Category: Culture and Traditions
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Summer time in Puglia: Ferragosto
Mid August in Puglia, the population swells as hordes of Northern Italians descend south for their summer holidays. Add all the other holiday makers from other countries into the mix and the once quiet, sleepy towns here, come alive and are buzzing with that summer holiday vibe. The young free and single guys and girls, […]
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Top 10 Reasons to Visit Puglia Italy
Six provinces make up the Puglia or Apulia region on the southeast coast of Italy. The Puglia (pronounced pool-ya) or Apulia region as it is known in English, is the most undiscovered and unknown region of Italy. With twenty different regions, Puglia is easily identified on the map as it runs down the east coast of […]
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Blood, Love and Art: Alfredo Passante
To celebrate 30 years of AVIS in San Vito Dei Normanni, (not the hire car company, but an important blood donating organisation in Italy) a highly acclaimed and hugely talented artist, Alfredo Passante, was commissioned to paint a picture which represents the importance of giving blood. Alfredo’s style of painting is Hyper-realism and his attention […]
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Step back in time to relax and unwind: Masseria Cappella
Driving through the Valle D’Itria in Puglia, is always a pleasurable experience but this day was particularly beautiful. The bright blue sky was interspersed with fluffy white clouds, the rolling hills were scattered with old and new Trulli dwellings, and the curvy, undulating road made the journey even more enjoyable. I was en-route to an […]
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Sneaky Peek into Puglia: May 2016
A Spring welcome from sunny Puglia. This month I thought I might introduce you all to the ‘masseria’. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Puglia and take a trip into the countryside, you will see examples of these historic masterpieces. Masserie (plural for masseria) were primarily built between the 16th and 18th centuries, […]
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What’s Happening in May 2016
Here’s a few dates for your social calendar! 8th May Ostuni Street Music Festival Location: Ostuni Piazza & Centro Storico Time: 15:30-22:00 Price: Free! For more information, check out their Facebook page. 8th-12th May October Beer Festival in Spring! Plus live music. Location: Macondo, Ostuni. Time: 21:30 Price: Depends on how many beers your have! For […]
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Poetic, Passionate Plates of Puglian Cuisine: Masseria Il Frantoio
They say it’s not all about the food and ‘they’ may be right but at Masseria Il Frantoio, located near Ostuni, you will find passion and poetic stories, as Armando Balestrazzi (the owner), presents each plate of carefully crafted organic, Pugliese cuisine. His enthusiasm and quiet, calm demeanour, is truly captivating! Keeping with tradition and […]
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Buona Pasqua! Happy Easter from Puglia!
The scarcella, also known in some areas as scarcedda, is a typical Puglian Easter cake. Another dialect term (from the Brindisi region) is pupu cullovu which means baby with egg, which I thought was quite cute and reminded me of the time when baby Jesus was conceived by the young virgin Mary. Traditionally, it is […]
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Antichi Sapori: An antiquity of Salento delights
Even on a cold, wintery day in Puglia, with a sprinkling of snow on the ground, there was still a very warm welcome from Antichi Sapori. Where Giusy was keen to welcome us into her store in Alberobello. This quintessential, coned shaped, 17th century trullo, was filled with an array of candy coloured pasta in […]
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A Sneaky Peek into Puglia: February 2016
Written by guest blogger Richard Watkins. Wow, so much has happened in February to share with you. The highlights being: participating in the Venice Carnival, 25 year reunion with Amex colleagues and attending 6 Nations Rugby match in Rome. OK, so this blog isn’t much about Puglia this month but sometime we do venture ‘fuori […]
Puglian Pleasures 