C E N T R A L
PUGLIA OCTOBER 2019
A ONE WEEK VACATION REPORT BY DAVID HOLMES & KATHRYN WALLACE ALL PHOTOS © DAVID M. HOLMES
A ONE WEEK VISIT TO CENTRAL
PUGLIA O C TO B E R
P
uglia (or Apulia) is a substantial region situated in the south east ‘heel’ of Italy. Puglia’s coastline is longer than that of any other mainland Italian region, and if you wanted to drive from the north to the southern tip on the Salento peninsula it would take you 5 hours – a distance of 415 kms. Puglia is bordered by the other Italian regions of Molise to the north, Campania to the west, and Basilicata to the southwest, and the region’s capital city is Bari. Puglia is amongst the hottest and driest regions of Italy in the summer, with temperatures sometimes reaching up to and
Alberobello
2 0 1 9
above 40°C in Lecce and Foggia. There are an estimated 50 to 60 million olive trees in Puglia, and the region accounts for 40% of Italy’s olive oil production. Agriculture plays an important role with the key locally produced ingredients including olive oil, artichokes, tomatoes, aubergine, asparagus, and mushrooms. Numerous PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) and PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) products are made in Puglia; these include several types of
cheese such as Canestrato Pugliese PDO and Burrata di Andria PGI. Puglia is an important national and international wine producer. After all, wine-growing in the region has ancient origins, which go back to two thousand years before Christ! Today Puglia is second only to Tuscany in terms of the number of DOC (Denomination of Controlled Origin) wines produced, and you can pick up a decent bottle of wine in the local supermarket for 3€! Did I mention the Grappa?
Lake G
FRANC
Putignano
LIECHTENSTEIN
AUSTRIA
SWITZERLAND
Geneva
Bolzano
Sondrio Como
D’Aosta Novara
CE
Milan
Brescia
Lombardia
Vercelli
Pavia
Turin Asti
GenoaL
Cuneo
Savona
Cremonia Piacenza
Alessandria
Piemonte
Veneto Treviso
Bergamo
igu
ria
Ligurian Sea
Verona Vicenza Padova
Bologna
Pisa Livorno
SLOVENIA CROATIA
Venice
Ferrara
Reggionell’Emilia Modena
Massa Lucca
Udine Pordenone Gorizia Trieste
Rovigo
Mantova
Emilia-Romagna
La Spezia
Imperia
Parma
HUNGARY
FriuliBelluno Venezia Giulia
Trento
Varese
Aosta Valle
Balaton
Trentino-Alto Adige
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
Ravenna
Florence
SAN MARINO
Toscana Siena
Pesaro
Marche
Arezzo
Anacon Macerata MONTENEGRO
Perugia Elba
Grosseto
Ascoli Piceno
Umbria
Pescara
Rieti Viterbo VATICAN CITY
Adriatic Sea
Teramo
Terni
Corsica (France)
Monopoli
Forli Ristoia
Lazio
L’Aguila
Chieti
Abruzzi
Rome Isernia Molise Campobasso
Frosinone Latina
Caserta
Strait of Otranto
Foggia
Benevento
Bari
Campania
Sassari
PUGLIA
Avellino
Naples
Potenza
Salerno
Taranto
Matera
Brindisi Lecce
Basilicata
Nuoro
Sardegna Oristano
Golfo di Taranto
Tyrrhenian Sea
Calabria Cagliari
Cosenza Catanzaro
Messina
Palermo
Reggio di Calabria
Trapani
Sicilia
Mediterranean Sea
Enna Caltanissetta
Catania
Ionian Sea
Agrigento Siracusa
Strait of Sicily
Ragusa
MALTA
We found the Michelin map of the region really useful
BARLETTA Trani
D AY 1 – S AT U R D AY E A S Y J E T F RO M L O N D O N G AT W I C K TO BARI, THEN BY CAR TO C A S T E L L A NA G ROT T E VIA MONOPOLI
BARI Corato
Bitonto
Modugno
Grumo Appula
Con
Puti Gravina in Puglia
Altamura
Santeramo in Colle
Gioia di Colle
MATERA Castellaneta
Bernalda Metaponto
S. Arcangelo
I
t was mid-October, and there was always a concern as to whether our holiday would require wet weather gear or not – we need not have worried. We arrived on an early Saturday morning flight with EasyJet from London Gatwick direct to Bari, on the Puglian coast, to find the sun shining, a light breeze and 25°C – warm enough to abandon as many layers of clothing as possible for our drive south into the countryside – and it stayed that way for the whole week. Arriving in good time at the local town for our villa – Castellana Grotte
– we grabbed some groceries, and then we reckoned that we could fit in a visit to the nearest town on the coast, Monopoli, before the agreed arrival time at our villa. Heading straight towards the centre of town and the beach we found a car park and walked into the old town, with its narrow streets, and tall houses – ideal for creating shade in the summer. Unfortunately we found a bar with the above view across the harbour, so we just had to award ourselves a celebratory ‘welcome to Puglia’ drink. Then it was time for a leisurely stroll back to the car and on to the villa.
