[2016]
[Monday 19 September 2016]
Apulia, Lecce and Vieste - Undiscovered Italy
Hilton Garden Inn, Lecce
DAY 2
TOUR OF LECCE[i]
This morning you are free to relax or explore as you wish. After lunch, the coach will take us to the lovely town of Lecce, referred to as the ‘Florence of the South’. We will have our guided tour this afternoon, during which you will see the gorgeous Santa Croce basilica.
In the evening we will dine in an excellent restaurant, once an ancient Roman granary, serving superb local food in the true tradition of regional Italian cuisine. As the hotel has an outdoor rooftop swimming pool (open according to seasonal weather conditions), do not forget your costume. Pool towels are available from reception.
- [i] The original information on the website was:
-
- Lecce dates from ancient Greek times, flourished under the Romans and boasts an amphitheatre which once held 20,000 people. The Normans built a castle here, but Lecce entered a Golden Age during the 16th century when it was embellished with a host of splendid Renaissance and Baroque churches, monuments and one of Europe’s highest bell towers completes a kaleidoscope of cultural wonders. Today Lecce is referred to as the ‘Florence of the South’ and with good reason as its architecture is outstanding and around every corner is a photo opportunity of real beauty. During our guided tour this morning you will see the pinnacle of this remarkable example of man’s creativity at the Santa Croce basilica. Its stunningly crafted detailed interior decoration and multi-coloured, marble columns are outstanding, as is its façade of highly intricate, carved stonework. This afternoon, you are free to explore as you wish. You will love just wandering where your feet take you. Along this theme, this evening we dine in an excellent restaurant, once an ancient Roman granary, serving superb local food in the true tradition of regional Italian cuisine.
I got up ca.7.30am… Janet followed… not long after I vacated the bathroom.…
I looked more closely at opening the safe (the instructions were almost illegibly small), and found that the keystrokes to open it, four digits plus the “#” key, were exactly the same as to lock it, so I was able to start using it. We went down for breakfast,
ca.8.30am.[i] We used the stairs not the lift for going down and back up. At reception I cancelled my request for help with the safe. There was a long table in the hotel restaurant with a “Riviera” sign on it, and we occupied two seats at that, which had been vacated earlier. The couple from Barrow-in-Furness were there, and two other couples known to them, so we assumed they’d come together in a party. I had blood-orange juice, rather puffy-looking corn flakes, baked beans, bacon and sausages, and some rather rubbery yellow bread. I had an
Americano from the machine, and afterwards an Espresso. We completed the meal-choices sheet, and handed it to Paola who was leaning on the counter round the corner of the reception desk, with some requests for
Janet, e.g. for boiled potatoes instead of roasted, grilled fish instead of fried.
Click on image to enlarge
We went back to the room for some money, then went off to a local supermarket
(Supermercati Dimeglio) about a block away, where we bought a big bottle of
Pepsi Max for the fridge (€1.20), two small bottles of Coke Zero for
Janet to drink now (€1.30 each), and a 5-pack of Camparisoda (€5.30) (total €9.10). The huge variety of packaged pastas, the whole cheeses of different kinds in the chill cabinet, and the
ca. one-foot diameter mortadelle next to them, were fascinating. Back to the hotel; up to the
room…
- [i] This almost contemporaneous account differs significantly from
Janet’s similarly contemporaneous account: “I finally got up at 8.20am. We went for breakfast just after 9am.”
