Puglia Travellers - Jenna & Darren
Jenna, a geography lecturer and Darren, a city worker, travelled to Puglia in September 2014 for their summer holiday, which I helped them to plan. They spent five sunny days in Peschici in the coastal north of the region, two stylish nights in Ostuni, the hill top ‘Citta Bianca’ and three nights just south of Otranto, staying in a Masseria. Having previously visited the essential but busy tourist cities of Venice and Rome, they were ready to sample a more authentic Italy with some sunshine and beaches thrown in too!
Jenna: We were instantly attracted to Peschici after hearing that this was a town very popular with holidaying Italians and indeed, we seemed to be the only non-Italian speaking people in the whole place! This felt a little intimidating at first but we easily got by as the people were so friendly and helpful. The owner of our delightful apartment (Casa Michelle), Vincenzo, was a fantastic host, taking us out on our first morning to explore the local market where we bought cheese, bread, tomatoes and the local savoury snack, tarelli and he kindly treated us to delicious coffee in the local tabana!
We enjoyed many simple lunches on our gorgeous balcony, looking out over the clear blue sea, venturing down to the beautiful beach each afternoon to join the Italian families and indulge in a gelato or two! We were pleased that beach sunloungers came with the apartment, something I understand is rather a novelty in Italy, where Italians flock from the cities to the beaches in August and September, booking their spaces in the sun years in advance!
Darren: The atmosphere in the town of an evening was electric – there was a small bar at the end of our street and an excellent pizza place, both open very late and it seemed the whole town enjoyed late nights of delicious food and wine, coffee, gelato; everyone was enjoying the warmth of the summer evenings. We felt it only right to get into the Italian swing of things and certainly had sore heads a couple of mornings we were there but we felt we had experienced an Italian summer holiday and would definitely go back!
Jenna: Our next stop was Ostuni, where we stayed at the stunning La Sommita which, as you might guess by its name, is at the very top of the old part of the city. You can see Ostuni from miles around as its gleaming white buildings rise 200 metres above the flat land, mainly given over to olive groves, surrounding it. We enjoyed exploring the narrow, winding vicoli of the old town, stumbling upon small restaurants and shops selling local leather and produce. The hotel was a wonderful place to escape from the sun in the late afternoons; lots of shaded terraces to relax and incredible views out to sea, only 8km away.
Darren: Yes, I remember it being very hot but there were always shady places to escape to! There are lots of trendy bars and restaurants in Ostuni and we also enjoyed a fantastic meal at Cielo, the Michelin starred restaurant at La Sommita.
The highlight for me was, by chance, catching La Cavalcata di Sant'Oronzo, the annual festival celebrating Ostuni’s patron saint. We witnessed the saint’s statue being paraded through the streets in the late afternoon, accompanied by elaborately dressed ‘knights’ on horseback - you could tell that this tradition has remained unchanged for hundreds of years. In the evening, huge crowds gathered in the central piazza, where the buildings were adorned with thousands of lights and the statue was again shared with the people. It seemed the whole city was out for the evening so we joined them in their celebrations, which culminated in a massive and very loud firework display, gone midnight, where whole families were parked up anywhere and standing in the roads – it felt like the whole of Puglia was there!
Jenna: It certainly was a night to remember! The day after, we moved on, following the coast road south to stay at Masseria Panareo situated south of Otranto and just 1.5km from the sea. As we journeyed further south, we could see the land becoming much more rural and the pace of life in the very south of Italy is certainly slower and quieter. We were stuck behind many a tractor and hardly heard another non-Italian accent. In fact, not many people in the rural parts of Puglia speak much English and while this can make for some longer conversations, we always managed to work out what each participant was wanting to convey - the Puglian people try very hard to make you feel welcome and understand you, they are very charming!
Darren: We enjoyed a very relaxing time at Masseria Panareo, which had a lovely pool and sweeping views down to the coast. We didn’t manage to visit many of the surrounding towns, such as Otranto and Lecce but we would certainly like to visit the region again to do this and enjoy some more excellent Puglian hospitality. It was wonderful to spend our holiday surrounded by Italians and their families, enjoying the sun, their food and la dolce vita!