Mola di Bari Polignano a Mare Monopoli
nversano Castellana Grotte ignano
Egnazia Fasano
Alberobello OSTUNI Noci Locorotondo Martina Franca Massafra
Ceglie Messapica
S. Vito d. Normanni
BRINDISI
Mesagne
Grottaglie Francavilla Fontana TARANTO
S. Giorgio Jonico
S. Cataldo Manduria Sava
LECCE Veglie Porto Cesareo Galatina Nardo Galatone
Otranto Maglie
Gallipoli
Ugento
Tricase
Leuca
It was here in Monopoli that we first encountered these Taralli biscuits – little savoury treats like a cross between bread sticks and pretzels
D AY 2 – S U N D AY RE L A X I NG AT T H E V I L L A , T H E N A N A F T E RNO ON WA L K A RO U N D C E N T R A L C A S T E L L A NA G ROT T E
O
ur villa was a converted ”Trulli”, complete with conically shaped stone roof sections, and surrounded by olive groves. Many thanks to Allesandro and his family for making us so welcome in their beautiful villa.
A
s usual when you first visit a new area or country, you don’t get things quite right to start with, and our afternoon trip into town told us that most of the locals were having lunch, followed by a siesta – it was quiet, apart from the sound of
diners in a few of the local restaurants. The Osteria del Caroseno caught our eye when looking at reviews, and it sounded busy which is always a good sign, but sadly we never made it there. Tip – book a restaurant for Sunday lunchtime.
D AY 3 – M O N D AY A L B E RO B E L L O F O R T H E M O RN I NG & LU NC H – THEN ON TO THE COAST NEAR FASANO TO V I S I T T H E E G NA Z I A A RC H E O L O G I C A L PA RK
B
y mid morning we were in Alberobello, only 20 minutes from our villa, having parked the car on a payand-display meter, and we were walking about enjoying the unique sights of this UNESCO World Heritage town, which is probably very busy in the summer. We were there in mid-October, and it was comfortable, but there were still coach loads of tourists arriving. There are lots of souvenir shops and cafés, but this didn’t spoil our enjoyment of walking around the central area. We had a lovely pizza lunch sitting outdoors, and were able to take some great photos as the weather was perfect, sunny but not too hot.
tickets which allowed us to walk around the archeological site, and tour the museum. The archeological site of the ancient city of Eganzia was substantial, and a revelation. You can visit Roman ruins all over Europe, but the difference here was that there were hardly any modern buildings to get in the way of your view of the whole site – you really could start to build a picture of how it must have been. And, they inform us, there is yet more to be excavated.
I
n the afternoon we drove down to the coast near Fasano, getting lost in ancient olive groves along the way, and finally arrived at the Egnazia Museum, not really knowing what to expect. It was a Monday afternoon and it was quiet – very quiet – apart from the numerous staff who were helpful and enthusiastic. So we purchased
D AY 4 – T U E S D AY A R E L A X I N G D AY AT T H E V I L L A , AND DINNER OUT IN CASTELLANA G ROT T E
N
ot the most energetic or successful day of our trip. Not energetic in that we spent a lazy first half of the day at the villa, then went into Castellana Grotte in the late afternoon for “La Passeggiata” (a gentle stroll) amongst the locals around the main square, with an enjoyable aperitif at one of the bars. Not successful in that we had booked dinner at a local restaurant which was partly enjoyable and partly disappointing.