We went out again,—
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 11:40:40
“Hilton Garden Inn”
—but it was a bit late to walk downtown before lunch, so we went to a café opposite the large Church of St. Dominic Savio, where I had a bottled beer,
Janet a Coke Zero, and I finished with an Espresso: only €3.60 in all — the cheapest we’ve ever had, I think. The
Espresso was only 80c.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 11:46:50
“New Colorado Café”
Then we looked in the church, built in 1974. It had a huge, circular auditorium.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 12:10:02
“Basilica San Domenico Savio”
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 12:11:50
“Basilica San Domenico Savio”
Entrance near the farther end from the tower
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 12:14:12
“Basilica San Domenico Savio”
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 12:15:42
“Basilica San Domenico Savio”
As well as having depictions of the “Stations of the Cross”, as do most Catholic churches, this church also had “Stations of the Resurrection”.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 12:15:58
“Basilica San Domenico Savio”
Stations of the Resurrection: V. Jesus is known in the breaking of bread.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 12:16:42
“Basilica San Domenico Savio”
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 12:18:06
“Basilica San Domenico Savio”
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 12:19:12
“Basilica San Domenico Savio”
Stations of the Cross: I. Jesus is condemned to death.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 12:20:02
“Basilica San Domenico Savio”
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 12:21:06
“Basilica San Domenico Savio”
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 12:22:34
“Basilica San Domenico Savio”
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 12:23:14
“Basilica San Domenico Savio”
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 12:24:36
“Basilica San Domenico Savio”
I was going to photograph all the “Stations of the Cross” and the “Stations of the Resurrection”, but the caretaker was wanting to lock up; so we thanked him, put €2 in the offertory box, and left. There was a café next door to the supermarket that we’d visited earlier, with a rather un-“PC” sign. But since they had no diet cola we didn’t stay. There was a couple from the
Riviera party sitting outside.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 12:32:08
“Mokaffé: Small sips of great pleasure”
We went back to the supermarket for more Coca Cola Zero, and returned to the hotel.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 12:41:14
“Hilton Garden Inn”
I decided to have an “aperativo” before lunch. I thought the crown cap would twist off the
Camparisoda bottle, but it wouldn’t. I got a bruise on the heel of my hand knocking it off against the metal frame of the open window. We joined all the others for lunch at 1pm in the restaurant.… At the start, a plate of battered items was placed on our part of the table for
ca. four people to share: potato and bread. The potato was mashed so I guess that was a variant of croquette potatoes. And I think the bread was sweetened — so: doughnuts.… When we returned to our room, I noticed that the internet log-in code and password were on the original invoice-slip in the little key-card wallet folder that we’d been given when we arrived yesterday, so I logged on to the hotel internet (14:22).
…Could find very little information on the very major-looking church we’d been visiting (14:35–14:56), but eventually found in “The Catholic Directory - Catholic Churches in Lecce, Italy” a listing for “St. Dominic Savio at Via dei Salesiani, Lecce 73100, Italy” (14:56). Towards 3.30pm we went down to the lobby where the others were gathering, to be taken by coach for a walking tour of the historic central part of the town. On the coach, Paola handed out radios and headsets, and we tested them.
Janet declined to have a radio at first, but when she found that the guide was so quietly spoken that she couldn’t hear her in the street noise, she changed her mind and asked Paola for one. We were dropped at the Piazzetta Arco di Trionfo, and introduced to the aforesaid guide, Simona. Behind us was an obelisk, erected in 1822 in honour of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. In front of us was the Arco di Trionfo, commonly called “Porta Napoli”, one of the three gates to enter the historic centre, erected in 1548 in honour of Charles V.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 15:47:50
Obelisk in Piazzetta Arco di Trionfo
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 15:48:32
“Arco di Trionfo” or “Porta Napoli”
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 15:48:54
Obelisk in Piazzetta Arco di Trionfo
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 15:50:56
“Arco di Trionfo” or “Porta Napoli”
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 15:51:48
“Arco di Trionfo” or “Porta Napoli”
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 15:51:48 (re-edited)
“Arco di Trionfo” or “Porta Napoli”
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 15:54:02
Obelisk in Piazzetta Arco di Trionfo
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 15:54:14
Obelisk in Piazzetta Arco di Trionfo
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 15:54:30
Obelisk in Piazzetta Arco di Trionfo
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 15:55:00
Obelisk in Piazzetta Arco di Trionfo
As we skirted by the right side of the arch to enter Via Giuseppe Palmieri, immediately ahead was the rotunda of the Chiesa di Santa Maria della Porta.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 15:55:48
