest option in the main piazza. What a total rip off.

The buildings are too big to capture.

The Baroque doorway to the Prefecture.

First stop today was the Prefecture next door to Santa Croce. It is a former convent and now houses local government offices. There is an ornate baroque doorway but inside the square is rather plain. Looking through to the other side, we could see a park with a small rotunda. It had a stylised green tiled roof, much like the Duomo.

The fountain had another beyond this one.

Duomos everywhere.

There wasn't much going on there. Kids in the playground, a couple of fountains and old people (older than us) sitting around enjoying the sunshine.

Back into the town, we went in search of the church of Santa Chiara. Again, the baroque style is really over the top. The stand out feature of this church is the ceiling. It looks like wooden panels but it is actually papier mâché. We spent more time there than required because there was a group of moronic tourists who insisted on standing in the centre of the aisle stopping anyone who wanted a clear photo of the altar. Normal people sat in a pew and read the notes from the associated QR code or listened quietly on their audio guides. Not these four. Entitled twats.

The papier mâché ceiling.

A side altar.

The main altar.

The next church was San Matteo, another baroque creation. At one stage, it fell out of use and the organ was removed and placed in another church. The space is still there but it has never been replaced. Once again, I'll let the pictures do the talking. However, the question arises, how many altars does one require? For a religion that does not tolerate worshipping idols they have a lot of altars dedicated to saints.

Side altar with part of a fresco.

The main deal.

I was keen to go to the top of the Bell Tower at the Duomo so we headed back there but decided to do the art museum and seminary first. Into the courtyard we walked to be met by Clotilde. She remembered us and gave us a big Italian welcome. We chatted while she waited for her tour group to reassemble.

Senza influencer.

There is a sculpture in the courtyard that is definitely worth a kodak moment. Again, patience was required because some uninspired influencer had set her iPhone up on a tripod and was taking numerous shots of herself. Checking them. re-shooting with different poses. FML these people are so self-absorbed. Apparently, prior to the shoot, she caused quite a queue in the ladies while she was making herself beautiful (on the outside at least).

Upstairs we went to the art museum. Of sorts. There was a Titian exhibition across town that would have been more interesting. The artworks were relics of their time period, dark, depicting predictable scenes from the bible.

I've seen better.

There was a mezzanine that held religious tools of trade, chalices, and lots of badly tarnished monstrances as well as highly embroidered vestments. Sorry, no photos, everything was encased in glass and there was too much reflection from the lights. The exhibition continued with papier mâché statues. My favourite was of Judith. Never heard of her? Grab a bible, it's a short read and she was a piece of work, but you'll need to read between the lines.

St Judith.

We also visited the Chapel of St Gregory. We're not sure how he fits into the picture in a former Franciscan seminary. Finally we looked at a temporary exhibition of contemporary sculpture and other artworks which contained some interesting pieces, still with a religious theme - except for one (see photo). Still scratching our heads about this one.

The Chapel of St Gregory.

Yeah, Manga Jesus? Not sure, but he is ripped.

As we were leaving to walk back out into the Piazza Duomo, we scored a stupid tourist comment. A woman, map in hand, asked the attendant where the Basilica Santa Croce was? "About a 5 minute walk." was the reply. Next question, "Where is the Duomo?" Like seriously! Out the door and look across the piazza. Maybe she thought the map was a fan to keep her cool in the warm Puglian sunshine... We often marvel at how people turn up somewhere and know absolutely nothing about the place they are visiting.

It was time to hit the top of the bell tower. Until I saw the price, €12, almost $20. Yeah nah. Instead we visited the cemetery just outside the town walls, next door to another university campus.

Outside Porto Napoli, nice link to the Duomo.

The gates to the cemetery were rather grand at both ends of the cypress avenue, but access to the cemetery itself was through a side road. There seemed to be a lot of cats about. There was a young uni student patting one and a few more turned up. As we walked down the side road, we came across a sign that declared the area a feline protection zone. It was sponsored by a local company. There was an extensive cat run with protection from the weather should they require it. There were cats under shrubs and the birds in the area seemed untroubled. At this point, still no graves or mausoleums.

A grand entrance to a cemetery.

I have no idea what this is about.

Then we came across a niche wall. larger than you would see at home. Beyond that, the newer versions of the family mausoleums. It looked like a scene form the Stepford Wives. Everything was very uniform. Jayne suggested the neighbourhood had a covenant regarding construction and lettering  on the façades.

Trying not to judge the money spent.

A little further on was a sandstone wall and beyond that were the old mausoleums. I thought some were churches they were so big. Clearly this was status symbol land. The bigger they were, the more important you or your family were. Despite the fact that we love a cemetery as a point of interest, it was kind of creepy so we returned to the land of the living and beer since we had already cracked 10,000 steps.

Not a street I want to live on.

The last task for us in Lecce was to find a Rustico. These are Lecce specialty pastries filled with bechamel sauce, mozzarella and a tomato sauce or passata. I was searching for a retailer because despite having walked past one shop several times, I had no idea where it was. Jayne went in to pay for the beer and returned with the news that this bar sold them. 

We ordered one to share. It sounds like a weird combination, but in essence they are the main ingredients of lasagna. The Lecce locals treat them like a snack food and eat them on the go. Since they are best eaten warm, Jayne had ours heated and we ate it at the table in the piazzetta.

If you get the opportunity, just do it.

To do list completed, we returned home to commence packing for an early start and tomorrow's trip to Matera.

And today's title? A little obvious, is it not? The Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah, a very well known piece of Baroque music. Enjoy.

Alla prossima.