We arrive at our next destination’s train station on Monday evening. Lecce greets us with cold temperatures, elegant Baroque architecture, and silence. Our original plan for the Christmas season was to visit this eastern city in Italy’s Puglia region and take in its famous paper mâché manger scenes, but we ran short of time. Since Greece is only a hop away, we …

Now that they are older and wiser, they take great care to not repeat their mistakes by packing much lighter and always reading the fine print. But the Airbnb in Lecce bewitches them with its alluring image of a balcony ripe for cozy mornings with cappuccino or sunset aperitivos. They are not prepared for the …