Our digs

     Lecce, Italy is a university town located in the Province of Lecce, in the heel of Italy's boot.  The Adriatic washes the eastern shores, the western edge of the province stretches to the Ionic Sea. Between the coasts lies an arid landscape of olive orchards, vineyards, tomatoes, occasional pines and row crops amid working and abandoned farm houses and and dry dusty ground. Arriving in Lecce from Venice via train in the first week of September was like finding an oasis in the desert.
    Chiara, our hostess at the La Suppina B&B sent her husband to pick us up at the station.  Although Chiara has studied English at the local university, her husband probably knows as many English words as we know in Italian, i.e.,  hello, good-bye, very good, thank you.  He drove nervously while we clutched our bags, nodding, responding in loud, mad-sounding Ital-ish.
     It became immediately apparent that we had arrived.  The historic center, our new "home" for many weeks, rivals the beauty and sophistication of Sienna and other northern gems--but with a confluence of dramatically obvious artistic, cultural and architectural adaptations from centuries of Byzantine, Greek, Norman, Roman occupations.  The intensity here is hard to describe.  Here are a few photos of our new digs to provide a context:

The plein air laundry (we also have a wash. machine):

View from living room to patio:

Vaulted 1700's stone ceilings typical in this region:

We also have two bedrooms, a small kitchen with sink, stove, washing machine and adjoining bathroom.  Karla's studio and patio is two stories above and has amazing views of a private garden and nearby Duomo.  We are just steps away from the many restaurants, galleries, gorgeous churches and boutiques that face the narrow,

ancient, meandering stone streets.