Greetings from beautiful and sunny, a warm 65 degrees Lecce, Italy, known as the Florence of southern Italy.
We made the easy drive (if driving in Italy is ever easy) to Lecce from Bari. We are staying in the Old town section of Lecce and got hopelessly lost driving in to the old city, so our Airbnb host had to save the Americans 😬
Every part of Italy is different, the north, with manufacturing, banking, and lots of money. The middle, Tuscany, Rome, wine and tourism. The further south you go the lower the income. Unemployment is very high in southern Italy. It’s a very different feeling here than in other parts of Italy.
Yes, we are in the “heel” of the boot of Italy!
Old town is a great walking tour time, The Florence of the south!
Lecce is very, very old. History can be traced to 3,000 BC here! Everyone has been through here, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Crusaders, but the city as we see today was mainly constructed in the 1200-1400 AD time frame.
Ok, walking tour time says TGC. It’s flat here (except climbing to our Airbnb) so away we go.🫣
You know we’re finding the local market ✔️
Ok, enough food, on to walking!
Old town is a traffic restricted area, only locals can drive here. It’s safe walking, unlike Italian streets. 😬
There must be over 20 churches in old town, they are all in great condition.
Unfortunately, lots of the major sites are “under renovation”, so scaffolding blocks lots of views!
Beautiful city, we can see why it’s the “Florence of Southern Italy”.
23,000 steps and three trips up the stairs, I’m bushed!
Arrivederci from Lecce. We’re heading to Paola, Italy (on the Mediterranean coast) tomorrow. That’s on our way to the toe of Italy’s boot😉
Trafton’s European Tour 2024-2025 