Lecce (Summer 2017)

Daniele Sanvitto, a friend and colleague in charge of the Advanced Photonics Laboratory, gave me a warm invitation to spend the summer in Lecce, Italy with him and his family: his wife Rocío, who is an art restorer (she restored the ceiling of one of the domes of Lecce's cathedral), and Lucía, their three years old daughter.

Me by the setup to measure the quantumness of the Polaritons

During my stay in Lecce I worked alongside the people in the laboratory on our search for the experimental observation of the interaction between polaritons at the single particle level. My closest interaction was with Daniel Suárez, a friend with whom I studied physics back in Bogotá and who is now pursuing his Ph. D. in Lecce with Daniele. Antonio Fieramosca, another Ph. D. student at the laboratory, organised an excursion to the National Park "Il Pollino", close to his hometown Viggianello.

When I arrived to Lecce I didn't know any words in Italian, beyond those that permeate the global culture, let alone the grammar of the language. However, as my mother language is the Spanish (and apparently I'm gifted with languages), I was able to catch the grammar quite rapidly and learn a decent vocabulary in the three months I spent in Lecce. Of course, my Italian is far from being proficient, but I feel like it is very good given that I didn't attend any classes.

Lecce is the capital and largest city of the Apulia region, which is the heel of the Italic boot (although it is not much more to the south than Madrid). Due to its beautiful baroque architecture, the city is also referred to as the Florence of the South. Indeed, strolling through its streets, one can feel the character of the city, the pride of the unique. Also, after 5 pm the air is flooded with the aroma of oregano, fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, as the local pizzerias become filled with hungry Italians.

Duomo Leccese from Rocío & Daniele's house
Duomo Leccese at night from Rocío & Daniele's house
Bohemian streets
The Roman amphitheatre (with the Duomo at the back)
St. Oronzo guarding the Leccese
Summer evenings
Details in the cathedral
Piazza del Duomo by sunset
Details on the statues
Piazza del Duomo by night
By the theatre
You can't hide from the Duomo