Day 12 - Illuminated Stones & Sit-Down Dinners: Capturing Lecce’s Magical Night

We are spending our final evening in Lecce before making the cross-country trek to the Tyrrhenian coast tomorrow. Leaving the Baroque beauty of the Salento peninsula at 11:30 AM, we’ll be taking two trains to reach Tropea, with our arrival expected just before midnight. With our last half-day left in town, we decided to make the most of it by taking a tour of the historic Charles V Castle of Lecce, enjoying a nice sit-down dinner, and capturing the magical night lighting across the city's ancient streets.

Lecce Cathedral and Square at night.

Entrance to Carlo V Castle.

Unfortunately, our tour of the Charles V Castle was a major disappointment, riddled with issues from the start. Although we booked an English tour and had our headsets adjusted accordingly, the guide spoke exclusively in Italian. She spent the entire time delivering a personalized, enthusiastic explanation to a single Italian couple, leaving the rest of us pushing buttons on our audio guides and waiting in boredom.

Tina watches as our 'guide' speaks to the Italian couple.

To make matters worse, ongoing construction limited us to seeing only half of the exhibits. The breaking point occurred when an elderly woman stumbled on a poorly lit step and fell hard against the wall, injuring her shoulder. Shockingly, the guide completely ignored her and offered no assistance at all. It was an incredibly boring and disappointing experience earning a dismal 3-out-of-10 rating.

The most interesting part of the tour, graffiti scratched into the prison sandstone.

This display of how they make Papier-mâché was interesting as well.

After wrapping up our rather uninspiring castle tour, we eagerly wandered into the labyrinth of Lecce's ancient quarter to seek out a memorable dinner.   We trusted our culinary instincts, hunting for a handwritten menu and listening closely to ensure the ambient chatter was mostly in Italian. A quick, tantalizing peek at neighboring tables convinced us we’d struck gold and let me tell you—every bite lived up to the promise.

Sfiziosa in the top dish, Orecchiette alla Leccese below.

As evening settled, we wandered the streets of Lecce in search of nighttime photo opportunities, starting at the Giuseppe Garibaldi Public Gardens. This 19th-century municipal villa is a beautifully landscaped green space that perfectly balances nature and history, inviting evening strolls beneath mature trees and past a charming pergola and fountain.

Leaving the glowing gardens, we wandered the labyrinthine alleyways of Lecce’s historic center.

Capturing the magic of the city's illuminated architecture, we reluctantly made our way back to our accommodation to pack and catch one final, peaceful night of sleep before our long train ride to Tropea.

We awoke to a cloudy morning with the threat of a thunderstorm, but finished packing and stepped out at 9:30 AM, making the 20-minute walk to the train station entirely dry. Our train departed as scheduled, treating us to a delightfully scenic ride filled with lush Mediterranean greenery and sparkling Ionian beaches.

One of our favorite surprises happened right on the train to Tropea. A talented young woman sat across from us, quietly sketching for a couple hours. Before leaving, she stealthily slipped a drawing onto our table—which we caught just in time to thank her. Here is her lovely sketch and message:

Such a lovely note.

Beautiful little sketch of Jerry & Tina.

We finally arrived in Tropea just before midnight, where our host Angelo was already waiting with a warm smile, an outstretched hand, and a cozy car to take us to our AirB&B, ready for the next leg of our adventures.

The garden walkway to our apartment.

Our AirB&B company name. We highly recommend them.