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Olive trees from the window of the passing train

The journey...

I've been living in Lecce for just over four years. I feel at home like nowhere else in the world! I love it here! Southern Italians know how to enjoy themselves. They take advantage of every occasion possible to remind themselves that they are alive!

I came here to visit a friend for a few days in the summer before I decided to move to southern Italy. In reality, I had already fallen in love with Basilicata. I love the mountains and spaces in the region to the north west of Puglia. The landscape around Lecce seemed monotonous and unchanging. I'll never forget my first train journey to Lecce from Bari. Despite the inviting glimpses of the Adriatic to the left of the train, to the right I was looking out on to a never ending grove of tortuous olive trees. The dry red soil, the muted hues of the olive timber and sparse covering of foliage... it's a severe and harsh terrain.

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Chiesa del Rosario, Via Libertini, Lecce

Finding myself in Lecce!

Arriving in Lecce was a relief!

The city is charming, elegant, graceful, yet extremely dynamic. The student population creates a certain rhythm which lots of southern towns lack. It was late May. The sky was saphire blue during every day of my visit, the days warm and long and I was enchanted.

It seemed like a fine choice as far as a place to live was concerned. The city is big enough to opportunity to newcomers, yet small enough and far enough south to exude the hospitality and warmth characteristic of this latitude.

Although it was officially some weeks later, after having returned to work in Australia, before I set about making arrangements for my return on a permanent basis, I think that deep down I had made my decision to stay when I went for my first 'passeggiata' through the main streets of the historical centre on my first day in Lecce.