I was taking antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection, but it didn’t matter. The tickets were purchased. I had been planning to visit my friend for months. She had bought an apartment in Campi Salentina and was renovating it. Even though work is going well, I needed to get out of Berlin. Do something and see something completely different. Every day in the early evening, we drove until we saw a beach we liked. When hungry, we walked through the village until we saw an inviting terrace restaurant. I don’t remember the names. I am not interested in that kind of post. Where to go, what to eat. The older I get, the less I plan and the more of a spontaneous traveler I become. Don’t listen to me, just go wander. The cafe or horizon that calls to you, go to it. Have gelato for breakfast. Nap, damp and wilted, through the late afternoon heat. Split a watermelon and a mokka pot with your friend. Don’t wake up early. Have more dark wine. Go to bed late.

This is the church in the middle of Campi Salentina. Obviously the pride of the town. The light on that orange sherbet stone reminds me of Malta.

One night while driving back from a beach, we stumbled across a food truck. It was run by a farmer. We ate plenty of vegetables, cheese and sausages on paper plates and I had red wine from a small plastic cup. It was perfect.

We drove to Lecce in time to catch the rotating, regional last Sunday market. My friend bought a shade for her kitchen lamp. The sun was brutal that weekend, but it was so all over Europe. Back home in Berlin it was 41 C or 105 F.

No one can argue that Lecce is gorgeously romantic. Romantically gorgeous. Dreamy. I ate a lot of gelato. It was already melting all over me the second the cone was handed over.

Though my flight from Brindisi back to Berlin was an adventure (my Frankfurt – Berlin leg was cancelled and I consider myself lucky that I made it back “only” 14 hours later), in theory, it was just over 3.5 hours´ flight time. As I took this picture of this grandiose building, I thought to myself, “This is one of the reasons I stay.” All of Europe is at my doorstep. I have more last minute trips planned and unplanned this summer. Vague ideas. That is my advantage, I am free and near enough that I can just book a weekend somewhere and take off.

I recently enjoyed reading The Irish Goodbye by Beth Ann Fennelly. There is a story where she describes how she imagines living as a unmarried, childless woman in a modern apartment in a European capital city. But then she says she would be longing to be married with children in her comfortable little town. As an unmarried, childless woman living in a European capital city (although my apartment is not modern), I do not daydream of being married with children in a little town back home in the States. Not by a long shot. Not ever. And I am glad I can tell you that truthfully. I may miss home sometimes, but that is not my reverie.