Home is where my bed is

Italy 3: Enjoying Lecce

2009-08-30T22:40:33Z

This material better viewed on its originally published location: Home is where my bed is]]>

I have friends in Puglia and have visited several times, but had never made it to Lecce, so when I knew I was coming to Italy I really wanted to go there. I also hoped that by going to Puglia I would have a better chance at warm weather. (Ironically enough, the warmest weather we had was in Bolzano, but what can you do!)

I was very happy with my hotel/apartment, Casa dei Mercanti, and slept like a baby. I had a ten o'clock guided tour Monday morning, but I didn't have any problem getting up. Breakfast was a cornetto at the corner bar, and I was happy to see that although cool, it wasn't raining, despite the forecast.

The hotel had arranged a guide for me; I had wanted to take a tour so that I could both get to know Lecce and learn more about the Baroque churches that fill the city. (Just one of the many things the hotel helped with.) Angela the guide was waiting for me in the hotel office and we headed out to Piazza Sant'Oronzo. We started down Via Vittorio Emanuele in the centro storico and she gave me a great intro to Lecce's history and art. Angela is an art history graduate and a licensed tour guide and often leads groups of school kids around the city - so I think it was nice for her, too, to just have to show one person around! Wherever we went there were lots of school kids and she said she was happy to have a break from them!

]]> We visited several churches right away, including Santa Chiara, Chiesa del Rosario and Sant'Anna, all gorgeous. It was very cool to learn some of the typical Baroque characteristics and I also learned a lot of new Italian words - for instance puttini, little angels. We then headed towards the city walls and the porte, first checking out Porta Rudiae, from the antique city of Rudiae, close to Lecce. It was originally built in the middle age but rebuilt in the 1700s in the baroque style. It has a large statue of the city's patron saint, Sant'Oronzo.

We walked on the outside of the wall, in the modern city (which is also very pleasant) and saw some of the university buildings. Angela then suggested we visit the school of Art History, as it is one of the few medieval buildings in Lecce. It was gorgeous! What a perfect place to study art history. On the way back we visited the Castello Carlo V.

The courtyard of the Facolta di Storia dell'Arte:

We continued strolling around the city, entering through the Porta Napoli, another gorgeous city gate, before visiting the Duomo. What an amazing cathedral! We ended up at a cafe where we had juice and a "rustico", a little pastry filled with tomato sauce and cheese. She wanted to show me Santa Croce, maybe Lecce's most famous church, but it was closed.

However, Angela was kind enough to invite me out for dinner as well. I met up with her and her friends at a coffee shop/bookstore, Libreria Icaro, before driving to a restaurant called Osteria Cosimino. (Many restaurants were closed on Mondays.) They asked me if I had any dietary restrictions and I jokingly said "Well, I rarely eat horse!" They, however, did not get the joke, and explained that horse meat is excellent for people who are anemic, which apparently is common in the south. But they assured me there would be other dishes on the menu. It was very funny for me to open the menu and see three different horse meat dishes!

We went mostly vegetarian, however, with some fantastic appetizers (antipasti in Puglia are wonderful!) My pasta was called ciciri e tria, and looked like a tagliatelle that was slightly fried. Very tasty! And the place was so economical, we spent under ten euro each!

(Interesting side note: I was on antibiotic for a respiratory infection, and it completely took my appetite away. For the first four days in Italy, I got full so fast! It was very strange. I couldn't even finish a simple brioche for breakfast!)

Antipasti!

Italy 2: Casa dei Mercanti - my hotel in Lecce

2009-08-30T22:28:50Z

This material better viewed on its originally published location: Home is where my bed is]]> I really, really enjoyed where I stayed in Lecce. Casa dei Mercanti is somewhere between a BB and an apartment rental, but really feels more like a hotel.

I wrote two reviews one for Slow Travel and one for Trip Advisor. They are similar, of course.

I am copying some of the text here, because I wrote it when it was still fresh in my mind!

It is rare to not have any complaints about a hotel, but this bed and breakfast really is perfect! It is located on Piazza Sant'Oronzo, right in the middle of Lecce, but my room (Junior Suite Cremisi) faced the quiet back side of the building so there was no noise at all.

