After a few days in Eastern Basilicata, a few days slowing down, hours of regaining confidence in my dormant Italian, many good and funny moments it was certainly time to move on - I only had 3 days left in Italy before going home.
Lecce and Napoli where the two destinations for the two days to come. The first one I have never visited, the second I already had. Even after having seen quite a few countries and cities I still feel as if I haven’t found the right way of getting to know a place. Is it sightseeing? Yes and no.
On one hand, having not seen a few famous, interesting or beautiful places in a city would certainly leave me unsatisfied once leaving. Taj Mahal, Tower Bridge or Statue of Liberty. These all give me this feeling of having been there - to this country or city. Kind of placing that hook on a tick box.
On the other hand, as much as ticking off a box feels satisfying it doesn’t qualify for having seen a place and is much of a purpose in itself - seeing a sight. To come to the point - I was in Lecce and was looking for a good mixture between visiting the sights while seeking to understand more of what this city has to tell. I was looking for an experience at same time realistic, but also romantic in some way. Realistic as in learning about how beautiful, but also how hard it can be to live in the place I am visiting. I tried talking to the residents, shop owners or simply walking through areas outside of the main routes. Romantic as in allowing to idealise what I see and hear - the stories I hear, the colours I see and the frames I choose to shoot on my camera. As you will see - in my stories I am then mostly romanticising.
The Concert and the Boy With the Fisher-Price Toy Trumpet
On the city’s main square - during the festivities of their city’s “patrone” Oronzo di Lecce - a large concert was hosted to a standing public. Young couples, old couples, curious wanderers, tourists and certainly also families with kids were listening to a small orchestra playing. Most are just listening and enjoying the atmosphere under the lights surrounding the square. The ones wanting to keep some memories on their hand-held all-my-memories-gotta-be-on-this device would also film in full length.
But one group was surprisingly active - the kids. It went from simply gazing and admiration for the pieces played, over dancing to the classical music to one special kid with its own instrument. In the front row, right next to the stage, was a small boy standing with his Fisher-Price trumpet. He was very concentrated and even seemed to obey the conductor’s movements. Then, the grand finale - all musicians gave it to their best. The little kid was blowing into his trumpet as if this was his last piece of an hour-long concert. Loud and whistling music - or noise - came out of it. Then the music stopped, everyone with an instrument got up and thanked the audience for the cheering. With great pride the boy looked at the people behind him - holding his plastic instrument firm in his tiny hands. What a delight - I was somewhere between laughing and tears - a truly memorable moment.
Mr Paranas Bar and His Low Enthusiasm of Me Being There
In my attempt of getting a more local experience, I had started following some of Lecce’s Instagramers. One particular place that I found was a bar with an old neon sign. Parana’s bar - a place run by - here comes the surprise Mr Parana - a men in his early 70s probably. He has run this place for almost 50 years. After a short search, I spotted the bar in a side alley and went inside. Very few people were there. No surprise, there were neither chairs nor tables inside. All was in front of his bar. In the middle of the salon the actual bar was standing , with Mr Parana standing behind it. Everything looked like straight from the 1970s - without any renovation since.
A rather strange place for a tourist to be. As my Italian got less and less perfect after a few sentences - with increasing difficulty to formulate complex questions - he had asked why on Earth I would come to his bar. My answer was then rather simple: Instagram. I showed him the short caption which led me to this place, he made me some of his special iced espresso and his interest in me quickly faded. Nevertheless it was fun getting to know the bar and his owner a little, before I continued my nightly tour through Lecce.
The Pawn Shop Guy Who Didn’t Think I Could Want His Portrait
At the northern End of the Old Town of Lecce, much fewer tourists could be found. I used the occasion to see some local stores and stumbled upon a pawn shop. The only store in this particular street. The owner sat in the back, looking into his small box of a TV while enjoying the wind coming from his fan. I went inside, greeted him with a handshake and he showed me his most precious pieces - the jukeboxes. On our short encounter he played a third and final song. The needle touched the record and John Travolta’s “Let her In” sounded out of the speakers. Before making my way back out I asked him if I could take his portrait. He would step away from the machine, but I clarified I was much more interested in his picture than of a jukebox. A bit confused he seemed happy I would take home a memory of him. After thanking him for welcoming me in his store I roamed my way back to the city centre - accompanied by Travolta singing the slightly cheesy text “gonna let her in, gonna let her in my life” into the small backstreet. I could hear the music getting weaker as I gained distance from the store until it fell silent.
(PS: Other short encounters and portraits)
And still there were many more people I have met or who I only shortly crossed in the street and did not even mention here. I have dedicated a short gallery to them in my Analogue Project folder - Roll No 12 - Lecce and Other Stories in Black and White.