Travel

Postcards from Puglia Judith Schrut Sends Greetings From Italy’s Sunny ‘Deep South’

Antonella’s Pasticciotto Lecce, photo Judith Schrut

Puglia, famously known as the heel in Italy’s beauteous boot, can be summed up in three words: past, present and Primitivo. Just add pasta, panini and prosciutto, and you’ve pretty much got the ingredients of this wonderful place.

There are a great many reasons you might want to spend a week or two exploring and enjoying this unique, unspoilt region, and they all involve pleasuring your senses.

There’s the impossibly pretty scenery, small towns full of charm and history which dot the hillsides, and ancient seaside villages which line the rugged coastline. A near-perfect climate produces the region’s fabled food and wine. which might be described as out of this world yet down to earth. Local cheeses like burrata and smoked meats like spicy capocollo, rich red wines from Primitivo and Negroamaro grapes, superb seafood and shellfish from the morning catch, stretched orecchiette - ‘little ears’- and other pastificious treats, and wow-factor gelato, make Puglia a no-contest foodie paradise.

And if you like being close to nature, exercising in clean air, generous, welcoming local hospitality, waking to the smell of freshly baked breakfast cakes and the world’s best coffee, this region is definitely for you.

At time of writing there seems an added bonus: this distant part of Italy appears sheltered from the worst of the pandemic, with relatively few Covid-19 cases to date.

Pedals in Puglia, photo copyright Antonello Naddeo

Magical Matera The perfect place to begin our holiday in the heel, and less than an hour’s drive from Bari airport, with direct flights from the UK, is the legendary city of Matera.

Matera is actually one of the oldest cities on earth, inhabited for over 9,000 years. It’s a place of infinite beauty and picture postcard views, prehistoric cave houses carved into limestone rock, meandering streets and narrow alleyways. This is where Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, and Richard Gere’s King David were filmed, because of its astonishing likeness to Jerusalem. And it’s probably the most stunning European city you’ve never heard of.

En route to being named 2019’s European Capital of Culture, Matera underwent an incredible transformation. The city’s aged heart, the Sassi, has been lovingly cleaned and polished whilst losing none of its charms. Many of its cave houses have been reborn as 21st century bars, hotels and restaurants. This includes tonight’s joyful dinner destination, Ristorante Soul Kitchen, a tastefully restored cave eaterie run by charismatic brothers Pietro and Mimmo and serving a daily changing menu sourced from local farmer’s markets. Four courses and a bottle of Aglianico del Vulture later, we’re not quite legless and just in time for a guided tour of Matera by night. As evening falls the city becomes an illuminated

Marino the Panini King of Noci and wife Anna

Yours Trulli, Alberobello, photo Judith Schrut

Along the Adriatic, photo Judith Schrut

fairy tale. As a canopy of lights covers the panoramic old town with its timeworn buildings clinging to the cliffside, we retire to our cave-hotel, Corte San Pietro.

Yours Trulli, Alberobello The trulli of Alberobello: you’ve probably seen them loads of times – in adverts for romantic getaways, stylish snaps on

Instagram and front covers of Italian travel guides. But there’s a perfectly good reason why that’s so. For the extraordinary UNESCO World Heritage town of Alberobello is truly, or should I say trulli, an enchanted place.

To get the most out of this magic, we’re spending a few nights in a traditional beehive-shaped trullo cottage in the exquisite Rione Aia Piccola area.

For the uninitiated, a trullo (plural: trulli) is a whitewashed drystone hut with a conical roof, found only in Puglia’s Itria Valley. Alberobello is filled with hundreds of trulli, built many years ago as simple shelters for farmers and shepherds. Here they lived, in one round, domed room, along with spouses, children and animals. Nowadays, many trulli have been turned into smart but reasonably priced holiday accommodation. We were overjoyed with our cosy trullo, complete with underfloor heating, kitchenette, luxury bathroom and comfy alcove bed.

Apart from its unique’ trulliness’, one of the best things about Alberobello is its proximity to many other wondrous sights to see and things to do

Apart from its unique’ trulliness’, one of the best things about Alberobello is its proximity to many other wondrous sights to see and things to do. For us that includes a visit to the ancient olive orchards at Masseria Brancata to sample ‘liquid gold’ from its 3000 year old trees, tasting organic Puglian wines at Amastuola vineyards and DIY mozzarella cheesemaking with Giorgio ‘Big George’ Spalluti, at Itria Bontà dairy farm. For

Burrata cheesemaking with ‘Big George’, Itria Bonta, photo Judith Schrut

refreshment, there’s a four-course sandwich lunch at Noci’s legendary Il Panino di Marino and a four-course dinner from the kitchen gardens of Trattoria Terra Madre. Ideal for children, and children-at-heart, are the ‘Meriviglia di Puglia’, the magnificent underground caves at Castellana. With the price of admission comes an expert 3km guided tour (in English), taking you past crystallised curtains, canopies and needles, down to the grotto’s deepest reach, the spectacular White Cave.

