Lecce, Puglia, Italy. Friday/Sunday 02/04-October-2026.
Friday 02-October-2026.
We volunteered at Salento parkrun so that some of the regular volunteers could participate. We decided to treat ourselves to a weekend in Lecce, the nearest town, so that we a) didn't have to get up so early and b) were less concerned about drinking the evening before that might affect our parkrun "performance".
Accommodation duly booked in the centre not far from Porta Napoli, we pootled off from Cisternino after lunch. The evening was supposed to start with a music jam as part of a small festival. The venue turned out to be a local music shop with nowhere to sit down so we went for a beer at the nearest cafe instead. Next we went for pre-dinner cocktails at Frivolo, a great little place we discovered on our last visit to Lecce.
Supper was at La Scarpetta literally two doors down from our accommodation. It specialised in seafood, the food was great and the staff achieved a lovely balance between friendly banter and professionalism. Finally a beer at Büro further along the same street accompanied by a great soundtrack from the '70s and '80s.
Saturday 03-October-2026.
At parkrun Mary took the roles of Run Director and photographer, I did first timers briefing (English version) and timekeeping. That meant that Saverio and Valerio were able to participate in the run itself for the first time in ages.
It was parkrun's 22nd birthday so HQ declared it to be tutu day rather like when it is the 22nd of the month. Those in the know sported their tutus.
At Salento there are a regularly a number of visitors on holiday in the region. On this Saturday the visitors outnumbered the locals - of the 27 finishers 15 were first timers i.e. tourists.
On the way to parkrun we spotted this sign. Cinghiali = wild boar. They obviously didn't have a cinghali sign so improvised with a leaping deer. We've seen pictures of wild boar and we know they don't look or leap like that!
We had booked for lunch at Crianza which we discovered several visits back and is now a regular haunt for us. They do a great range of tasty salads, perfect for lunchtime.
After lunch we went for a stroll around Belloluogo Park formerly the site of Puglia’s second parkrun. We went to event number 3 back in 2019, now defunct as it never recovered from Covid.
Google tells me that "The park and its 14th-century cylindrical tower are named after the historic suburban residence of Queen Maria d'Enghien (Countess of Lecce and Queen of Naples), who spent her final years there. An ancient moat remains visible directly in front of the tower."
We passed a lovely silk floss tree (Ceiba speciosa) in flower.
Early evening, we went for a wine tasting in a 14th century monastery building adjacent to the fascinating Faggiano museum and part of the same complex.We were joined by a couple from Canada and a couple from Sweden. With only six attendees it made for a relaxed tasting with time to chat.
- Torrantica Chardonnay 2024, 12%. Lecce typical grape 2024. We are sceptical of an imported French grape variety introduced in the late 1980s and 1990s. It is widely planted and major regional appellations, such as Salice Salentino DOC, explicitly permit up to 30% of Chardonnay in their white wine blends. Unoaked, the flavours of the grape came through nicely and made for a lovely drink (sorry France!)
- Torrantica Negroamaro Rosato 2024, 12%. Very pink! Sweet strawberry flavour.
- Notte Rossa Primitivo 2025,13%. Deep purple. Not as sweet and jammy as some Primitivo which meant Mary didn't disapprove of it so much nor I like it as much - so well balanced, then!
Primitivo is genetically identical to an ancient Croatian grape called Tribidrag. Brought over to Italy in the 18th century despite the folkloric claims that the Roman were responsible. - Li Tamarici Negroamaro 2025, 13.5%. Sweeter than usual but still with the typical Negroamaro flavours and grip. The favourite of the tasting. Many tastings present the Negroamaro followed by the bigger, jammier, usually higher alcohol Primitivo. This pair bucked the trend.
Our host was explaining that the devastation of the olive trees caused by xylella impacted the wind shelter the trees normally provided for the vines.
Then supper at Pezzetto another recent discovery and an addition to our favourites list. They do dishes that are just a little bit different. We shared a starter of aubergine three-ways followed by one of the specials of the day crostone con paté di fegato (bread with liver pâté) and it was delicious. and night cap at Büro.
Sunday 04-October-2026.
Rather than go straight home we went along the coast road for lunch at Fronte Mare in Savelletri. We had a couple of starters, only, including our favourite - zucchini carpaccio (thinly sliced courgette) with smoked salmon and toasted almonds. Super!
Footnote:
Writing this blog I realised that I hadn't written up our last Lecce weekend so I did a retrospective post here: City Break - Lecce #02.