While Casa dei Mercanti is called a bed and breakfast, it is more like really beautiful self-catering apartments with great amenities. They are newly renovated and everything looks brand new and inviting. The junior suites are the smaller ones but still have a full-sized kitchen with all amenities, a dining table, sofa, flat screen TV in the main room as well as in the bedroom.

]]> While Casa dei Mercanti is called a bed and breakfast, it is more like really beautiful self-catering apartments with great amenities. They are newly renovated and everything looks brand new and inviting. The junior suites are the smaller ones but still have a full-sized kitchen with all amenities, a dining table, sofa, flat screen TV in the main room as well as in the bedroom.

The bathroom is beautiful, shiny, and clean, with great water pressure, a hair dryer, bath products, and nice big towels. The bedroom was very pretty as well, with art work on the walls and a comfy platform bed. All rooms have shutters (tapparelle) that makes it both quiet and dark, so it is easy to sleep in!

I spent three nights at Casa dei Mercanti and would have loved to stay longer. Because the apartment is so spacious you don’t at all feel you are in a cramped hotel room.

The breakfast is maybe the only thing that is not great about the place; you basically go to a bar on the piazza and get a coffee and a cornetto. But having a kitchen, it was easy to pick up fruit, yogurt and other breakfast items so it wasn't a problem at all. They also provide a few breakfast items in the kitchen, as well as bottled water in the fridge - a nice touch!

There is not staff on-site 24/7 (which I guess is why it is called a BB and not a hotel) but Franzi, the manager, is there most of the day and he is extremely helpful. I arrived in the evening, after his normal hours, but he met me there, showed me around, and took the time to give me a map and tell me how to navigate the city. He also organized a great guided tour for me first day, suggested restaurants, etc.

I would whole-heartedly recommend this BB to everybody. Lecce is beautiful and very much worth visiting! And staying at Casa dei Mercanti made it even more pleasant.

Italy 1: Getting to Lecce

2009-06-15T02:12:11Z

This material better viewed on its originally published location: Home is where my bed is]]> I apologize for being the worst blogger ever lately! I gave you a teaser a few weeks ago, along with some excuses, but now it is time!! (Although I have one more excuse up my sleeve: The comma key is pretty much stuck, making it hard to write commas...)

Two weeks before leaving, I got a cold. I remember thinking that I was glad I got it in time to get well before I was going to leave… Well, I got to eat my words because my cold turned into a flu and a particularly painful cough. I tried resting as much as I could and drinking lots of water, since there wasn’t much I could do. When I had been sick for ten days, the Tuesday before my Saturday departure, I went to the clinic. I didn’t think I had anything that I needed medicine for but I figured I should check it out. The doctor said my cough sounded like croup but that I didn’t have pneumonia or anything like that, but she gave me an antibiotic anyway, along with some cough pills and cough syrup. (I was not happy about taking an antibiotic when she wasn't sure it was necessary, but at the same time I felt I had to do what she told me!)

Unfortunately, I didn’t get any better and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday was a feverish blur. On Friday I was really worried that I had to postpone the trip, but there was really no way to do that without spending a lot of money. Friday night I was able to get out of bed for a little bit and that made me hopeful that I could actually do it. Good thing I had written a detailed packing list weeks in advance, which made packing very easy! I had also decided to go with a carry on size suitcase which meant I just couldn’t take a lot of stuff.

]]> Saturday I rested as much as I could before going to the airport for my 4:30pm departure. I got there early hoping to change my middle seat to an aisle, but no such luck. I was told to try again at the gate and an hour before departure I was able to get an aisle – in the last row of the plane. But when I got on the plane they asked me to switch so that a couple could sit together, and I got another aisle seat. Puh!

Waiting to board was not fun – I felt so sick and weak and really just wanted to lay down, something I knew I wouldn’t do for another 24 hours or so! I was constantly taking different pills and drinking lots of water – whenever I stopped I would go into these very unpleasant coughing fits. I am sure my fellow passengers were thrilled to have me there!

