Last time Boca was in Brindisi was in 1972. College fun- Europe on $5 a day, must have been good for staying in shape-size 8 jeans. Not a particular attractive port town but a historic gateway to Greece. More on Italy later as we will be spending a good bit of time here after this cruise.
Hey Bubs let's hire a cab to take us to Lecce- the old city. "Do I have to?" Per Lonely Planet-
Lecce is a riot of cherubs; the Baroque masterpiece of southern Italy. Sometimes described as the 'Florence of the Baroque' or the 'Rome of the South', Lecce is really the only city destination in mainland Italy south of Naples which is appealing enough to attract large numbers of tourists. It lies in the region of Puglia, down at the heel of Italy's boot, surrounded by attractive countryside, seashore and small towns.
And 1/2 hr and $120 Euro's later we were at the gate to the old city.
Lecce's history goes back a long way - you can still see ruins of a Roman theatre and amphitheatre - but the period which led to town's current fame was the 17th century. A period of prosperity led to grand developments and the wholesale construction of palaces and churches. These buildings adapted the fashionable Baroque style to the soft local stone, with decorations and cherubs extravagantly covering facades and doorways.
C'mon Boca, this looks like a good way to go exploring...
Bubs the tour guide?
Where is the dang map???
Reminds Bubs of Alex and her chicken...family portrait?
Some say if Puglia (we are in the state of Puglia) were a movie, Lecce would be cast in the starring role. Bequeathed with a generous stash of baroque buildings by its 17th center architects, the Old City- within the walls it is quite the historic center- loaded with gargoyles, asparagus columns and cavorting gremlins-or Bubs observation- "looks like the architects were lunatics having nightmares!".
A window to history...
Cleaver use of the historic spaces-shops in the basements...
Should buy for Tina, my darling neighbor, who is the consummate floater.
Nothing a little sandpaper and some varnish couldn't spruce up.
and we all know Boca never met a cathedral she didn't like...
Baroque you too Bubs...
Pleep wanted to give confessions for a buck..
and Bubs thought it was an excellent idea, seeing he was in need for that upcoming nuptial.
Boca desperately tries to improve her selfie picture taking ability...next time, make sure no one is photo bombing your picture dear.
Yup, some more of that "street art"- nothing like an anti-facist slogan to adorn a historic building.
Not many store windows in those thick historic walls- this is one cleaver way to display your wares on the street....Bubs thought it was free food samples likes he enjoys at Costco.
With a VERY troubled economy, we see a very little bit of restoration going on.....
nothing a few Billion Bucks couldn't fix up.
Talk about the big dig-at this rate by the time they finish, they will have to start all over again.
No signs to keep out...anybody can walk anywhere anytime. OSHA? Not so much.
Bubs I think we're lost...we need to start heading back to meet our driver at the front gate.
Look at the Map...what do you mean there are 6 gates?
We're the Collins- we don't need no stinking map!
We've been by this church 4 x...
I think it's this way....
No, maybe it's this way?
The artist told Bubs that if we walk by him one more time we'd have to sit down for one of his portraits.
I found our driver- the crazy Greek that cusses in Italian! And back to the ship we go.
What is going on with the olive trees???
A bacterium called xylella fastidiosa has been invading southern Italy, in the Puglian region of Salento. X. fastidiosa is the pathogen that also causes Pierce's disease, which is endemic to California, especially vineyards in Napa and Sonoma. But in Puglia, the bacterium isn't attacking vineyards. It's attacking olive trees.
Olive trees in Salento have been withering and dying since 2013. Coldiretti, an Italian farm cooperative, estimates that one million of Puglia's 60 million olive trees are infected. Puglia accounts for about 40% of Italy's olive oil production, and the outbreak of the bacterium could cause up to $225 million in production losses in 2015 alone. And still rampant today...
The devastation was noticeable and awful. Has it spread to other areas?? Yes and no scientific treatment? Not yet. Replanting in contaminated areas is still banned. A fellow Floridian on the trip mentioned the "greening" that was going on in our Citrus areas...greening?
Arriving back at the fugly port.
THOMAS KELLER
Thomas Keller for Seabourn....you mean the guy that owns The French Laundry (Napa Valley, California) and Per Se (NYC)? Well hells bells Bubba, no wonder the food is outstanding. Boca has been trying to get reservation at The French Laundry for 20 years- her timing never quite works out. Yes, THAT Mr. Keller oversees the food on the Seabourn Cruise lines and boy does it show.
NYX ARTICLE: The chef’s central focus these days are the final touches on what he envisions as the physical representation of the Keller legacy: a nearly $11 million renovation of the kitchen and property at the French Laundry, which he bought in 1994 and transformed from a beloved local inn into one of the greatest restaurants in the world.
