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
In a region like mine, Puglia, it is quite difficult to choose the best beaches due to the enormous number of nice beaches from the north to the south. Probabily, it is a question with no answer and no truth, but every year in this period there is someone who tries to give a reply to this question. Like the Bandiera Blu Awards of the FEE – Foundation for Environmental Education, with the support of two UN Agencies, the UNEP – United Nations Environment Programme and the UNWTO – United Nations World Tourism Organization. Bandiera Blu is a kind of voluntary eco-label awarded to the locations which respect some criteria of sustainable territory management and development. For 2011 Puglia have got 8 Bandiera Blu beaches and I am going to show to you a picture for each of them. The following list is in order from the north to the south of Puglia. Read more
With this post I start to give to you information about all the summer events for 2011 in Puglia: jazz festival, rock and electronic concerts with some suggestions on where to find the summer movida. The first rumors say that this year will be full of events like the last one, the first news is that one of the biggest italian rock festival will be in Lecce: Italia Wave Love Festival 2011. But, I will write later about it, now I want to suggest to you the Cube Festival 2011 which will be held in Gallipoli on 12, 14 and 16 August with the main artists Ellen Allien, Subsonica and Caparezza. Following is the programme of the festival. Read more
I have a Bianchi Spillo Onice bike from few months, one of the best purchase of my last year. Thank to it, I have discovered the great pleasure to go biking in the countryside of my region: Puglia. I use to have from thirty minutes to one hour of passeggiata with my bike, two or three times per week. My area of Puglia is the Negroamaro wine region (I will tell to you more about this wine in the next posts), in the countryside of Guagnano and Salice Salentino, the heart of the Negroamaro wine production, just where the Salice Salentino DOC is. The term DOC means Denominazione di Origine Controllata, an italian wine appellation. Yesterday I tested the photocamera and videocamera of my new smartphone, a Samsung Galaxy S, so I stopped every time I saw something interesting and nice: ancient olive trees, vineyards, small fields of vegetables. You have to know that my area is really fertile, you can cultivate a lot of varieties of vegetables, tomatoes, fruit trees and, as I have said, you can plant fields with vines. It’s an area which has an important peasant history, made of winemakers and olive growers which have modelled the countryside and the landscape during the past centuries. These are some of the pictures and videos taken with my new smartphone during a 15 kilometers of way, I want to give to you an idea of what biking along this rural streets means. Read more
During the last weeks I have been several times at Shui 13 Bar, a wine bar in Lecce, near the Santa Croce curch. The last time I have been there with the new friends of Southern Vision Travels, a company which offers tours into the cultures of Southern Italy and beyond. Shui 13 is a wine bar I want to suggest to you if you are for an holiday in Lecce: you can find a quality selection of local wines and wineries and local foods. But also some wines and foods like cheese and salami from the other regions of Italy, if you want to taste a bit of my country. It’s a wine bar I would suggest for an italian style aperitivo (happy hour) or for a glass of wine after dinner when the streets of the old town start to get more lively. Read more
Day 5 | My breakfast consisted of yet another pasticciotto and bread with scarmoza (smoked mozzarella). Today I wanted to drive to Santa Maria di Leucia, the most southern point of the heel of the Italian boot. The drive close to the shore should be spectacular. With lots of cliffs, caves, blue water and small towns. And I was lucky! The wind was blowing hard today, what made it even more spectacular. From the south I went back north again. I was told I should eat at Le Stanzie, an agriturismo somewhere between Supersano and Cutrofiano. So I did! I drove through a lot of small villages and a huge olive-tree forrest. I came in Cutrofiano after passing Supersano 20 minutes before. I had past the exit to Le Stanzie without seeing any sign. I turned the car and drove back to Supersano and again, I didn’t see a sign. After another try, I decided to drive very slowly, so I had time enough to look at al the signs. It worked! I found a small sign on a tree with the name of Le Stanzie. A good sign too, I was very hungry by the time I reached the agritourismo. Read more
Day 3 | I woke up early in a bed and breakfast in Lecce. The owner made a nice breakfast with homemade products and fruit from their own garden. In the morning I went to Lecce, a beautiful baroque city with the comprehensive nickname Florence of south Italy. After a stroll through the west part of the city I had a small refreshment at the terrace of Café Alvino. This café is famous for his small appetizers and the best rustico (pastry filled with béchamel, mozzarella and tomato sauce) in town. I paid 8,00 € for a spritz (a very trendy cocktail) and a plate full of delicious appetizers. Later that day I came back for the rustico… or two! Read more
September 24th, 2011 
fabio