We boarded and I took some more cold medicine, hoping to sleep. That didn’t happen either, so I watched movies, ate some food, and watched the time go by. It sure didn’t go very fast… But shortly after 6am we landed in Paris and the thought of being in Europe gave me some energy. Since we were one of the earlier planes from the US, things went quite smoothly and it was only 7 or so when I was in the terminal for my next flight, scheduled to leave at 9:45. I had wanted enough time but there and then I wished I was on the 7:15 flight.

After a tasty pain au chocolat and some tooth brushing, I once again felt that crashing feeling, and I had a long time to go. I started to feel a little desperate when I saw that all the benches were separated by armrests, so there was nowhere to lie down. All I wanted was to stretch out! Luckily, after walking around for a while I found some more comfortable chairs and rested until my flight. I was seated next to a nice American lady and we had fun talking about where we were going – it was her first time going to Italy and they were basically covering Rome, Florence, all of Tuscany, Bologna, and Venice in ten days!! Crazy.

We landed on time (even though we had left late) and the luggage didn’t take too long. I got on the 12:35 train to Termini (just made it!) and started a series of coughing fits, once again delighting my fellow passengers I am sure. I went through a crazy amount of water bottles trying to stop it. The train took longer than expected, almost an hour, so I was glad I didn’t wait for the later train. At Termini I bought some snacks and got on my already packed train to Lecce. I was so happy I had the tiny suitcase as it was easy to put it on the shelf above my seat. I was happy to have a window seat and hoping I could sleep a little bit – I had been traveling for 17 hours and had almost another six to go.

At first I didn’t talk to my fellow passengers (I even slept for an hour!) but after a few hours it turned into one of those fun Italian train conversations. I was traveling with a family, including a daughter my age, who had been visiting their other daughter in Rome, and a wannabe hipster 20-year old who had never been outside of Italy but quickly declared her love for the US and everything American. It was a lot of fun and they definitely took me under the wing when they heard I was traveling alone.

When we got to Lecce (after 5 hours and 45 minutes!) the family offered me a ride before I could even look for a taxi. They were from Galatina, about 20 minutes from Lecce, but graciously dropped me off just a block from my hotel, Casa dei Mercanti on Piazza Sant’Oronzo (named for Lecce’s patron saint.) Franzi, the manager of the hotel, showed me my beautiful room and gave me a map and some advice on getting around.

I knew I was going to like the city when I saw the lively passeggiata going on, and although I was so tired I could hardly see straight, I went out for a quick slice of pizza. It was still very cold but lots and lots of people were walking around and I was thrilled to be back in southern Italy, cold or no cold.

Lo spritz!

2009-05-30T22:39:45Z

This material better viewed on its originally published location: Home is where my bed is]]> Sandra and Nancy asked about spritz in the comments to the last post, so I wanted to write a quick note about spritz. Spritz is an aperitivo that is common in the Veneto and surrounding regions. (On this trip I had them in regions that border the Veneto, such as the Trentino and Emilia-Romagna, but I also had it in Lecce so although it comes from the Veneto, it seems to be available in a lot of places.)

Spritz can be made several ways, but the most common version is spritz made with Aperol. Aperol is an Italian aperitivo made by the Campari company. It is a beautiful orange color (and in my opinion tastes nothing like Campari.) Aperol only has 11% alcohol. Spritz is made with either prosecco or white wine, Aperol, and some sparkling water. I think the ones I had were most often made with white wine, although the prosecco ones are delicious! You can also make spritz with Campari but I didn't see that much.

Spritz is a wonderful pre-dinner drink because it is not too alcoholic (important when drinking on an empty stomach!) and because it is refreshing and delicious, of course. I can't think of a better end of a day, beginning of an evening than to sip a spritz in a beautiful town square, while munching on some chips or other aperitivo type snacks. Yum!

To order it, simply ask for "uno spritz". Some places that automatically meant with Aperol, other places they asked - you can add "con Aperol" to make sure.

Aperol is sold in the US and many European countries so it is easy to make at home. We are experimenting with the best ways to mix it - opening a bottle of prosecco when you only need a little bit seems silly so we have been using mostly white wine - but for a party, I want to use the prosecco!

There seems to be many differing opinions on the proportions of a spritz - some say equal parts Aperol and wine, others say one third to two thirds, then a dash of sparkling water.

Spritz and snacks in Bolzano:

Where to begin??

