– a hidden beauty, mellow and wily –
Aren’t we so lucky! Niran has managed to wrangle five days off work so that he can spend time with us Puglia – the heel of the Italian boot! We left Munich early by air.
A nice photo of the Austrian alps from the plane. Still a little snow on some.
We landed at Bari Airport around midday and had a few hours to get to the property where we would be staying for the next few days. So we decided to take the slow road, which took us from Bari on the eastern (Adriatic Sea) side of the heel to Taranto on the western (Ionic Sea) side, and then inland and south – which is where the Valle d’Itria area is located.
By this stage we were pretty hungry and weren’t seeing anything other than some fairly dire-looking roadhouses. By about 2pm our tummies were getting the better of us, so we spontaneously veered off the road in the direction of a tatty sign pointing to Francavilla Fontana. Little did we know what was in store. This place doesn’t feature in any of the guidebooks we had read – almost as if it doesn’t exist.
What we found was a ghost town. The buildings were incredibly ancient and decaying, many of them boarded up. It looked like something from Ancient Greece or Rome. We later learned that the town had been the property of the Imperiali Family for a few hundred years sometime into the 18th century, so perhaps they were responsible for the architectural choices. As we toured the town later, we got the distinct impression that it was probably now owned by a different type of 20th century “family”. Calum felt that it had a sinister feel about it – not sure about that – but it was wonderful and intriguing. How could this have escaped any of the tourist guides?
Parking was a cinch – take your pick between the hours of 12:00 – 16:00 – when everyone disappears into their houses for the “pausa pranzo”, Italy’s version of a siesta. We parked opposite the town’s main square, adjacent to an amazingly fashionable cafe with waiters who wouldn’t look out of place in trendy Newtown in Sydney. Uuuugh???? So incongruous.
We had a quick lunch and then decided to take a walk around town. Not a soul to be seen. Seriously, no one, until…
But here are a few of our photos in the meantime.
We eventually reached a square with the most beautiful Church in local stone – this is what had attracted us to the town in the first place – this massive dome sitting proud and alone in the middle of nowhere.
Whilst we were crossing the road to take a better look at this “little” church in this “little” town, an Audi suddenly drew up at an intersection in front of us. The driver just stopped in the middle of the street and started chatting to his passenger whilst also speaking on the phone….in the middle of the street….I quickly scurried past his car and noticed another car drawing up behind him. That driver honked his horn. Very slowly and deliberately, the driver of the first car lifted up a couple of fingers of his left hand as if admonishing a child and telling them to be quiet. The second driver promptly moved his car to the kerb, switched off the engine and scurried away on foot. The first driver just continued with his business not even pausing to lift his head and look around. Mmmmm…
Anyway, we tried not to panic, because the town was just too eerily gorgeous, so we continued on and eventually returned to the car and continued our trip, finally reaching the house, which is located in a small village called San Michele Salentino.
Oh my! How wonderful. It’s a series of connected “trullis” located in an olive grove. Perfection! A trullo is a typical farmhouse in this part of Puglia. It’s conical with a pointed stone roof. They look like little hobbit houses, and they are incredibly gorgeous. Here are some pics.
Not much more to report for today. We cooked dinner and ate by the pool. A very relaxing evening.