Chiesa di Santa Maria della Porta
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 15:56:34
Rear of the Porta Napoli
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 15:57:08
Façade of Chiesa di Santa Maria della Porta in Via Giuseppe Palmieri
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 15:57:42
Low-relief plaque on the wall of Chiesa di Santa Maria della Porta
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 15:58:56
Via Giuseppe Palmieri, Lecce
As we proceeded to the far end of Via Giuseppe Palmieri, we stopped to look at a balcony supported by stone figures of men, birds, animals, and grotesque mythical beasts.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:01:26
Interesting balcony in Via Giuseppe Palmieri, Lecce
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:01:56
Interesting balcony in Via Giuseppe Palmieri, Lecce
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:02:06
Interesting balcony in Via Giuseppe Palmieri, Lecce
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:02:14
Interesting balcony in Via Giuseppe Palmieri, Lecce
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:02:22
Interesting balcony in Via Giuseppe Palmieri, Lecce
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:03:04
Looking back at the tiled dome of Chiesa di Santa Maria della Porta
We turned off briefly to the right, to look at an old building in Piazzetta Ignazio Falconieri, now a cultural centre, before continuing on our way. An explanation of what it used to be was presumably given, but I’ve forgotten what that was.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:07:02
In Piazzetta Ignazio Falconieri, Lecce
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:10:04
In Piazzetta Ignazio Falconieri, Lecce
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:13:06
Bell-tower of Lecce Cathedral, seen from Via Giuseppe Palmieri
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:13:06 (detail)
Bell-tower of Lecce Cathedral, seen from Via Giuseppe Palmieri
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:13:30
Northern façade of Lecce Cathedral, seen from Via Giuseppe Palmieri
We entered Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square) at the end of Via Giuseppe Palmieri.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:15:18
Remains of a gateway to Piazza del Duomo
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:15:58
Bell-tower of Lecce Cathedral, seen from Piazza del Duomo
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:16:36
Bottom of the bell-tower and northern façade of the cathedral, seen from Piazza del Duomo
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:17:00
Northern façade of the cathedral, seen from Piazza del Duomo
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:17:10
Panning right from “16:17:00”
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:17:20
Panning right from “16:17:10”
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:19:24
Western façade of Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:20:20
Western façade and bell-tower of Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:20:54
Entrance in the western façade of Lecce Cathedral
The two spherical windows in the upper corners represent Christ as “Alpha” and “Omega”.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:21:38
One of the bronze doors in the entrance in the western façade of Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:22:00
The other of the bronze doors in the entrance in the western façade of Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:22:16
Christ as “Alpha” and “Omega” above the entrance in the western façade of Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:23:00
The same part of the entrance, seen from the other side
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:23:42
Central nave of Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:23:58
Stained-glass window at the far end of the central nave of Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:24:46
Views inside Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:25:50
Views inside Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:26:26
Views inside Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:26:26 (re-edited detail)
Views inside Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:27:02
Views inside Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:27:34
Views inside Lecce Cathedral: ceiling
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:28:48
Views inside Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:29:36
Views inside Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:30:42
Views inside Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:31:58
Views inside Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:32:30
Views inside Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:32:44
Views inside Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:33:12
Views inside Lecce Cathedral
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:33:46
Views inside Lecce Cathedral: one of the paintings on the ceiling
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:34:14
Views inside Lecce Cathedral
Some of the statues in the cathedral, Simona pointed out, were made of papier mâché, and indeed as soon as we left the Piazza del Duomo and turned right into Via Vittorio Emanuele II we saw some examples of their manufacture. The papier mâché is applied to a form made of straw and wire netting.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:35:38
Board illustrating papier mâché technique
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:36:20
Papier mâché figures in a shop