2009-05-29T02:41:23Z

This material better viewed on its originally published location: Home is where my bed is]]> I am so sorry I have been missing in action! First it was work, then I had visitors from the homeland - and then the visitor broke an arm in Boston! So I just got back from Boston and am trying to catch up on work and everything else.

Before I start writing more detailed about the trip, here are some highlights! It really was the best and most awesomest trip ever.

The hospitality in Puglia. It was not my first time in Puglia but once again I was floored by the warmth of the people. Loved it!

Hanging out with friends in Bologna. All those wonderful people, so many great memories. Meeting my friends' baby!

Trento (in the Trentino). We spent an evening there en route to Bolzano, and it is such a lovely place! The town is beautiful, surrounded by mountains and with the most gorgeous square. We had a fabulous spritz on the piazza before the biggest dinner I had in Italy. I couldn't finish half of it! Trento is called the painted town because of the beautifully decorated buildings there. I want to go back!

My BB in Lecce: Casa dei Mercanti. Well priced, central, super clean, spacious, gorgeous!

Carciofi alla giudia in Rome...

Hiking and horseback riding above Bolzano. SO beautiful! Hiking in Norway will never be the same - in Italy they do it right: when you get tired, you find a little mountain restaurant that serves good food and delicious drink. And the weather was beyond belief!

Spritz (with Aperol.) It gets its own line. It's that good. I'll add aperitivo in general to this.

Lunch in Mantova: Great food, cheap sparkling white wine, a gorgeous sunny day. A perfect stop between Bologna and Trentino-Alto Adige (although a little off the highway.)

Having J. with me in Italy! I think we should move there. :)

The piazza in Trento:

Tornata!

2009-05-13T16:02:02Z

This material better viewed on its originally published location: Home is where my bed is]]> I am back! Sorry I didn't blog at all while I was gone, but there was so much fun stuff to do! Work is a little crazy now but here are two photos, the first from Otranto (Puglia), in the very south of Italy, and one from San Genesio (Alto Adige), in the very north. It was all marvelous; Puglia, Alto Adige, and everything in between!!

Disclaimer: I have never stayed at the Hotel Orologio!

2009-04-19T21:47:28Z

This material better viewed on its originally published location: Home is where my bed is]]> A few weeks back I was discussing whether to stay at the Hotel Commercianti or the Hotel Orologio, two of the Bologna Art Hotels. The discussion was very much leaning to the Orologio. One of the outcomes of this discussion was that my blog friend Sandra, of A Journey of a Thousand Miles, decided to switch her summer reservation to the Orologio. She was originally going to stay at the Hotel Porta San Mamolo, which comes warmly recommended by many Slow Travelers. I felt slightly guilty that she had switched hotels, especially because she wanted a quiet hotel, but I could live with it.

Now, however, another blog friend, Girasoli (of Shaved Ice and Gelato fame, has switched over as well!! And she loves the Porta San Mamolo! Now I feel responsible for the decisions of two other people... They both got great deals, and I love a good deal myself, but I sure hope they are happy with the switch!

Therefore, I wanted to post this public disclaimer - I have not stayed at the Hotel Orologio and my recommendation is solely based on other people's comments. Please do not sue me if you don't like it. :)

(To make matters worse, my friend is now staying at the Commercianti and I am thinking about switching back...)

Susan Boyle - Britain's Got Talent

2009-04-18T19:14:21Z

This material better viewed on its originally published location: Home is where my bed is]]> Most people have probably seen this by now, but it doesn't matter - it is still so amazing! Susan Boyle is the somewhat matronly looking 47 year old who surprises and wows the judges and the audience on Britain's Got Talent. Just beautiful! Some of the scenes are particularly great - when Simon's face changes from his usual frown to an expression of amazement; when Pierce says "the biggest yes I have ever given"; when Amanda says that it was a privilege to listen to the performance. And she is right, it is a privilege to hear this beautiful voice, to see how happy she is is when they like her singing, and to realize that we can all reach our dreams. Brava Susan!!

Click here to see the video.