D AY 5 – W E D N E S D AY A V I S I T TO T H E AT T R AC T ION W H IC H G I V E S C A S T E L L A NA G ROT T E I T S NA M E
“L
et’s visit the caves” – it doesn’t sound exciting does it? Admittedly I hadn’t really done much research about the caves (or grotte in Italian), so I wasn’t prepared for just how vast these caves are! After walking down a fairly long enclosed tunnel staircase you enter the main cave about half way up on a sort of balcony (see photo below left) – it takes your breath away – and then you walk down another staircase, and then on into smaller caves and grottos. There are two tours, the long and the short – we took the shorter as we would have had to hang around for an hour or so for the longer tour with a guide speaking English. The longer tour takes you the length of the underground caves, a distance of about 3kms,
Photo below of the wolf shaped stalactites courtesy of Alessandro e Damiano @ Wiki Commons
and descends to a depth of over 70 metres. Our guide was entertaining, and keeping us safe at all times was his main concern. The walkways are well thought out and substantial. Fortunately you return to the surface via a lift. It should be noted that apart from in the main cave, photography is not allowed. After our visit we briefly explored the various gift shops that surround the cave ticket office – a lot of stuff you really didn’t want as far as I could see – and then had a quick coffee at the nearby Taverna Degli Amici.
D AY 6 – T H U R S D AY A ROA D T RI P TO INCLUDE PUTIGNANO... ON TO NOCI, AND THEN TO GIOIA DEL COLLE
F
irst off to Putignano arriving mid-morning for a walk around the old town centre, and a visit to the amazing church – Chiesa Matrice-Parrocchia S.Pietro Apostolo-Confraternita Maria SS. Addolorata – now there’s a mouthful! Stepping inside was a real surprise, not only did the church have a most unusual (to us) staircase either side of the lower alter, but it had an upper alter as well. The ceiling was wooden with painted biblical scenes. After a cappucino seated outdoors at a street café, we decided to move on to Noci. Noci felt like a town for the local populace with virtually no tourists to speak of. After a light lunch of a panini at a café on the main square, again seated outdoors, we walked through the central old town area, visiting the Piazza Plebiscito (see above right) along the way. Worth a quick visit if you’re in the area. We then drove on to Gioia del Colle, where we weren’t quite sure what to expect. The map showed that the town was home to a Federician Castle, the
Castello Normanno Svevo, and after driving around the centre for a while we managed to find it – it was well hidden – but actually very impressive, with a massive tower (see also page 1). On entering we realised that the castle also housed a museum. We appeared to be the only visitors at the café / shop /
Left:The Piazza Plebiscito, Noci – Below: Castello Normanno Svevo in Gioia del Colle
ticket office, where we purchased entry tickets. We commenced our visit by walking up an external staircase to the upper floors (there is a lift), which house a series
of impressive halls and smaller rooms. The ceilings / roofs have obviously been replaced but this doesn’t detract from the real sense of history that you can feel here. After meandering through a few of the chambers, we realised that one of the members of staff had
joined us, and was giving us a free guided tour of the castle – and this continued on through the archeological displays in the museum on the ground floor – what a gift! We really felt taken care of, so many thanks to the staff here.
D AY 7 – F R I D AY A VISIT TO THE SEASIDE TOWN OF P OLIGNANO A MARE
F
riday – our last full day – and we decided that a complete day out to the coast was required. Polignano a Mare stood out in the guides as a place to visit, and it didn’t disappoint as a destination, although once again I’m glad that we were there outside the main summer season. Talking to one of the locals, they said that their preferred month is September, after the scorching heat and the numerous tourists of July and August. On arrival we parked in one of the municipal car parks and walked into the older section of the town through the massive and ornate gateway, and then on through the Piazza Dell’Orologio (which seemed just a bit too touristy) into the narrower lanes. There we found a great view from a cliff-top balcony looking down onto the tiny beach of Lama Monachile (above), and just behind it in a sort of courtyard arrangement, the quaint restaurant of Spnze(?), who served delicious
vegetarian food. After lunch we walked through more narrow lanes and piazzas, and then, on the recommendation of our waiter at Spnze, we drove northwards to visit the fishing village of San Vito, with its fortified remains (below), and Abbey. The locals obviously loved to eat here in one of several restaurants (a good sign), away from the bustle of the town.
Next day, Saturday, we would pack up the car and head back to Bari Airport for our return flight to the UK. We look forward to our next visit to southern Italy – great weather, great food and great value.
T
o read more reviews about the places we ate at, and the visitor attractions we experienced, take a look at my page on Tripadvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Profile/ Happiness701499 NEXT TIME On this trip we didn’t quite make it to: • Matera • Any of the other Federician Castles or archeological sites in the region Maybe we would fly into Brindisi next time – so that we could explore the more southerly end of the peninsula. Places that we could visit there might include the towns of: • Brindisi • Ostuni • Lecce • Otranto • Gallipoli And of course, we would try much harder to eat and drink more Puglian specialities.
Except where credited, all photos © David M. Holmes Page layouts and text by David Holmes holmes.net@btinternet.com
Alberobello Town Hall