We passed on our left the former Convent of the Teatini Fathers, at the far end of which, and contiguous with it, was the Chiesa di Sant’ Irene. St. Irene was the patron saint of Lecce (or Lupiae, as the Romans called it when they conquered it in the third century BC), till the honour went to St. Orontius (Sant’ Oronzo), credited with saving the town from plague in 1656.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:38:22
Municipal Nursery School “G. Saraceno”, Corso Vittorio Emanuele, 22, Lecce, formerly the Convent of the Teatini Fathers
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:39:10
Example of papier mâché technique
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:40:56
East façade of Chiesa di Sant’ Irene
“Irene, virgin and martyr
“Patroness of Lupiae”
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:41:04
East façade of Chiesa di Sant’ Irene
“Irene, virgin and martyr
“Patroness of Lupiae”
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:43:42
Emblem of Lecce in the pediment above the entrance
At the east end of Via Vittorio Emanuele II we came to Piazza Sant’ Oronzo. There Simona pointed out a column topped by a statue of the aforementioned Sant’ Oronzo. It was originally one of two second-century columns marking the end of the Appian Way in Brindisi. Parts of one of them were donated to Lecce, where they were reassembled in 1666 and the statue placed on top. She told us also that a Roman amphitheatre was situated just beyond there, but we did not see it at this stage.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:46:36
Colonna Sant’ Oronzo in the south-eastern corner of Piazza Sant’ Oronzo
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:46:36 (detail 1)
Colonna Sant’ Oronzo in Piazza Sant’ Oronzo
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:46:36 (detail 2)
Colonna Sant’ Oronzo in Piazza Sant’ Oronzo
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:46:54
The former “Palazzo di Giustizia” at the western end of Piazza Sant’ Oronzo
From there we went north along Via Francesco Rubichi—
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:47:48
Via Francesco Rubichi
Left: part of the former “Palazzo di Giustizia”
Ahead, left: Chiesa del Gesù
Right: Palazzo Carafa, the municipal offices
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:48:44
Entrance to Palazzo Carafa
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:49:18
Coat of arms of Lecce above the entrance to Palazzo Carafa
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:50:54
Chiesa del Gesù: Jesuit church, started in 1575, consecrated in 1577
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:51:20
Chiesa del Gesù: pelican atop the upper pediment, feeding her chicks with her own blood
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:51:38
Chiesa del Gesù: pediment above the upper-storey centre window, with the infant Christ holding the world
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:52:22
Chiesa del Gesù: frieze of the upper pediment, with symbols of the passion of Christ
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:52:36
Chiesa del Gesù: pediment above the entrance, with the emblem of the Society of Jesus flanked by two angels
—at the end of which we turned right into Piazza Sigismondo Castromediano. Here there were a number of small structures with windows giving views down to the remains of an archaeological site. Reflections in the glass made it almost impossible to photograph the remains below. It had apparently been an olive-oil store. Because the oil was very acid it was thought to have been fuel oil, not for human consumption.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:56:38
Archaeological site in Piazza Sigismondo Castromediano
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:57:42
Statue of Sigismondo Castromediano (1811–1895), patriot, archaeologist and scholar
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:57:58
Structures in Piazza Sigismondo Castromediano giving views down to archaeological remains
From there we went a short distance approximately north-eastwards to the west façade of the Basilica di Santa Croce. Simona pointed out the rose window, the balcony supported by mythical beasts, birds and characters, and even the profile of one of the architects and sculptors of the façade.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:59:10
Basilica di Santa Croce seen from Via Matteo da Lecce
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:00:38
Façade of the Basilica di Santa Croce: rose window
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:00:52
Façade of the Basilica di Santa Croce: pediment
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:02:10
Façade of the Basilica di Santa Croce: mythical beasts, birds and characters supporting the balustrade
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:02:40
Façade of the Basilica di Santa Croce: mythical beasts, birds and characters supporting the balustrade
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:02:52
Façade of the Basilica di Santa Croce: mythical beasts, birds and characters supporting the balustrade
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:03:10
Façade of the Basilica di Santa Croce: mythical beasts, birds and characters supporting the balustrade
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:03:20
Façade of the Basilica di Santa Croce: mythical beasts, birds and characters supporting the balustrade
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:03:30
Façade of the Basilica di Santa Croce: mythical beasts, birds and characters supporting the balustrade
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:03:40
Façade of the Basilica di Santa Croce: mythical beasts, birds and characters supporting the balustrade
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:03:48
Façade of the Basilica di Santa Croce: mythical beasts, birds and characters supporting the balustrade