Grateful

2009-04-18T17:15:05Z

This material better viewed on its originally published location: Home is where my bed is]]> The wonderful Diana of Baur BB wrote a beautiful entry about gratitude the other day. Lately, I have thought a lot about how lucky I am to be able to travel and explore the world and her post inspired me to write down how grateful I am as well.

I am loved and I love.

I have the resources and freedom to travel.

I feel bubbles of joy in my heart when I think about the places I'll go.

I am going back to Italy after five years and the planning has made me so happy! Even buying little plastic bottles or test packing my bag makes me giddy.

I will once again be 100% surrounded by the Italian language. I will chat with grandmothers and shopkeepers and others whose path I cross.

I will ride trains to beautiful fields and interesting towns, while reading Italian magazines, chatting with my fellow passengers, and eating Italian food.

I will eat wonderful food.

I will visit beloved places and explore new ones. I will see old friends and make new ones.

For this I am grateful.

Don't think I'll see these guys again, though!

Packing: Can I do the tiny suitcase?

2009-04-14T03:57:50Z

This material better viewed on its originally published location: Home is where my bed is]]> So my big decision of the week is: Can I pack in a carry-on size bag? Actually, it is even smaller, it is only 19 inches. I want to check it, so I will also have a carry-on backpack and of course a purse. In my carry-on I will keep my reading materials, printouts of hotel reservations, train tickets, camera, my most important toiletries, etc. I will also wear my bulkiest shoes on the plane!

I have never been good at packing lightly and I really hate it when I feel that I left something behind that I really need, which makes me over-pack instead. But I want to change it! :)

So I did a little test tonight: I stuffed as much as I could into my little suitcase. (There was probably a little more room left, but not much.) This is what I was able to fit in:

4 sweaters
3 pairs of jeans
1 other pair of pants
Tweed jacket
Cute jacket
4 long sleeved t-shirts
Underwear and socks
2 pairs of shoes
Some toiletries
1 fat Lonely Planet

Edited to add: This is just what I was able to put in - I will move stuff around; for instance, two pairs of jeans is enough, and I may not need four sweaters. And I will need some short sleeved shirts in case it is warm in Lecce.

In addition, I would of course wear pants, sweater, a pair of shoes, and a jacket on the plane, which means one more outfit. I can do laundry in Bologna midway as well. I would need more shirts, though. Oh, and the much discussed curling iron! Hm... I guess I can put some shirts in my backpack. I also need something nice for my party in Bologna, but I am thinking that it will be jeans/nice jacket or something like that. No room for booths and skirts, for instance.

I guess I am so used to having extra room that having just enough worries me - what if I buy clothes, for instance? (I can easily fill a big duffel bag for a long weekend.) But I would LOVE to have a tiny bag for train rides and the like. If I find that this is not sustainable, I'll have to get some kind of small rolling duffel - I don't want to take my regular sized suitcase, as it will be annoying on the trains.

To be continued!

(Speaking of packing, here is a link to a discussion on Slow Talk about "Packing heavy." It's pretty funny!)

Packing: Cutting down on the electronics

2009-04-12T00:09:42Z

This material better viewed on its originally published location: Home is where my bed is]]> As you already know, I am getting max value for this trip by spending countless hours planning, thinking, wondering and obsessing. One of my goals for this trip is to pack light. I am usually pretty bad at packing light. I can never quite imagine what the place is going to be like, what I will want to wear, temperature, etc. For instance, I am always cold so I make sure that I have some warm clothes with me.

For this trip, I will try to cut down on electronics. I was going to bring only my camera and charger, but today I added one more electronic accessory: a curling iron. I like using a wide barreled curling iron to shape my hair and usually when I go to Norway I use a converter and an adapter to be able to use it. Very annoying and bulking, and not conducive to packing light! I had planned to not bring one to Italy but then I read some threads on Slow Travel about curling irons, and it dawned on me: I need a dual voltage curling iron! I read lots about it and it should be fine. I then went to my local Rite Aid and got this one from Conair. It was on sale for only 11 dollars, so I think it was a good buy. I'll use it with an adapter plug and I should be all set!

Some of the things I will not bring are my laptop, iPod, cell phone... Hopefully I can go two weeks without any of those!

And as I always do when I talk about packing: here is the customary link to Girasoli's extremely well packed ziploc bag! On her advice I went and got some small Nalgene bottles and I hope that downsizing my toiletries will help me pack light.

