Responding to Gabby Abby's wonderful Open Call, I am reposting my Puglia "travelogue" of last year as I prepare for my next trip - this time to the Riviera del Brenta between Padua and Venice...stay tuned for more on that later this summer!
The region of Puglia may be Italy’s next Umbria (which is just about ending its run as the “next” Tuscany) One can hope, however, that the still unspoiled heel of the Italian boot can remain as lovely, tasty, warm and welcoming as it still is today. Puglia also offers great travel bargains for comfortable and beautiful lodging, delicious and elegant gourmet dining and souvenir as well as personal shopping, all in breathtaking locations-- natural, architectural and archeological.
We had been longing to stay in an “agriturismo” (farm holiday resort) such as have enjoyed great attention on the travel scene in the last two decades. In these restored farmhouses and manufacturing buildings where farm products like wine and olive oil were produced in the past (and sometimes are still produced) travelers can enjoy bed and breakfast and sometimes full board accommodations many of which rival luxury hotels, and usually at significant savings. Guests can also sample and purchase the locally made products.
Tenuta Chianchizza in the city of Monopoli caught our attention
because of its ideal location for seeing Puglia’s major cities and sites and because its web site www.tenutachianchizza.it showed such interesting architectural conversions to the once active oil-production mill. The ancient stone structure (complete with olive-crushing wheels once pulled by donkeys) has been joined by a complementary new wing where 7 welcoming guest rooms wait for those looking for a real Pugliese experience within easy driving distance to Lecce, Alberobello, Castel del Monte and the sandy beaches and warm seas of the Bari coast.
Rooms at Tenuta Chianchizza are themed by color and local crops. Ours, for example, was the Orange Room with warm walls painted a lovely mandarin shade. Other rooms are named for Lemons (yellow) or Almonds (beige) and so on. Spacious and airy (our room had a king size bed and a separate twin bed in a private alcove, a writing desk and large armoire) and all have
Private large bathrooms that include walk in showers.
French doors in each room open to a small terrace with a table and two chairs, overlooking Tenuta Chianchizza’s acres of farmland where prickly pear cacti mingle with olive trees and fruit arbors as well as flowering and fragrant plants and bushes that fill the air with the sights and smells of Italy’s fertile South.
There are two friendly shepherd dogs and a few kittens that also roam the property at will, but who seem to keep their distance from visitors unless encouraged to approach. In corrals behind the gardens the donkeys reside, waiting sweetly for a pat from curious onlookers.
The great room of the old oil factory has been carefully and tastefully decorated to house the indoor dining room where daily breakfast including juice, coffee or tea, and giant croissant hot from the ovens helped us start the day with the sweet taste of fresh butter and fruity preservesstill melting in our mouths.
Proprietor Carlo Barnaba and his lively bride Carmen struggle with English, but their hospitality and determination to serve us at every turn always resulted in our getting the advice and information we sought. (Carlo also took us to meet his parents at his father’s nearby home surrounded by olive groves and a new production plant.)
Our days were full with trips through Puglia’s breathtaking countryside where the ancient “trulli” stand proudly along the rolling panorama and dot the farming valleys. These round stucco buildings, often whitewashed, with crude stone roofs resembling inverted funnels and one central chimney abound in the region’s lore. Their origins and possible mystical and religious significance (often crude drawings are painted on the rooftops) are the unique symbol of Puglia. Alberobello and Marina Franca, are towns overrun with trulli, many that are shops, restaurants, and even churches and municipal buildings.
for a 360-degree panorama indelible in the viewer’s memory.
Lecce, the Florence of the South, deserves at least one full day of the traveler’s attention. It’s narrow medieval streets, now lined with elegant shops of all kinds, lead to the city center where an ancient Roman amphitheater sits below street level. Having an aperitivo at the Caffé del Anfiteatro on the periphery of the excavation allowed us to calmly enjoy the rich architecture of this city and capture a glimpse of local life. Two elegant bridal parties arrived during the course of our eavesdropping, since the historic center apparently serves as a backdrop for wedding photographs and portraits.
The heat wave during our stay spirited us to seek out the beach and Carlo recommended a local establishment called XXXXXX. There was ample parking on the street and also reasonably priced parking in the beach’s private lot as well. For about $20 US, our party of four enjoyed a morning of swimming, private cabanas and shower rooms with our vehicle safely nearby.
A GPS is recommended, by the way, and we found that the main attractions of Puglia were easily identified on the region’s downloaded maps. Italian street police (carabinieri) and locals are also eager to help if approached for directions or recommendations.)
Finally, the food of Puglia astounds. Tenuta Chianchizza’s outdoor dining on its huge romantically lit terrace is superb with specials nightly except Sundays and Mondays. For about $25 per person diners enjoy fresh and impressively prepared meals with local wines to rival most better-known global favorites.
The nearby center of the ancient port of Monopoli sits within 5 minutes from the Tenuta Chianchizza and offered another special dining experience. at the seaside Porta Foca restaurant where our gastronomic delight resulted in our giving the two chefs a standing ovation! Their gratitude was touching: it reminded us of the Italy we used to know and enjoy thirty and forty years ago when tourism had not yet strained relationships between foreigners and locals.
That warm and nostalgic memory is, in the end, the greatest gift Puglia has to offer visiting Americans (for its visitors still are overwhelmingly from other parts of Italy and Europe.) Beyond all the natural and historic wonder the region has to offer, at Tenuta Chianchizza, in the caring hands of Carlo and Carmen, and in every interaction we had with the Pugliese across Italy’s heel, we were made to feel welcome.
This doesn’t always happen in the more restrained Tuscany or along the tourism-tainted Amalfi coast, or certainly in the affluent and sometimes indifferent Northern cities around Milan and Venice. But in Monopoli and its surrounding sister cities in Puglia, visitors are welcomed as fellow travelers, not invading tourists.
All of this at prices we can still afford. ( Doubles at Tenuta Chianchizza in 2009 will still cost between 90 – 120 Euros per room, depending on the season, with VAT and breakfast as well as free parking included.)
Our last night, we sat on the porch swings on the terrace, breathing in the warm perfumed air and we realized how lucky we were to have chosen Puglia as our destination!
Tenuta Chianchizza – Contrada Chianchizza 504 – Monopoli – tel:39-080-9734951- from the autostrada del sole, exit at SS 16 BA/BR (Bari/Brindisi) and exit at Monopoli/Conversano www.tenutachianchizza.it
Tenuta Chianchizza's breakfast room -- also offered : evening dining inside or in the beautiful terrace garden.
In the town of Monopoli we recommend
Ristorante Porta Foca
- Via Portavecchia, 50 - 70043 Monopoli (BA), Italy tel +39 080 8872902
PHOTOS by Julie Johnston
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