With its playful take on classic dishes, casual but refined service and luxe, pristine ingredients — many from its garden across the street — the restaurant cemented his reputation and proved, finally, that American chefs had stepped from the shadow of their European elders.
For the remodeling, Mr. Keller turned for inspiration to the Louvre’s mix of old and new architecture. Snohetta, the design firm behind the expansion of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the reconfiguration of Times Square as a largely pedestrian zone, created a soaring kitchen ceiling that evokes a white tablecloth floating down to a tabletop. Looming large on one wall is a clock and his favorite motivational mantra: “Sense of Urgency.”
There are solar panels and deep geothermal wells and a 16,000-bottle wine cellar. The counters are a few inches taller than before, so cooks don’t have to bend down as much. Mr. Keller has even made extra space to accommodate people who want to see the kitchen and take a picture, which 80 percent of the guests do.
Although the grounds are still under construction, the kitchen has been in full swing for several weeks. It looks perfect, but Mr. Keller continues to tinker. On a recent night, even a thread hanging from the toque of a chef on the fish station caught his attention, so he walked down the line and yanked it off.
In the French Laundry kitchen, a reminder of what is required in the room.
Like all Keller decisions, what comes next will be carefully considered and very likely won’t come soon. He is in what he calls the seductive stage of his newest venture, a 200-seat restaurant, tentatively called the TAK Room, in the huge Hudson Yards development on the West Side of Manhattan. Opening in fall 2018, it will be his first new restaurant in almost 10 years.
Bubs admires the wine selection on Board the Encore at the Thomas Keller Restaurant.
As well as some unique wine carafes. As he looked at Boca and snarled "don't even think about it."
Ol' Boca has to giggle when reading this one, "in an era when authenticity, cultural appropriation and gender and racial imbalance in the kitchen are on the minds of many cooks and diners, "Mr. Keller’s style of dining and the largely white, male crew of young chefs he mentors are inviting targets" quacked an article in the NYX . A fellow chef finds "fine dining as disingenuous, built from a system steeped in oppression and heirarchy in which women, gays and other minorities- whether customers or cooks- are not treated the same". Boca and the Bio Babes learned all about this issue when the studied female chefs and female sommeliers. Yup, historically a male dominated industry and pretty much the same today.
“I came from a broken family,” said Mr. Keller, whose father was a Marine drill sergeant, and who continues to support veterans’ causes. “My mother worked at night to support us, and I moved out of the house at 15 and supported myself. No matter what your circumstance, you need to find your own way out. In order to get ahead, you have to work hard. It’s pretty simple."
Well said Mr. Keller. Well said. Boca and Pleep will continue to comment on the food as we sail with Keller's kitchens. Oh and one more thing, he grew up in Palm Beach County, Florida where he graduated from Lake Worth High School. Local boy makes good- real good!
We were invited to a special event for those floating for the full 3 week tour- up in THE RETREAT- on top of the ship.
Our Cruise Director is on the prowl to make sure Pleep is not at the cocktail party as he has been banned from The Retreat for behavior unbecoming a monkey from the night before.
My Pleep?
We have taken every precaution to assure that monkey is not up here this evening, Madame and Monsier Fifi.
The cabana rental for a day is $450- and I understand Pleep has been hanging around up here since we got on the boat! That'll be the end of that my oh so in trouble little monkey! Enough of the champagne, I need a Makers Mark before I face the bill.
Our new pals Mim and Mike from Melbourne- who doesn't have fun with the Aussie's. And congratulations on the recent wedding engagement. Per Bubba, "Yes, my wife has a phd. in picking out diamond rings. If you know what's good for you, YOU WILL NOT ASK HER what ring to buy!"
Honey, you want to know why the cruise director looks like that?
A bacterium called xylella fastidiosa has been invading southern Italy, in the Puglian region of Salento. X. fastidiosa is the pathogen that also causes Pierce's disease, which is endemic to California, especially vineyards in Napa and Sonoma. But in Puglia, the bacterium isn't attacking vineyards. It's attacking olive trees.
We were invited to a special event for those floating for the full 3 week tour- up in THE RETREAT- on top of the ship.
Our Cruise Director is on the prowl to make sure Pleep is not at the cocktail party as he has been banned from The Retreat for behavior unbecoming a monkey from the night before.
The cabana rental for a day is $450- and I understand Pleep has been hanging around up here since we got on the boat! That'll be the end of that my oh so in trouble little monkey! Enough of the champagne, I need a Makers Mark before I face the bill.
Our new pals Mim and Mike from Melbourne- who doesn't have fun with the Aussie's. And congratulations on the recent wedding engagement. Per Bubba, "Yes, my wife has a phd. in picking out diamond rings. If you know what's good for you, YOU WILL NOT ASK HER what ring to buy!"
