i have to confess straight up that i’m one of those people who love italy. italy isn’t a superpower of the world anymore, it doesn’t have the strongest economy, or the best employment and housing solutions, nor is it leading the way in technology and commerce. but let me share with you my memories, coloured by my crazy honeymoon bliss, of puglia in june and see if i can't convince you of its appeal.
puglia, in the south of italy, is the state that looks like the heel of the boot. the food, architecture and culture is influenced by neighbouring countries greece and turkey and is free from the tourists who horde the centres of rome, florence and venice. you won’t find any immigrants trying to sell you gucci sunglasses or prada handbags in the street here, where the historical sights are just as plentiful, but the pace a hell of lot more leisurely.
after driving hours through countryside full of orange dirt, pine tree and olive grove plantations you will be rewarded with typically gorgeous towns of white-rendered buildings impossibly perched on cliffs with their cobbled streets and bustling church piazzas set against sheer cliffs down to beaches of white sand and the brightest azure blue adriatic sea.
the june sun is lazy and permeates warmth and on weekends people flock to the beach to play in the knee-deep water of the bay, packed in shoulder-to-shoulder. people recline on lilo’s floating in the water, inflatable beach balls bounce from one person to another, numerous games of bat-ball are competitively played both in and out of the water. everywhere there are oiled bodies on display in supremely flattering swimsuits, waiting to be admired.
as the sun sets at this time of year, the light takes on that real golden tone that saturates all colour to lend a surreal beauty to everything. one night in that golden glow, we watched a group of boys playing soccer in the piazza in front of the imposing façade of the church. another night we watched a saints parade where it seemed the entire town’s population swelled the narrow streets in procession behind the priest decked out in his fancy robes and the whole congregation singing hauntingly, carrying banners and candles.
the relaxed pace in puglia sees lunch taken at about 3pm and dinner not before 10pm. of course the focus on food is as strong here as the rest of italy, fresh and abundant quantities of seafood prepared simply, tasting like it came straight from the ocean is a specialty here and is complemented perfectly by the wines locally produced in the region. food costs nearly half what you pay in Rome, it’s so cheap and so good. one night we stumbled upon a local restaurant that specialised in cooking meat and we bought a 5-litre bottle of their delicious home-made wine for 1 euro per litre!
as you’d expect, the hospitality of the locals is completely over the top, in typical italian manner. when we stopped at a bed and breakfast to enquire about accommodation the lady apologetically told us she’d just let out their last room but asked us to wait as she called her husband, who drove us to their spare apartment quaintly furnished with antique-style furniture, a heavy wooden door 12 feet high and loft-style bedroom, not to mention its prime location at the top of the stairs down to the beach and restaurants, all of which they rented to us for the same price as a room at their bed and breakfast! we stayed in otranto which is located on the eastern coast, on the southern side of what they call the salento coast.. it was the perfect place to set up camp as it’s quite central to the rest of the region, easily reached in small day-trips. the whole coast is worth driving for the beauty of the towns and the coast as well as the impressive marinas, crumbling lighthouses (a symbol of the region), massive caves , castles and terme (naturally occurring hot sulphur baths) to see. Inland, you must stop to visit the gorgeous city of lecce which packs in surprisingly grandiose churches, piazzas, buildings plus an amphitheatre that’s nearly 2000 years old, integrated into a small but bustling city.
ange.
