Day 11 Locked Out in Lecce

Me and my friend had trouble sleeping that night.  Our hotel room had no air conditioning.  Not to mention, we had a window we left slightly opened but it did not help whatsoever.  Our room was facing the hotel patio and we were too worried someone might sneak in.  We kept spraying rose water all over our face.  We somehow managed to knock out in the end.  That was short lived considering our all-you-can-eat-breakfast-buffet was over by 10am.  We quickly made our way to the patio where we joined other residents of the hotel.  I was pretty much out of it at the table.  I knew we had to checkout at 11am, but first let me wake up.  lol.  I didn't take advantage of the pastries because I was focusing on trying to stay awake.  I knew in the back of my mind we had to pack our things.



Shabby chic!

Had our breakfast outside but the food was setup in here.

Sure enough, like clock work, the housekeeper made her way to our room.  We excused ourselves and continued packing away.  It felt so silly to be rushed like that, but she reminded us that she had to get the room ready for other guests coming in that afternoon.  Afterwards, we walked over to talk to the concierge about the parking situation, but no one was there.  Now what?  We figured we'll take our luggage to the car and write down the plate number from our rental.  When we got back to the hotel, the door was locked, of course.  We didn't know what was going on, so we called up the number listed off Booking.com and someone answered.  My friend explained that the concierge was going to help us in case we got a ticket from where we had parked last night, and then someone buzzed us in.

Despite no air conditioning, I still enjoyed our stay at Pazlazzo Zacheo...

Another lady was walking down to talk to us.  She took the information and said she would let the concierge know once she gets back.  We asked if there was a nearby beach we could go to with sand.  My feet were done from walking on rocks.  lol.  Luckily she gave us directions to one that was 20 minutes away and off we went.  Gallipoli was still pretty quiet around 12pm and we figured we'll check out the beach area.  We knew we had a lot to discover in this town!
We found the beach with no problem.  There was a field lot off the side of the road where a bunch of cars were parking.  We knew we were close by.  We changed in the car into our bikinis and cover ups and started to walk into the field.  We found a wooded area but could hear the sound of the sea up ahead.  Sure enough, the beach was hidden, but we also discovered we were the only women here.  I was surprised we walked in on a gay beach, especially in Italy.  We found a good spot to lay on and got comfortable.  I quickly knocked out since I didn't have much sleep.  It was very relaxing.
At one point my friend was getting too hot and wanted to go out into the water.  I woke up and followed her out there, but since she had her special scuba shoes, I stayed behind.  The rocks in the water were too slippery for me.  I noticed that the men were pretty reserved with another.  They kept their distance a bit when they were among friends.  Me and my friend stayed on the beach for hours, and it wasn't until later on that they got comfortable with one another. 

Turquoise waters at Gallipoli!

Trying to even out my tan!

I started to get thirsty.  We noticed a beach bar up ahead and decided to check it out.  I wasn't sure if it was a private beach bar since there weren't many people there, but they seated us once we walked in.  G Beach Bar had gold trimmings and plenty of lounge seating as well as a dj booth and sound system.  I could tell they throw parties out there, but since it was still pretty early, we enjoyed our spumante and people watched.  Little by little more people started to show up.  I was amazed how quickly it got packed.  I didn't want to leave our spot since now the crowd was getting bigger and better.  We hung out some more until we decided to head back to the beach.  We wanted to work on our tans.

G Beach Bar

CHEERS!

