This is the third extract of three from “Good Vibrations: Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie”, a book written by Andrew P. Sykes about is Eurovelo 5, a bike tour from Reading to Brindisi, in the heel of Italy, Puglia. In this post Andrew arrives in Cisternino for a visit to his friends Basil and Liz who restored a trullo in the countryside. Read more
I have selected a nice, small and cheap house for your holidays in Salento, Puglia: Negroamaro House (ID: GU02). It is located into the negroamaro wine region in the south of Puglia. The area is one of the most important area for the wine production based on the negroamaro grape and just 20 km distant from the primitivo wine region. As you may understand, the house is in the middle of a wine country landscape surrounded by ancient olive trees. And it is not distant from Lecce, only 19 km. To see where the house is, find “Guagnano” on Google Map. Read more
I hadn’t in mind to write a post about a tipical Puglia Christmas gift untill I read this post A “Gift” from the Italy Blogging Roundtable: Join us! on Italylogue.com. The post is a public invitation to all the bloggers to write a post on the topic of gifts / presents / regali, not limited to just Christmas gifts. The promoters of this initiative wrote as following:
We’d love to hear your take on the subject of gifts/presents/regali as it relates to Italy
It was the perfect input for me to write my post for this online initiative which is called Italy Blogging Roundtable: “My seasonal Puglia gift basket to the rest of the world”. My gift is the one on the previous picture, a gift basket prepared in about 20 minutes. I imagined that I had no time to think about it, let’s say that it was a last minute gift. So, I prepared it with some of the seasonal products and fruits I usually get from my garden and some traditional other products you can find only here in Salento, south of Puglia. The result is what I call a seasonal gift basket made by 9 products to start discovering my region with a special focus on its great culinary culture and tradition. Here’s what you will find in this homemade gift basket. Read more
This is the second of three extracts from “Good Vibrations: Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie”, a book written by Andrew P. Sykes about his journey along the Eurovelo 5, a long-distance cycle route from London to Brindisi, in the heel of Italy, Puglia. In this post Andrew arrives in Valle d’Itria, that part of Puglia where trullos are. He describes his stops in Gioia del Colle and Alberobello. Read more
This guest post is by Keith Greenough. In October this year I visited Puglia for the first time. The aim of my trip was not just to enjoy the wonderful place but also to capture the beautiful landscape, old towns and people with my camera. I am a photographer based in the UK. Read more
This is the first of three extracts from “Good Vibrations: Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie”, a book written by Andrew P. Sykes about his journey along the Eurovelo 5, a long-distance cycle route from London to Brindisi, in the heel of Italy, Puglia. In this post Andrew stops in Matera, the city of sassi and the land of The Passion of The Christ of Mel Gibson. Your little holiday retreat in the south of Italy, as Andrew suggest to us. Read more
Today I want to suggest to you four museums you can find and visit in Lecce, to discover the history of centuries still present in the town. The museums include exhibits ranging from archeology to religious art, from prehistory to the fascinating art of cartapesta (papier machè): Museo del Teatro Romano, Museo Provinciale Sigismondo Castromediano, Diocesan Museum and Paper Machè Museum (Museo della Cartapesta). Read more
I am the new Ambassador of the Negroamaro Wine Region, a recognition I obtained sunday evening during the thirty-first edition of the Sagra dell’Uva Cardinal in Guagnano, the heart of the negroamaro wine production. The italian name of this area, which is the area where I was born and where I live, is Terre del Negroamaro. Literally, it means Lands of Negroamaro, i think that a better translation is “Negroamaro Wine Region”. The decision to give this recognition to me has been made by the local “PRO Loco”, an association which promotes the region, and the local government. They gave to me a plat of pottery with the representation of the Terre del Negroamaro logo and the inscription “Ambasciatore Terre del Negroamaro”. Read more
It’s an explosion of fruits and vegetables in my garden, really. When the summer comes, it seems that all the fruits and vegetables want to show their beauty and taste. I have a small field in the country of Salento, the southern part of Puglia, Italy, where me and my father plant zucchini, tomatoes and several other vegetables like cime di rape and chicories. We have a fig tree too, the one which makes the big figs we call fioroni (as you may now, this is not the fig period, which will be in few weeks, now it’s time for this kind of big fig). And we have also several friends who give their fruits to us, the ones we don’t have, like mulberries and plums, you can see all of them on the initial picture. Read more
For those of you who are in Puglia the last sunday of May, I really suggest to go wine touring thanks to Cantine Aperte 2011, one of the most important Italian wine event. Cantine Aperte means “Opened wineries” and is the day when the wineries belonging to the Wine Tourism Movement open their doors to wine enthusiasts and tourists to let them see the places the wine comes from and the daily work that goes into producing quality. It is the perfect day to discover the producers and the wine-growing areas, to visit the vineyards, see the wine-making equipment and wine cellars, follow guided tastings and learn about the best labels or take the mini-courses on offer for this event. Read more
January 31st, 2012 
fabio