Puglia: Lecce and Leuca

Way at the end of the "heel" of Italy is the city of Lecce. It was founded by the Romans around the 3rd century BC. Here is the Roman amphitheater that sits half uncovered in the central piazza of the city.

However, around the late 1700's, when Baroque architecture was in fashion, the Leccese took it to the nth degree. Walking around town, you turn a corner and there is another church facade that makes you almost chuckle. The stone is almost honey colored and you'll see that the feeling is almost whimsical. I'll proceed from most tame to the famous Santa Croce. Here is Chiesa del Gesu.

Chiesa di Santa Maria della Grazie

Chiesa di Sant' Irene

Right on the facade of Sant' Irene is the town symbol of Lecce.

Chiesa di Santa Chiara

Chiesa di San Matteo

And we're ramping up with Chiesa del Rosario






.....and we have Chiesa di Santa Croce.

Here's a closer look at the top portion.

I think it's great that the animals are holding up their portion with little difficulty, while the humans are struggling.

The Lecce Duomo and piazza are the second best I've seen in Italy (after Siena). The piazza is enclosed with only one entrance. It's fabulous.

But even better at night!

Here is the tip of the "heel" of Italy. It's the town of Leuca and there really isn't much there. But it's the "end" of the country.

Puglia: The Trulli of Valle d'Itria

Driving south along the "heel" of Italy, you start seeing lots of stone walls in the fields and then, a bunch of these conical-roofed buildings in the fields, called "Trulli"

They are built from local stone without any mortar. There is a theory that they were built in such a way to be dismantled quickly to avoid taxation.

The town of Alberobello has whole neighborhoods with these trulli. The architecture is right for its environment as the buildings are cool in summer and retain heat in the winter.

The trulli are decorated with symbols and topped with a capstone, sometimes indicating which family lives inside.

Puglia: Castel del Monte & Trani

The November trip this year took the students to Umbria. I instead went down to the "heel and instep" of Italy, to the regions of Puglia and Basilicata. These regions, along with the "toe", Calabria, make up the southern part of Italy, historically the poorest in the country. Why did I go? Because it's off season (this is the place where Italians like to spend the summer) and well, because there it is. I found a cheap flight from Rome to Bari, rented a car and off I went. First stop, Castel del Monte, near the town of Andria and the city of Trani.

The Castel del Monte, built by the great Fredrick the II between 1240 and 1250, stands high on a hill. It's also a tribute to geometry as it is an octagon with octagonal turrets.

Historians debate why it was built at all, because it doesn't have any traditional defensive characteristics, such as a moat. Perhaps because it sits high on a hill, it is easy to defend, but some think it was a pleasure palace.

Here'a plan of the Castel del Monte! Octagons and trapezoids too.

Not sure if you can make out the trapezoid shape of the room.

A staircase

Next stop was the coastal city of Trani. I arrived in port just as the fisherman were unloading the days catch.

I was offered this entire basket of fresh shrimp for 5 Euro. Alas, I didn't have a kitchen, but later on that evening, I had the first of my many great meals. The best of this evening was a ceci (garbanzo bean) and squid soup.

The great site of Trani is the cathedral.

Like many of the great sites in this region, it was built in the late 1100's to early 1200's, when it was under Norman Rule.

Ta Da!!!! The cathedral is built RIGHT ON THE WATER. It's a fantastic site.

This region was the crossroads of the Mediterranean, and Fredrick II had the goal of uniting Northern Europe with Jerusalem and the Arab world. The arch here has some of the whimsical touches of the Arab world.

Two people mauling each other? Or something else?

These HUGE bronze doors were cast in 1175 and were in place until 1990 when they were moved inside.

Even though the Renaissance passed this region by, the panels show the inklings of what we consider to be Renaissance artistic developments. Yeah, art history!

Capitoline Museum & Campidoglio

I had been here in Central Italy for over a year and had yet visited the Capitoline Museum in Rome. Check! Yesterday, I headed down to the Campidoglio and spent three hours in the museum. I have become SUCH a classicist and have such an amazing appreciation for sculpture, much more so than painting, but still, I'm a huge geek now.

Although this is just a model, it shows how the Campidoglio is laid out. Designed by Michelangelo, physically it faces AWAY from the forum and metaphorically AWAY from ancient world and TOWARDS the renaissance. The buildings on either side are the Palazzo dei Conservatori (right) and Palazzo Nuovo (right). Both of which house the Capitoline Museum. The building in the center is the mayoral seat of Rome. The statue in the middle, Marcus Aurelius.

This 10 foot high frieze was removed from its original location and is now in the museum. I love these scenes. Here we have Hadrian (bearded on horse) giving clemency.

Brutus, yes, that Brutus!