It was now later in the afternoon and we laid out a bit longer.  We started to get hungry.  We didn't know what to do next.  Our options were to either stay in Gallipoli one more day or drive out to Lecce which was back towards home.  Leave it to us Chicagoans to get FOMO out in Italy!  lol.  We drove out to Lecce instead.
The drive was an hour long.  We were getting our second wind again.  Lecce is another touristic town with retail and boutiques, and we were in the mood to shop!  We had trouble finding parking  because of the traffic again.  Once we drove into a lot, we weren't sure if it was ok for us to park or not.  It didn't matter because the inevitable happened.  My friend broke the key off the rental car.  UGH!!!  To make matters worse, it wasn't the key to the car.  Due to the high theft rate in the southern part of Italy, some manufactures install a steering wheel lock to further prevent cars being stolen.  My friend broke off the key to the steering wheel, but luckily she managed to pull it out of the lock.  We grew worried because we still were uncertain if we could leave the car in that lot.  We noticed people parked nearby and would walk up to the machine to pay for parking, but it looks like it was out of order.  They would end up driving off.  We didn't know what to do. 
It was now Friday night, early evening.  We noticed a couple of policemen nearby and ran up to them for advice.  I could see that the cop knew we were in a big jam.  He called up a locksmith and talked to someone about what had happened.  Once he got off the phone he told my friend that the locksmith said they wouldn't be able to help but told us the directions to his shop in case we wanted to stop over there ourselves.  We knew we had to do something, so we ran to find the locksmith.  Along the way we found a hardware store, and stopped to ask if they could help, but no such luck.  It was getting frustrating for us.  To make matters worse, my friend's phone was low on battery life.
We eventually found the locksmith's shop but he told us there was nothing he could do.  He told us that he had told the cops that we were out of luck.  I asked him who would have such a key and he said either the manufacturer of the car or the car shop would have the spare.  My friend was hoping we wouldn't have to use them as a last resort since technically we were still 3 hours away from home.  She had no choice but to call them up herself.
I could hear her frustration talking to the car shop owner on the phone.  They didn't quite understand what had happened.  I was amazed this was the first time anyone ever heard of this problem, much yet a car shop.  She even took pictures off her phone and sent them to the owner so he could "see" what she was talking about.  Apparently they were under the impression she must have did something in order for the key to break off like that.  She explained over and over again that all she did was turn the key.  I couldn't help but question why they were giving her such a hard time.  Eventually, he explained that he does, indeed have a spare to the lock in the sterling wheel.  It was a nerve wrecking.  Now the question is, how can we get the key if we're 3 hours away?
Unfortunately, her boyfriend was with his father at the dentist.  He wasn't sure if he would be able to pick up the spare before they close the shop.  Me and my friend were stuck at the moment.  We were put on hold until we figured out what we could do. 
We went to a café where my friend could charge up her phone.  It was now past 6pm and we were stuck, literally.  We were still nervous about the fact that the car was at a lot where the meter box was broken.  All we needed was a ticket on top of all of this.  My friend looked at train schedules in case her boyfriend had to jump on one in a moment's notice.  There was one at 7:50pm that would be perfect.  We waited until she called up her boyfriend to see if he got to the car shop on time to grab the key.  He couldn't talk at the moment, but she quickly told him the train schedules.  He was using his assistant's car to drive his dad to and from the dentist.
We tried contacting him once more and this time he said he couldn't talk because he was jumping on the train.  We couldn't help but ask if he got the spare key (hey you never know), but low and behold, he had it!  That brought a sign of relief.  We decided we now know we have 2 hours to kill, so let's go eat!

Lecce at night...

We walked around Lecce's main plaza.  It was now 8pm and we were window shopping and trying to figure out which restaurant we should try out.  My friend has a theory that if a restaurant looks packed, they must have good food.  Since there were so many restaurants to choose from, we knew we wanted to sit at one that was busy.  The problem was, no one was budging from their seat.  It was now Friday night and people were enjoying their evening.  Me and my friend settled next to a restaurant that had available seating right away.  We were hungry and never really ate anything else besides breakfast.  My friend was on the look out for the restaurant next to us since it was packed.  I ordered a risotto with potatoes and it was delish.  She ordered a salad and wasn't too pleased with it.  You see?  She proved her theory once again..
 

We finished up our meal and then walked over to the packed restaurant.  We figured we'll have some wine and wait for her boyfriend to arrive.  A group of good looking men sat nearby and were speaking Italian.  My friend of course, understood everything they were saying, and at one point, one of the men were egging on another friend to introduce himself to me.  Of course, her boyfriend called at that very moment to let us know he would be arriving in 10 minutes.  We quickly got the bill and ran out of there.  I felt bad not being able to give this guy a chance, but her boyfriend rode a 2 hour train ride to help us out.  It is what it is.  I figured it would be better to leave in a hurry before the guy had the nerves to come up to me.  At least we shared a glance!  

Feeling magical in Lecce!  Too bad we were going through an ordeal but we tried to have fun despite what was going on.

We got a little lost finding the train station in Lecce, plus the area wasn't so great so we were very nervous.  Luckily we found it in time before her boyfriend arrived.  We quickly ran up to him like he was some sort of a super hero!  The past few hours were frustrating and we just wanted to go home.  We made our way back to the car, but now it was 11pm.  More people were out, especially teenagers.  It took us a while to find the car because we were going in circles for a bit.  Now the time has come for us to try the spare key!  We were nervous at the moment because we didn't know what to expect.  Her boyfriend was behind the wheel and noticed right away how difficult it was to put in the key.  Luckily he unlocked the steering wheel but when he tried the car key we were screwed once again.  The battery was dead.  It was awkward because he knew right away that my friend had tried charging her phone in the car.  We insisted that she barely charged her phone for 30 minutes while we were waiting on him.  What else was she suppose to do?
He jumped out of the car and went up to people who were getting into their cars at the parking lot.  He asked if anyone could help him jump his car.  One of the men suggested pushing the car to get the engine going.  Me and my friend along with 2 other men started to push the car as hard as we could so it would start moving fast.  Luckily the car turned on and me and my friend jumped in like stuntmen!  We did it!!  NOW let's go home once and for all!
       

