Mie amici,

The weather and my health have made blogging less than appealing. The week has been rainy or just overcast and the temperature has dropped about 7-8 degrees, so even sitting out can become a bit of a chore – a chore someone must bear, but, nevertheless, not quite how I saw it in my idealized mind!

The saving grace is that as we are relatively close to the Mediterranean, storms and clouds seem to pass through very quickly. The weather, literally, seems to change every 5 minutes. This morning I went for my walk in perfectly comfortable weather and within 30 minutes of my return, there was thunder and, perhaps, the hardest rain of our time here. By noon, we could venture out for a coffee and sit outside, albeit, under an umbrella.

As I mentioned in my last blog posting, the bug that I got in Mexico has refused to die. So, I am back on the antibiotic, which means 5 days of no alcohol, which, of course, has the wine bars in a panic. Polley is being a real trooper and abstaining from wine as well. What this has meant is that as we refrain from alcohol, we find ourselves being offered other options that are apparently Italian favorites. Our little waitress, Paolina, at Il Portico suggested a bottled Pellogrino drink. They apparently come in a variety of flavors, ours was orange (arancia). And so disgustingly sweet! We smiled, of course, and made our way through it, but it was clear that we were going to have to find another option. Later that evening, we returned for a kind of evening stroll and a “nightcap” and I am pleased to announce that in Italian I was able to explain that I was taking medicine and could have no alcohol, but did they have another drink option that was less sweet , more dry (più secco). The two guys behind the bar put there heads together and came up with what they called Bitte Rosso con arancia (they must have a thing for orange). It was a red bitters with orange added. Some bitters, as we learned, can be no alcoholic. It was a great improvement. While there, we decided to forego the 4th night of a pasta dish I had made, and got Panini from the café. We took them home (portare via – to take away) and they were wonderful. Like France, it is amazing how many really satisfying pastry and sandwich options exist for no money. The night before, we had also taken a late stroll and treated ourselves to gelato. There is something so special about Italian ice cream. We got it and then just sat out in the main Piazza and enjoyed the peace of an early weeknight in Lecce.

Lastly, I did want to mention being so taken with how many young parents there are in this town. It seems that everyone is pushing a passagino (stroller)! As I look out on the teems of genitori (parents), I am reminded of the line from The Women by Clare Booth Luce: “Are you Catholic or just careless?” In Italy is would appear to be a combination of both! We keep asking people we meet, “What do people do in Lecce?” It now seems very clear!

Anyway, this prompted me to take some photos of the fancy store windows of kids clothing – and these are just the ones around the square. We have begun to cover downtown!

My favorite is this Burberry display.


The real capper is the little Burberry booties and the outfits with the Burberry cuffs and collars.


None of this you can touch for less than 100 euro!

Other displays are at places like Pre-Natal, the up-market, clothing equivalent of Toys R Us! Every 3rd shopping bag you see seems to be a Pre-Natal green plastic container.


The children’s mannequins are a treat as well. They are not so much children as alien pods!



Very strange, but man can they dress!

I also enjoyed this display of a Passagino Sistema (A Stroller System of various interchangeable pieces. Yours for only 499 euro!


Anyway, as you can tell from the ports of call in my stream of consciousness, life is drifting along. We are enjoying ourselves, but the lack of wine and sunshine make it a bit less active than we had planned. We are getting some good books under our belts. I highly recommend The Elegance of the Hedgehog, one of the best books I have read in a long time. Anyway, I hope to have more to report soon, but the weatherman is not painting a bright picture for the next week. We will see what transpires. Please tune in again.

Ed and Polley