Decision 2009: My BB in Lecce

2009-04-06T03:05:05Z

This material better viewed on its originally published location: Home is where my bed is]]> Now with more photos!

I wanted to write about one more decision I have made: My bed and breakfast in Lecce, Casa dei Mercanti. Unfortunately, their website has been down for the last 48 hours and may still be so when you try to click the link. It also means that I can't post any photos from it - except from this one photo I found on Google Images. Edited to add: Website is working now! However, it is all flash so I am having a hard time copying any images. You'll have to wait for my own. :)

I had wanted to post a photo from my particular "junior suite", named Corallo, because it looks so pretty with the reds and pinks! (I'll add photos when the site is back up.) Also, the price is great, just 55 euro for a double used as single, including breakfast. They have also organized a guide for a walking tour the first day. They don't have many reviews online but the ones that are there are very positive. Each little suite has a kitchen and the decor looks beautiful in all of them. Interestingly, I have gotten the impression that most tourists in Lecce stay in BBs. There are lots of BBs and not a lot of hotels.

Hopefully I will be happy with my choice!!

Sign at the entrance of the suite:

Dining room:

Bathroom:

Weird long photo captured from the virtual tour:

Decision 2009: Pizzeria Gianna

2009-04-03T04:06:26Z

This material better viewed on its originally published location: Home is where my bed is]]> A fellow Slow Traveler started this discussion on restaurants in Bologna, which made me think more about what I ate when I lived there. I really am no gourmet, and was even less of one then, but of course I did enjoy the wonderful foods that Bologna has to offer!

One place in particular saw a lot of my business: Pizzeria Gianna, a small pizzeria on Via Santo Stefano, close to to where I lived. I must have gone there three times a week! Of all the pizza places in Bologna, I was lucky that a really great one (or rather, one that I really liked) was so close to my house. Can't wait to go there!

I did a quick search for it earlier today and there is even mention of it on the internet! Pizzeria Gianna, Bologna. It is located on Via Santo Stefano 76, a short walk from Piazza Santo Stefano. If you are walking from the piazza, it is on your left, shortly before getting to Via Fondazza. It is a very basic place, you can sit along the bar or along the window, but great for a tasty pizza!

Decision 2009: At least I decided on a guide book!

2009-04-01T02:13:39Z

This material better viewed on its originally published location: Home is where my bed is]]> I waited patiently for a Border's Reward coupon (when I didn't need one they seemed to come all the time but now nothing for several weeks!) and after work today I happily headed down to the book store to pick up my chosen guidebook, Lonely Planet's Italy (latest edition is 2008.) Research online is great but I do like to have a real book with me, especially one that covers everything. I have always liked Lonely Planet for Europe trips, and I was very happy with my Brazil guide as well. (For Central America, I think Moon Handbooks are better - especially the Nicaragua one which was written by a good friend!)

I have used Rough Guide and others in the past but feel that Lonely Planet's Italy guide is comprehensive and well researched. I am especially looking forward to reading the sections on the Trentino and the Alto-Adige; I trust LP to provide info for each little paese (or is it dorf up there?)

Indecision 2009: Hotel Orologio or Hotel Commercianti?

2009-03-31T02:45:48Z

This material better viewed on its originally published location: Home is where my bed is]]> In this post, I said I had decided on a hotel in Bologna; the Hotel Commercianti, one of the Bologna Art Hotels. The Commercianti is a four star hotel, while its sister hotel, Orologio, is a three-plus star or something like that. I decided on the Commercianti because the total price there was lower. Now, however, the Orologio is cheaper so I've got a reservation there too! The price difference is small but from the reviews on TripAdvisor, the Orologio is a better hotel. So I guess we'll go with the slightly cheaper hotel with better ratings... I did like the idea of a four star hotel for a low price but maybe we'll be happier at the three star Hotel Orologio... It comes recommended by other Slow Travelers as well. Both hotels are right by the Piazza Maggiore so the location will be good no matter what.

I am going back and forth a lot but it is pretty fun! Especially since I have been very lucky with the prices so far. I'll make sure to let you know what I decide!