Lecce, Puglia, Italy. Thursday/Sunday 04/07-June-2026.
Prequel.
We had friends visiting so took them to all the usual highlights:
- Alberobello
- Locorotondo
- Wine tasting at Weno
- Ostuni
- Acquedotto walk
Thursday 04-June-2026.
Last excursion of their visit was down to Lecce. We were pleased to discover that the interior of the amphitheatre was now available to visit. Before you had to peer down into it from street level. We bought tickets and an audio guide plugged in our earbuds.
There were explanatory boards at various points around the amphitheatre, but the numbers on the board did not match up to the chapters in the audio guide. How very Italian!
The Amphitheatre Frieze: Between the arena and the seats reserved for the authorities is a protective wall, the podium. On this stands a parapet decorated with a marble frieze, now partially relocated to its original position. The decoration involves more than fifty marble elements and depicts lively scenes of hunting and fighting between wild animals.
In the frieze dogs, wild boars, deer, hares, bears, bulls and exotic animals such as lions, panthers, zebras and elephants follow one another and fight against hunters.
The amphitheatre in the centre is the Palazzo del Seggio o Sedile and the column on the right is Saint Oronzo, patron saint of Lecce.
Bits of leftover columns in the passageways.
After several years, the work on the Basilica of the Holy Cross is complete and the scaffolding is down revealing a ludicrously over-ornamented Baroque facade.
On Friday once we had deposited our friends at a railway station to continue their Italian tour, we headed back to Lecce.
Having driven to Lecce and back on the Thursday, we didn’t fancy doing the same out and back on the Saturday for parkrun. We booked ourselves one night in Lecce that way, we could avoid the usual early alarm call needed to drive down from Cisternino.
Friday 05-June-2026.
The most interesting item of the day was a tour around the Faggiano museum. A guy had bought the property intending to open a Trattoria. Investigating problems with the sewage he started digging and uncovered archaeological remains going down a couple of floors from Messapian (5th century BC) to Roman, from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. From AD 1000 to AD 1200 this was a Templar home, and later, up to 1600 it was a Convent of Franciscan Nuns of Saint Clare's order. Absolutely fascinating.
With time to spare before supper we wandered around and discovered a delightful cocktail bar, Frivolo, where we had a couple of cocktails. They also served a wild ferment, orange wine. It was interesting but not really to my taste.
We had a very pleasant meal at Gusti Proibiti.
Saturday 06-June-2026.
Saturday was of course parkrun day.
Salento 06/06/26 29:53 [24/41].
There was cake!
After parkrun we only had a short drive back into Lecce with time for a shower before check out and an opportunity to explore the city at leisure.
Then it was back to Cisternino for a high end meal in the latest addition to the local restaurant scene, Yuma, for an extravagant four course set menu.
My Google review:
The latest addition to Cisternino‘s restaurant scene. Unlike the other top class restaurants in town which present fine Italian cooking, Yuma has a distinctly cosmopolitan feel to it. The owners spent 10 years in London and it shows: the food and the presentation are immaculate. One could easily imagine them aiming for a Michelin star. The restaurant layout has tables well spread out so you could eat in a relaxed atmosphere. Rather than present an à la carte menu, they offered two set menus, one of four courses and one of seven. We chose to go for the four course. There were two “presents” from the chef and then the menu dishes. Each dish was exquisitely presented with a full explanation and a little theatricality as the various jus and sauces were applied to the dishes at the table. A feast as much for the eyes as the palate. Definitely a destination for a celebration meal or just to enjoy the gourmet experience. We are planning to come back later on my birthday to sample the seven course menu!
And so to bed.
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