A Night to Remember...

In the morning we got up early to checkout.  Since the weather has been all over the place, we were constantly checking our phones for the forecast to see if any rain was heading our way.  We were surprised by last night's showers and that pretty much ruined our chances for stepping out.  Since we had a 3 hour drive back home, we figured we can still have a chance to see what Lecce was all about. We had our morning espresso and a mini pound cake treat for breakfast and wandered around for some souvenirs.  I really wanted some leather goods, but unfortunately it was not in season in Lecce. So much for that.  We walked around some more and ran into a leather shop.  A man was busy putting together a bag but stopped to help us find what we were looking for.  He made everything by hand, and the leather fabrics in his showroom were gorgeous.  If we had enough time he would have made me a brand new bag to my liking, but I was pleased with the one I found in his shop. He was a true gentleman and I've been wearing my new purse ever since.

We decided to head back to town, but first my friend asked me if I would like to see a castle.  It was in the town called Andria and nearby her hometown.  I figured why not since we could knock out another distinctive castle out the way.  This one was HUGE!!  The Castel Del Monte was built near Bari in the 13th century by the Emperor Frederick II.  His policy in Italy, unlike that in Germany, where he encouraged the feudal system, was that of an absolute monarch. For this reason, and also for defensive purposes, he built a number of strong castles in his lands of Apulia, Calabria and Sicily, the largest and most influential of which was Castel del Monte.  ("Castel Del Monte". unesco.org.)  I was blown away by the size and of it's octogon shape.  We drove up to a parking lot to park our car and then hopped on a bus which took us to the hillside of the castle.  I noticed the storm clouds reeling in, and because of it's low altitude, we decided to skip the inside tour and just take pictures outside.  It started to get gusty up there so we made our way back to the bus which took us back to our car. 
During that time we were checking out the castle, my friend recieved a phone call from her boyfriend.  He wanted to hold a wine tasting for his friends who brought bottles from nothern Italy.  They decided to hold the tasting back at the house instead of going to a restaurant, and that's when panic struck.  She would have to cook a feast for 10 and we still were an hour away from home.  Not to mention, we would be arriving into town around 2:30pm which meant we were cutting it close if we wanted to stop by the market to grab some items for dinner.  Siesta usually hits around 3-5pm, and my friend wanted to start the preparation for dinner at that time. 
Nontheless, we picked up whatever we could for dinner and made our way back home.  The guests were to arrive at 9pm, and my friend still had to clean up the place as well as prepare the food and get ready.  I helped out in the kitchen by doing the dishes.  Because of the limited dishware, I washed while she reused the pots and pans to continue to cook the meals.  It became a stressful ordeal to beat the clock.  Around 8:15pm is when her boyfriend arrived home from work and started to help out in the kitchen while we got ready.  What threw us off is the first early arrival guest showing up at 8:45pm on the dot!  Yikes!  He entertained while we finished up and the next thing you know, the rest of the guests arrived right on time at 9pm.  Time to get this party started!
What is hard for me as an American, and as a LIGHT DRINKER is the tasting of the wines on an empty stomache.  I'm used to having wine with my meal, but here in Italy, you sip and savor and then eat a huge feast to balance out the fuzziness.  Well for me, I'm almost at full drunk mode, but then making I make it more ackward by trying to contain myself at the table.  It's something I definitely have to work on, but since this was my 3rd wine tasting while on vacation, I hope I didn't make a fool of myself this time around. 
My girlfriend threw an amazing feast and we savored every bite.  I even learned a recipe to take back home.  I love dinner parties!   

Sight seeing in Lecce!

Check out those luxe leather fabrics!

Castel Del Monte in Andria!

Gorgeous castle!

Massive!

More fig dishes!

Check out that table!

Good times with good friends!

A night to remember!