Pedal Power Whether you’re an Easy Rider, Whizz-Bang Wheeler or Velo Virgin, I truly believe the best way to explore Italy is by bike. And joy of joys, that’s how we’re spending the next part of our hiatus in the heel.

That’s thanks to the amazing folks at Puglia Cycle Tours of whom I am an unabashed fan. I’ve toured with them before and wouldn’t bike Puglia with anyone else. Their guided and self-guided routes are well organised and supported, your luggage is transported between stops, and their lovely staff have a knack of making you feel part of a cuddly Puglian family for however long you’re visiting. (Don’t take my word for it; feedback on social media says it all).

Cyclist-in-chief Giovanni excitedly tells our assembled group about the fabulous hills on today’s tour, so I’m thrilled to be kitted out with an Atala B-easy E-bike. However, if you’re reasonably fit, you’ll do just fine with the excellent standard bicycles provided.

Our route follows the splendid Ciclovia dell’Acquedotto Pugliese – the Apulian Aqueduct Cycle Route. A joint project of Bicitalia and Puglian Regional Transport, the route literally lets you cycle and walk on water, the first stretch of a 500 km path over the ‘hidden river’ of Europe’s oldest and biggest aqueduct.

The route is completely devoid of road traffic and surrounded by a majestic mix of natural beauty and manmade wonders: wooded canyons and lush valleys, farmland and vineyards, perched villages and a multitude of trulli. The shimmering blue Adriatic is always with us, just over there on the horizon. Simply put, this is slow tourism at its very best.

There are plenty of diversions and photo-ops along the way. We stop to pet horses, watch wild rabbits, smell cabbages

Sunset, Puglia, photo Judith Schrut

growing by the roadside and rest in the shade of trulli. There’s an espresso pause in scenic Cisternino and a long, lazy lunch in Locorotondo. Known for its distinctive circular shape and spectacular hilltop position with 360 degree views of the surrounding countryside, picturesque lanes and storied white wines, Locorotondo is considered one of Italy’s most beautiful villages. Our final kilometre is a glorious downhill ride to Ostuni, Puglia’s famed ‘white city’, we’re just in time for sunset and twilight aperitivo and wine-tasting on Ostuni’s panoramic walled terrace, hosted by the friendly folk at Walking Wine.

Our final kilometre is a glorious downhill ride to Ostuni, Puglia’s famed ‘white city’, we’re just in time for sunset and twilight aperitivo and wine-tasting on Ostuni’s panoramic walled terrace, hosted by the friendly folk at Walking Wine

Speciality of the House, Ristorante Il Guazzetto, Monopoli

Andiamo All’adriatico! (To The Adriatic) All great holidays must come to an end, and so too must our glorious gambol down the heel of Italy’s boot. We’ve wisely chosen to spend our last few precious days cosying up to Puglia’s Adriatic coast. This gives us the chance to see the renowned cliff-perched village of Polignano a Mare, with its wandering alleyways, hanging balconies and sea caves, memorable gelato from Gusta Caruso and superfresh fish paninis from Pescaria, to explore the nature reserves, golden beaches and rugged coastal paths of Salento, take a dip in the natural pools at La Grotta della Poesia (the Poetry Cave) and gasp at the crystalline waters surrounding the sea stacks of Sant’Andrea. It means an afternoon in the baroque jewel of Lecce and a final night in the port of Monopoli.

With its characterful harbour and historic town centre, Monopoli is a dream come true if you like waking to the sounds of gulls and fishing boats instead of road traffic. It’s also a fine place to sample outstanding, just-off-the-boat, seafood. For such a small and unpretentious town, Monopoli punches way above its waistline, with more than 285 eateries listed on Trip Advisor.

With its characterful harbour and historic town centre, Monopoli is a dream come true if you like waking to the sounds of gulls and fishing boats instead of road traffic. It’s also a fine place to sample outstanding, justoff-the-boat, seafood

The mere thought of Puglian cuisine makes us ravenous and in need of another four-course banquet. The chef at Monopoli’s Il Guazzetto does not disappoint. Our long communal table heaves with start-platters of octopus and branzino carpaccio, mussels in olive oil, garlic, parsley, marinated anchovies and salmon. This is followed by an enormous platter of seafood calamarata pasta, assorted grilled fish and vegetables, fish soup and a tugload of Bianco Locorotondo from Il Guazzetto’s excellent, easy-priced wine list, with dolci and housemade liqueurs still to come.

Just as well we’re staying at nearby Hotel Indelli Palazzo, a boutique hotel overlooking the attractive town square, although Monopoli has plenty of equally comfy options. If you’re on a tight budget or just keen to support a worthy local project, check out the studios, apartments and other beautifully renovated properties run by the Albergo Diffuso Cooperative.

Judith travelled to Puglia and Basilicata as a guest of Puglia Cycle Tours and Puglia Promozione.

For further information please visit: www.pugliacycletours.com and www.agenziapugliapromozione.it.