The Capitoline She-wolf! The wolf itself is thought to have been created in Etruscan times (remember they were great bronze workers). Later on, the two babies were added to complete the myth that the twins, Romulus and Remus who were abandoned by their mother and eventually to found Rome, were raised and sucked by a she-wolf. This is the symbol of Rome.

Bernini's Medusa

This HUGE bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius is the only one to survive to the present. It's only because the church thought it represented their benefactor, Constantine.

I like this bust of the Emperor Commodus because it actually should have been destroyed. He was subject to "Damnae Memoria" where all references to him and likenesses of him were to be erased and destroyed. But this one survives!

An ancient Roman game, rules and objective unknown.

There is an ENTIRE ROOM in the museum dedicated to the busts of Roman Emperors. The two males on top are Nero and Agrippa (not an emperor actually). Juxtaposed below is Septimius Severus who centuries later displays the fashion at the time, beards and long hair.

The Dying Gaul, which I studied in Art History last year. Intense emotion of a warrior, obviously strong, accepting death. Hellenism, baby.

The light in the room was perfect, so I snapped him from all angles.

As I was walking out of the Campidoglio, I saw this up in one of the open windows. It's the statue of Cupid and Psyche kissing. I think its great that the curators have such a sense of humor to put it right where everyone can see it through the window.

I left the museum and it was a gorgeous day, so I paid the 7 Euro to take the elevator up to the top of the Vittoriano right next door. It's totally touristy, but for this view, it's worth it.

Looking west to the Pantheon, Castel San Angelo and the Vatican.

Gnocchi

Here was dinner the other night. GNOCCHI, made from scratch. First, boil potatoes and them mash them.

Knead with dough! As I have learned, the potatoes in gnocchi replace the eggs of pasta.

Roll and cut.

Boil and five minutes later, I'm eating! Another typical night at Anna's house!

Friday Night Bridge

About a month ago, one of the host Mom's found out I was a bridge player. She invited me over to play with her family one Thursday night and I accepted. Little did I know that I was being tried out to come and play with her Friday night bridge club. Apparently, I passed because the next Friday night, I walk into a large room with over 20 tables, each of them numbered, and each with a bidding box. On one wall is a large screen television which reports scores of the tournament being held that night. These people are SERIOUS. By the way, at 40 years old, I am clearly the youngest person in the room and one of two non-Italians.

On my first Friday night a few weeks ago, I was AGAIN being tested. Lucilla, the host mom, has a regular partner Ida. The usually play together. Lucilla and I each played half the time with Ida. We did ok. Apparently, I passed another test because the second Friday night I played, I came to the game "stag." Lucilla set me free. I was paired with another guy, Peter, who is a Welshman who has retired to Italy and speaks perfect Italian. Before we started he bombarded with me about strategy. Do I play the Stayman convention (WHAT??????) how do I respond to his opening of 1 "senza". It took me a while to figure out that "senza" means "No Trump".

I returned again to play last night, this time Lucilla and I played together. I'm not sure how the scoring works, but we finished third in the tournament. And, as what happens, people recognized me and I chat with Franco and Tito, in Italian of course. But, I generally get lost when chat turns to bridge or the rehashing of hands. The other thing I find funny is when married couples play together and start bickering at each other. I just sit there and enjoy the show.

This bridge thing is fun. I definitely need to practice and be more aggressive in my bidding. It's hard work on Friday nights to be upping my game in Bridge as well as trying to do it in a foreign language. But, it's AWESOME and something I will definitely remember as a highlight of living in Italy.

Calcata

The hill town of Calcata 50 km North of Rome

It's got an interesting history. Essentially it was condemned in the 1930's by the Italian government because of its precarious location on soft tufa stone. (Come on now, seriously? These cities have been located on this kind of stone for hundreds of years!) So the residents were moved to a newly built town and this one abandoned. In time, artists and squatters moved in and it's now a hipster artist community. You can read about it in this New York Times article.

I actually thought it was not NEARLY as charming and interesting as Civita di Bagnoregio. I found Calcata much too touristy and no one spoke Italian. I guess I'm become jaded, or at least annoyed by tourism, of which you find none here in Viterbo!

Geman Host Family Meets Italian Host Mom

Uli (my German host brother from 1986) and his family came to visit Italy for a week. On their last night, Anna and I invited them over for dinner. Uli, not understanding that if you have a clean plate in an Italian home, it means that you will be served MORE food, ate too fast and ate the equivalent of two entire four course meals! That's called experiential learning!!!

My role that evening was to translate between Italian and English. At the end of the night, Jonah, Uli and Alex's son, said he thought Anna was always angry with me because she was always yelling. The boy needs to learn something about Italian mothers and the way they communicate!