Plan B

After our rained out Monday, we had to figure out what to do for Tuesday.  Again rain was in the forecast, but when we woke up, it was partly cloudy.  We could see in the horizon the storm clouds moving in so we decided to act quickly and pack up an overnight bag.  We checked the weather conditions in certain cities and Lecce was suppose to have rain the next morning.  Then again, Lecce was 3 hours away from us.  We figured let's go as south as we possibly can to beat the rain and enjoy some action.  And away we went on our little excursion.  We drove before the storm hit us but from then on, it was a constant race to beat the clouds.
We drove for almost 2 and a half hours til we settled in Ostuni.  We were hungry and needed another shot of espresso.  Most of the times, we were driving through acres and acres of land so it did get tiring on the eyes.  Plus my friend was doing all of the driving since she knows how to drive stick shift.  Ostuni was a beautiful city!  Gorgeous white brick that practically glowed from far away!  I couldn't wait to see what was in store for us.  There was a lot of traffic going into town so they have a pretty good following as far as tourism goes.  We had trouble finding parking and had to hike up into the central region, and when I mean hike, I mean we HIKED!  lol.  Luckily I had my gladiator sandals on but it's was still difficult to walk because of the steep roads.  We settled for some pizza at a cute restaurant and luckily got seated right away.  We must have just beat the rush because the restaurant got filled up pretty fast.  I felt bad because they seemed to be under staffed.  Regardless, we had no worries because we were resting for a bit.  I ordered pizza (which was pretty big but delish) and my friend had a bowl of pasta.  We also ordered a bottle of white wine. 
We started to walk around town when it started to rain, and then it rained harder.  We took cover at a cafe.  I decided to have a cappuccino, but something that my friend had said earlier struck a nerve with me.  She said people usually don't have cappuccino late in the afternoon.  I was surprised because we sometimes took a siesta and depending if I slept too long, I would wake up too groggy.  I can't believe Italians wouldn't serve themselves a cup of something because the day is not over when siesta is.  People sometimes go to work and finish up business.  Just something to think about. 
Once we figured the rain wasn't going to give up, we knew we had to get out of there or else we'll never make it to Lecce.  The steep roads were very hard to walk through in the rain.  We were soaked.  I hate the fact we couldn't hangout in Ostuni much longer because we never got a chance to walk around.  I did notice some graffiti with the demonic symbol 666 on it, and an upside down cross.  I found out later that it's not devil worshipping necessarily.  People have a lot of conflict with the Church and express their frustrations that way.  Interesting. 
When we FINALLY reached Lecce I noticed the temperature change.  It was definitely warmer, and seeing clear blue skies made our day!  We found parking in the street and made our way to our bed and breakfast which was located in the central area of town.  There was a lot of hustle and bustle in Lecce, so I knew we would enjoy our time here.  Believe it or not, I missed the action of a big city.  People were finishing up siesta and going back to work when we arrived.  Although at this time my friend was crashing hard.  She wanted to rest badly. 
We settled in our b&b and met the owner.  He gave wonderful recommendations and was super nice to us.  I'm still not use to the idea of a bed & breakfast spot, but since I was with my friend, she reassured me we would be ok here.  It had great ratings and we were in the middle of everything.  I left her there to rest up while I walked around the central area and sight see.  We were still on the lookout for a dress for her to wear to the baptism coming up next week.  I figured I'll wander around and checkout the retail shops myself first to see if there's anything for her. 
I did find some wonderful leather shops along with other interesting finds.  But they were mostly tourist shops.  I couldn't find their retail shopping district, so I was out of luck.  I came back and woke her up an hour later so it wouldn't get too late for her to look for herself.  We decided to chance it and shop outside the central region and that's when we found the retail shops.  It was getting frustrating again because most of the stores had fall merchandise and nothing cute for a Sunday baptism.  We had reached the last couple of stores on this block when my friend found a stunning day dress.  It had a houndstooth print and was fit-n-flare but we figured she could wear it in the winter as well with opaque tights.  We found a winner!
Now it's time to head back to the b&b and change for the evening.  The shops were now officially closed and the restaurants were getting packed for dinner.  I changed into a mini floral print maxi dress and my friend wore a cute floral dress.  The nightlife in Italy is mostly restaurants and bars, so we don't have to wear club wear out since the crowd is mostly tourists.  At this point we kept walking around trying to find the one restaurant that caught our eye, but that turned out to be over an hour of confusion.  We were hungry and upset and finally we caught the one!  An osteria restaurant with a intimate setting.  We were pleased! 
I devoured my plate and we were getting excited about going out for a bit.  But guess what happened?  Yup.  The rain found it's way to Lecce, and it was raining hard.  We were one of the last guests leaving the restaurant and we were stuck on what to do.  We had no umbrella and one of the workers there tried calling a cab for us but with no such luck.  He gave us one of their umbrellas from the restaurant and we figured we'd walk back to the b&b.  It was hard to walk in that rain especially on the cobblestone!  We had to take our time.  I'm still amazed people ride their mopeds in that weather.  We ended up falling asleep and skipping our big night out on the town.  What can you do?