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:03:56
Façade of the Basilica di Santa Croce: mythical beasts, birds and characters supporting the balustrade
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:04:28
Façade of the Basilica di Santa Croce: rose window
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:04:40
Façade of the Basilica di Santa Croce: profile of one of the architects and sculptors, to the left of the rose window
There was a large central doorway, and two smaller doors, one to the left of it and the other to the right. It was at the right one that we lined up to enter.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:06:32
View north along Via Umberto I: (right) Basilica di Santa Croce, (left) Palazzo dei Celestini, formerly the monastery of the Celestine Fathers, now government offices
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:06:40
View north along Via Umberto I
The church was constructed on a Latin cross plan, with a central nave flanked by an aisle left and right, these in turn being flanked by side chapels.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:07:52
Basilica di Santa Croce: nave
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:08:04
Basilica di Santa Croce: coffered wooden ceiling
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:08:24
Basilica di Santa Croce: right aisle
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:08:50
Basilica di Santa Croce: left aisle
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:09:34
Basilica di Santa Croce: a side chapel
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:09:48
Basilica di Santa Croce: a side chapel
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:09:58
Basilica di Santa Croce: a side chapel
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:10:28
Basilica di Santa Croce: a side chapel
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:11:46
Basilica di Santa Croce
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:12:34
Basilica di Santa Croce
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:13:20
Basilica di Santa Croce
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:15:20
Basilica di Santa Croce
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:15:54
Basilica di Santa Croce
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:16:34
Basilica di Santa Croce
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:17:32
Basilica di Santa Croce
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:17:48
Basilica di Santa Croce
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:18:04
Basilica di Santa Croce
We emerged through a door in the north side of the basilica into the courtyard of the former monastery of the Celestine Fathers. The original arches of the cloister, supported by relatively slender Corinthian columns, had been supplemented and largely obscured by later ones, supported by more or less rectangular stone pillars.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:18:56
Courtyard of the Palazzo dei Celestini
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:19:30
Courtyard of the Palazzo dei Celestini
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:19:44
Courtyard of the Palazzo dei Celestini
We left there by a doorway in the west side, and found ourselves back in Via Umberto I, the street from which we’d entered the basilica.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:20:52
Exit from the Palazzo dei Celestini in Via Umberto I
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:21:02
Basilica di Santa Croce, seen from Via Umberto I
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:21:20
View north along Via Umberto I
From there we went southwards back to the Piazza Sant’ Oronzo. On the way, Simona pointed out fossils in the soft limestone out of which the buildings were constructed.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:23:26
Examples of papier mâché sculpture
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:23:46
Examples of papier mâché sculpture
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:23:56
Shop selling papier mâché and other wares
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:24:48
Soft limestone with fossils
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:24:48 (detail)
Fossil shell
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:27:56
Piazza Sant’ Oronzo
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:28:16
Colonna Sant’ Oronzo
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:28:48
Statue of St. Orontius atop the column
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:29:34
Branch of Banco di Napoli, with an interesting clock on the wall
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:29:54
Interesting clock on the wall of Banco di Napoli
Hidden from view earlier, but now before us, was the Roman amphitheatre.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:31:56
Roman amphitheatre with the curvilinear Istituto Nazionale Assicurazioni building, an example of Fascist architecture, behind
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:33:00
Roman amphitheatre
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:33:44
Roman amphitheatre
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:33:54
Roman amphitheatre
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:34:14
Roman amphitheatre
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 17:35:18
Roman amphitheatre and Istituto Nazionale Assicurazioni
