Spring has been late arriving in Europe, and with the ash cloud cleared over Ireland we headed off to the South of Italy at the end of April.
First stop for two nights was Lecce, renowned more for it's Baroque architecture than it's pianist's I think...
....and a couple of ancient Roman amphitheatres in the middle of the city which were only discovered in the early 20th century.
The architecture is stunning, and there are over 100 churches in a city of 90,000 people!
Santa Croce being the most famous.
The architecture is stunning, and there are over 100 churches in a city of 90,000 people!
Santa Croce being the most famous.
After a couple of nights in Lecce it was time to hit the road, and although we normally rent the smallest automatic we can find, this time we were upgraded to a 3.0 Audi A6 SW. After questioning whether we could possibly get a smaller version (hilltop villages in mind), we opted for the luxury of the A6 when the only other option was a Smart car!!
The Adriatic Coast is a mixture of rocky outcrops and some sandy beaches.
This region in Italy grows something like 70% of the nation's Olive Oil, and the ancient Olive trees grow as far as the eye can see.
Being at the very tip of Southern Italy was well worth the effort, and much history to take in.
Next stop was Taviano and a great little Locanda Casa tu Martinu, recommended by the Lonely Planet. Southern Italy is quite poor in relation to their Northern counterparts and the regional food depicts this with what is described as "peasant food", but the way they do it can you live like kings "on the smell of an oily rag", and the vino is just as economical!!
Of course with a table of grappa to aid the digestion, Paddy was like a "pig in shit"!
One of the regional culinary traditions is to offer fantastic antipasta dishes. Almost like tappas. 8 or 10 dishes of fantastic seafood offerings before the primi patti and secondi patti. Dolci was always a struggle!
The beach owners were out in force making preparations for the first sunny holiday weekend of the year, and the weather didn't disappoint.
In Gallipoli (not Turkey) these fisherman had a very big job baiting "hundreds" of tiny hooks on "hundreds" of metres of line.
And in the same city there is obviously quite a bit of competition for the Sunday collection.
Then it was time to go in search of some fresh Sea Urchins. Fresh they were at 9.30 in the morning.....
.....and delicious!
We found Martina Franca was one of the most clean and beautiful towns in the area.
But Alberobello (the home 0f the trulli) had it's own charm.
A couple of days later we made it to "le Strada dell'Olio Extra Vergine di Oliva", where we had booked into Il Frantoio for three nights.
And it was great, an upmarket take on an agriturismo which has a very good kitchen. Eight course dinners are a regular occurance and we didn't say no. A long Sunday lunch while in Italy is something you just have to do!
The vino wasn't bad either.
The organic "farm" is on 150 acres with hundreds of "ancient" 500yo olive trees, as well as their 1200 "new" 20yo trees. The olive oil is superb.
And the cheesemonger was quite a "character".
Close to the Adriatic coast between Bari and Brindisi is an ancient ruin which is all that remains of Egnazia, one of the oldest settlements in Europe dating back to the 17th century BC, yes 17th! It flourished mainly between the 5th century BC and the end of the Roman era. The ruin below is part of the Appian way which stretched from Rome to Brindisi.
The ruts below are part of one of the roads around the site, worn down by chariots and carts. Similar to the roads at Pompeii.
Ostuni is called the "Cite Bianco", because of the amount of white-washed buildings. It's not a bad place for the "passeggiata" either.
Last stop was Polignano a Mare (or so we thought) where we found a tiny B&B in the ancient centre and gave us a nice bolt-hole for a couple of nights.
Very civilised!
Ryanair then cancelled the Pisa/Dublin sector of our return jouney due to ash so we were stranded in Pisa for a couple of nights before we could get another flight home. More pasta and vino at this stage was just what we needed! We took the train to Lucca for the day and made the most of our extended stay.
The Adriatic Coast is a mixture of rocky outcrops and some sandy beaches.
This region in Italy grows something like 70% of the nation's Olive Oil, and the ancient Olive trees grow as far as the eye can see.
Being at the very tip of Southern Italy was well worth the effort, and much history to take in.
Next stop was Taviano and a great little Locanda Casa tu Martinu, recommended by the Lonely Planet. Southern Italy is quite poor in relation to their Northern counterparts and the regional food depicts this with what is described as "peasant food", but the way they do it can you live like kings "on the smell of an oily rag", and the vino is just as economical!!
Of course with a table of grappa to aid the digestion, Paddy was like a "pig in shit"!
One of the regional culinary traditions is to offer fantastic antipasta dishes. Almost like tappas. 8 or 10 dishes of fantastic seafood offerings before the primi patti and secondi patti. Dolci was always a struggle!
The beach owners were out in force making preparations for the first sunny holiday weekend of the year, and the weather didn't disappoint.
In Gallipoli (not Turkey) these fisherman had a very big job baiting "hundreds" of tiny hooks on "hundreds" of metres of line.
And in the same city there is obviously quite a bit of competition for the Sunday collection.
Then it was time to go in search of some fresh Sea Urchins. Fresh they were at 9.30 in the morning.....
.....and delicious!
We found Martina Franca was one of the most clean and beautiful towns in the area.
But Alberobello (the home 0f the trulli) had it's own charm.
A couple of days later we made it to "le Strada dell'Olio Extra Vergine di Oliva", where we had booked into Il Frantoio for three nights.
And it was great, an upmarket take on an agriturismo which has a very good kitchen. Eight course dinners are a regular occurance and we didn't say no. A long Sunday lunch while in Italy is something you just have to do!
The vino wasn't bad either.
The organic "farm" is on 150 acres with hundreds of "ancient" 500yo olive trees, as well as their 1200 "new" 20yo trees. The olive oil is superb.
The farm also has "ancient" carob trees, supposedly the secret ingredient of some the region's better Gelato.
Anywhere around the Med, you are never very far away from a market, and this Tomato vendor stopped us in our tracks!
And the cheesemonger was quite a "character".
Close to the Adriatic coast between Bari and Brindisi is an ancient ruin which is all that remains of Egnazia, one of the oldest settlements in Europe dating back to the 17th century BC, yes 17th! It flourished mainly between the 5th century BC and the end of the Roman era. The ruin below is part of the Appian way which stretched from Rome to Brindisi.
The ruts below are part of one of the roads around the site, worn down by chariots and carts. Similar to the roads at Pompeii.
Ostuni is called the "Cite Bianco", because of the amount of white-washed buildings. It's not a bad place for the "passeggiata" either.
Last stop was Polignano a Mare (or so we thought) where we found a tiny B&B in the ancient centre and gave us a nice bolt-hole for a couple of nights.
Very civilised!
Ryanair then cancelled the Pisa/Dublin sector of our return jouney due to ash so we were stranded in Pisa for a couple of nights before we could get another flight home. More pasta and vino at this stage was just what we needed! We took the train to Lucca for the day and made the most of our extended stay.
