Southeast Italy--Puglia

Hey Everyone!!

We're in the home stretch now but, still loving every minute!

We arrived in Puglia from London. Flight was great, we landed on time and then went to pick up our rental car. This was the first place where we realized this was really going to be an ‘adventure’ of sorts because no one spoke a lick of English. Either way, we finally got the car and realized quickly that we should probably spend the extra money and get the GPS system. At this point, I should mention that I’ve had several strongly worded disagreements with ‘the voice’. At times I have found myself in an all out argument with ‘her’. That said, she’s been helpful for the most part and, well--she speaks English. 

This section of the trip was dedicated to exploring the heel of the boot. First stop was the Lecce area. The place where we stayed is what they call a ‘masseria’ (translation: farm).  It’s a nice piece of land where they typically grow olive trees and make their own wines etc.. with a property to serve guests.  Gorgeous place and very relaxing.  Once we arrived, we dropped off our stuff and spent the rest of the day in the town of Lecce exploring and scoping out the scene.  Nobody spoke English so, we were just winging it (driving included).  It’s about 2:30pm and we quickly realize that nobody is in the streets of this old town and most of the shops/restaurants are closed with the exception of a few. Come to find out later that places don’t open until 5pm and they stay open until 1am.  Who came up with this system? Either way, while all the Italians were waking up and opening up their doors, we were beat and ready to head back to our farm to eat some dinner.  All in all, it was a beautiful old city and we enjoyed exploring it!  

Dinner at the hotel: Well, eating at the farm was highly recommended and quite the experience.  They had a very welcoming dining room and the menu looked great.  Our waitress hardly spoke English but, the menu had some translations so, it was all good.  We ordered and then saw some kind of stew like dish go by that looked really hearty and good so of course, I had to ask what it was..  She responds--”It’s cavallo” and then proceeded to act it out as if she had reigns in her hands and began galloping.  Ok, crystal clear--you eat horses here.  OMG.  Jon and I look at eat other in shock and we act as if that never happened.  Next thing we know, she is bringing us this dish--’compliments of the chef’.  Oh shizzle. What do we do now?  Neither one of us could get past the idea of eating horse and the whole galloping reenactment really solidified my discomfort with this particular speciality.  All that said, ‘when in Rome...’, so Jon and I made an agreement to at least try it (even though I couldn’t get over the visual in my mind). Honestly, it tasted like stew meat and the potatoes were really good. I probably won’t ever eat it again but, I did do it.  Second night at the restaurant:  So, the food at this restaurant hasn’t been bad, the only problem is, there is a serious language barrier and the translated menu isn’t exactly accurate (I know this due to my experience from the night before...). This particular night, they had a ‘fish soup’ listed.  Naturally, I asked what kind of fish was in the soup and the response was: ‘lobster and shrimp’.  Yum, that sounds awesome--I’ll take one! Our dishes come out and I notice mine is on a PLATE and it’s one shrimp and 4 calamari on a thick green paste.  Right-o.  Wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for ‘soup’ but, it was food and at that point, I was ready to eat.

The next day, we head south along the coast towards Otranto.  Otranto is so quaint and the water is soooooo blue ;) We arrived and found a great spot to have lunch right on the beach.  Probably one of the best lunches we’ve had since being down here. Jon got the mussels in a tomato wine sauce and I got the caprese which was extremely fresh!  Throughout the lunch we have a great conversation in Italian with the waiter (thanks to our Italian dictionary :). Spent the rest of the day walking around the old castles and churches--snapped some great pics and then hit the road.  We both loved Otranto but, that town definitely has something against toilet seats...this was a reoccurring theme.  My thighs are pretty toned at this point from all the squatting--makes no sense.  While in Puglia, we also ventured off to another town called Martina Franca where we stayed at a quaint (and hard to find) bed and breakfast.  We did a lot of walking and had an AMAZING dinner in town.  This little place was called ‘L’Osteria Piazzetta Garibaldi’ -- owned by a husband and wife team.  You will seriously feel like you’re eating at their home.  They were both super warm and their food was excellent.  As we made our way north to Bari, we stopped in a town called Alberobello.  This town is famous for it’s trulli homes and structures.  Cool to see something totally different and unique.  The trulli's make you feel like you're in a real life Smurf's episode (loved that show...)! Overall, we loved this part of our trip! Lots of history, great food, adventure, fun and not overrun with tourists!  Ok--so, I really condensed this post but, hopefully you get the idea and the pictures help too ;) 


Driving in Italy:  I’ve always said that Jon has an aggressive driving style.  Could be because he grew up in Boston...could be something else.  Whatever it is, it REALLY came in handy while driving in Italy.  Jon has become an expert Italian driver and has literally driven us around the entire heel of Italy (and 10 million ‘roundabouts’) and now across the country to the Amalfi Coast!  Not many people can say that... I definitely give him props for his stick shift driving skills, in a foreign land, amongst drivers who don’t obey traffic signs, or laws. Bravo, Giovanni!!


Next post: Amalfi Coast

xxj