At Piazza Sant’ Oronzo, by the Roman amphitheatre, was where Simona parted company from us. I gave her a “golden handshake” (well, a “paper” one!). Then we were given free time, with the arrangement to meet back there at 6.45pm, to proceed to our dinner location. Not long afterwards, I stumbled, couldn’t right myself, and had a nasty fall, landing on left hip and left elbow. It was on the corner of Via Giuseppe Verdi and Via Sacro Regio Consiglio. A group of people gathered round to help, notably a couple from our tour. In fact, he appears on the photo, taken 16:22:00.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 16:22:00 (detail)
The guy from our party who helped me
They helped me into a seated position on the kerb, then after a few moments of recovery, I asked them to help me to my feet. One of the men gave me his bottle of water to drink from and keep. They led me to the first of four stone benches flanking the amphitheatre on its south side. Someone came out of a nearby café and gave me paper napkins. The couple stayed with me till
Janet and I went to the pharmacy conveniently situated nearby at the left end of the block of buildings in front of us. “The accident occurred during free time, so had nothing to do with the way the tour was conducted,” I later wrote in the report that, after we all met up again, Paola asked me for. “I tripped and fell on the
pavement,[ii] injuring the left hip and the left elbow. The left hip feels tender to the touch but no visible bruising has yet
appeared.[iii] Before the accident there was a
ca.5cm x ca.3cm plaque of scar tissue from old, healed pyodermic lesions and ulcerations on the left elbow, with a recent
ca.1cm ulcer in the middle. The area was covered with a Tegaderm 10cm x 11cm foam adhesive dressing.” In the report, I omitted these words that I’d drafted: “There was also a nearby 1–1.5cm pyodermic plaque of some months’ standing on the dorsal forearm, surrounded by an area of recent pitting oedema which had been reducing for a day or
two.”[iv] The report continued: “In the accident the dressing was torn, and there was a fair amount of bleeding. Examination revealed that this was both from the ulcer and from a new split
ca.1cm long in the scar tissue adjacent to the ulcer. In the nearby pharmacy, the area was irrigated with
Bialcol Med solution and a dressing was applied. My opinion was that no further clinical intervention
(e.g. a suture) was needed because the injury was in unstable and friable scar tissue.” In the pharmacy I was taken to a room at the back. The woman attending me urged me to visit the hospital and get a stitch in the wound, for it did look rather alarmingly bad to someone who’d not seen the diseased area before. I asked her for a mirror because I couldn’t see it properly. To my eyes it was somewhat worse
than its previous worst; but, as I wrote in the report, I didn’t see the point of suturing it. My only concern was that it not become infected. I bought the bottle of
Bialcol Med solution, the remainder of the pack of gauze compresses, and the remainder of the pack of 10cm x 10cm dressings for €13.50 (17:52 on the receipt) — very reasonable, I thought. Later I applied two more of the dressings on top of the first dressing because they weren’t waterproof, and the bleeding was coming through.
- [ii] I’m not sure whether I was standing on the “pavement”, in the British sense of “a paved footpath beside a roadway”, or on the roadway itself (“pavement” in the North American sense).
[iii] An extensive area of bruising did surface on subsequent days.
[iv] After the accident, although the oedema increased again somewhat, over the course of a few days it began to reduce again, so I was right to omit mentioning it in the report.
We looked for the couple who’d stayed with us earlier, hoping to join them in a bar, but didn’t see them. We went in one of the bars in the same block as the pharmacy, and had drinks (I a beer, perhaps, and
Janet a diet cola). Janet left me there and went off in search of a bottle opener for my
Camparisoda, and managed to find one in a gift-shop on the square (€4, 18:29 on the till receipt). I had a coffee before I paid (€7, including €1
coperti, 18:40 on the receipt), and we went to our rendezvous point.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 18:14:06
Caffè/bar
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 18:43:34
“Farmacia Dottori Giordano”, Piazza Sant’ Oronzo, Lecce
After we all met up, Paola led the way to the restaurant, “once an ancient Roman granary,” according to the blurb, called
Osteria della Divina Provvidenza. One or two of the antipasto items I let pass, but I enjoyed most of them. In the primo, I enjoyed the
orecchiette (the typical pasta of Apulia) but let pass the dish with shrimps,
etc. Secondo was baked sea bream with salad, which I enjoyed quite well, considering that I wouldn’t have fish if I could choose. With it all I enjoyed a 37.5cl bottle of the dense, full-bodied local
Negroamaro wine, for €8. Both elements of the name mean “black” (“amaro” doesn’t mean “bitter” as one might think):
niger in Latin and maru in Ancient Greek.
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 19:26:26
“Anima di Negroamaro” (“soul of Negroamaro”) at Osteria della Divina Provvidenza
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 21:08:00
Osteria della Divina Provvidenza
Tuesday 20 September 2016 — 21:08:16
Osteria della Divina Provvidenza
We walked back to where the coach was waiting, and were back at the hotel
ca.9.30pm. “At the end of the evening, back at the hotel,” as I wrote in my report to Paola, “because of continued bleeding I needed to replace the dressing. I again irrigated the area with
Bialcol Med solution and applied a Tegaderm 10cm x 11cm foam adhesive dressing.” Transferred 151 photos from my camera to the
WD Elements HDD (21:44–21:49). Viewed them in Windows Photo Viewer, rotating 52 that needed it (21:59–22:07), and deleting one. We went to bed not long afterwards.
Janet was upset more than I was by my accident.
[Wednesday 21 September 2016]
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