THE REGION

PUGLIA | LECCE | ACTIVITIES

Puglia, Italy
" Remember Tuscany in the eighties? Umbria in the nineties? This is Puglia's moment. It's a place on the verge "
Travel & Leisure Magazine, July 2004.

"I must admit I am very high on Puglia . In my opinion this is the next " Tuscany " for the American traveler; it is exotic, yet accessible, its people are poets and thinkers and workers, and when it all mixes together, it works and is user friendly". Mario Batali.

Bountiful Puglia
Today's modern Puglia is still largely undiscovered. However, many of the most prominent publications, travellers, and food experts are quickly discovering the region and it won't stay that way for too much longer. Catching the right unspoiled place at just the right moment is very much an art. Ideally, you want a place with a comfortable infrastructure and a cool "vibe", but also a place where the masses of tourists are still a few years off. This is Puglia right now.

Puglia is the region that occupies the heel and spur of what is often referred to as the "boot" in southeastern Italy . While it features some of the finest cuisine in the country, the tour buses and camcorder-crowds haven't discovered it yet.

The region is awash in sunshine that produces radiant, intensely flavoured fruits and vegetables and powerful wines. Your home for the week will be the charming city of Lecce, the capital of Puglia's Salento area. Lecce, sometimes called "the Florence of the south," is a fascinating city that juxtaposes ostentatious wonders of Baroque art against a backdrop of simple, authentic rural life.

Although Puglia is the vacation destination of many Italians drawn to beautiful beaches and art-filled cities, it remains one of Italy's most untouched regions: you will find open air food markets unsurpassed anywhere in the world, welcoming Apulian vendors communicating in a mix of dialect and gestures, and food that tastes like it has just been plucked from the bountiful earth.

Your accomodations will be in our charming Bed & Breakfast, located in the historical center of Lecce . Your host, Silvestro Silvestori, and his enthusiastic staff are waiting to welcome you and introduce you to this untouched gem of a region!

View a detailed map of southern Italy at:
http://www.italy-weather-and-maps.com/italy/maps/pugliamap.php

View our Puglia Photo Gallery

Lecce, Italy
While it's true that you are coming to get to know the folks in our market, cook in our stable and eat and drink in our garden, none of that makes any sense without understanding the context of the place where it all happens. First, we're in Puglia, Italy's heartland. You only need to travel on a train for an hour to get a sense of the lay of the land, and how that might transfer into both the culture and cuisine. But we're also in the Salento, the Salentine peninsula, the thin stretch of rich-soiled land lapped by two different seas. And finally, our school is based in the historic, walled city center of Lecce, the aristocratic capital, citta d’arte (city of art), famous all over Italy for stunning baroque architecture carved from the soft, local stone that allows dizzying flights of fancy. Like all core and periphery cultures, any real understanding of the city naturally involves an understanding of the countryside, and vice versa. It's a fascinating place, by any standards.

What this means to our students is complex: Although we are only an afternoon train ride from Rome, we are a universe away from the touristy, most over-crowded parts of Tuscany. While traveling this distance may seem a hassle, it has actually benefited the area tremendously by discouraging the crowds that demand that Italy transform itself into Disney-versions of their perception of Italy and the tourists that prefer to see things through the eyepieces of camcorders. In short, the vibrant local culture is still a vibrant local culture. It takes real work to penetrate it, but the payoffs are enormous. And real.

Lecce is a small, safe city. Other Italians often call it The Florence of the South, which is fitting, because both of these regions share a profound sense of beauty and a prominence as a cultural capital. But if 'Barcelona of Italy' has yet to catch on, it’s only a matter of time. Carved out of a soft stone, pietra leccesse, the baroque facades seem to undulate, escaping the bounds of physics. On first look an observer's natural response is often mildly blasphemous. However, more careful consideration will reveal a mix of "nationalistic" styles and epochs that provide deeper insight into the history of the Salentini as well as the reoccurring tale of struggle, loss and eventual acceptance of outside influences.

Even in modern Italy i Salentini view themselves as Italian only beyond Italy's borders or when a national team wins a place in a cup playoff. Rome, they’ll tell you, is a wonderful place to visit, but it might as well be France. Dialect is spoken in grocery stores and public markets, at the hair salons and between subjects at elementary school. What the sensitive foreigner will take away is the profound sense of historical poverty, and how that has rendered life beautiful in a way that never comes with bounty. Simple pleasures define the Puglian life: kicking a ball in a square; gathering the evening's dinner greens in a nearby field; placing a few flowers at the feet of a statue of the Madonna; chattering, gregarious teenagers sitting on the church steps all night; mechanics fashioning their only 'Open for business' sign from two tires placed on the street, one horizontal, the other vertical and stuck down into the first.

Life here has always been about making do, and over time, i Salentini have developed a sort of genius for it. The phrase 'self-reliance' still means a lot here. It's not difficult to find folks that still cut their own fire wood, can their own tomatoes, make their own cheese, but never make a fuss about any of it. This self-reliant frugality is echoed in the food here, which is always simple, honest and extraordinary in flavour, rich with bursting, ripe fruits and plump, muscular vegetables. Here, it's not so much a way of eating as a way of living. It is Italy's soul food. And it will leave its mark on you.

View our Lecce Photo Gallery

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Activities
Lecce is something of a minor hub in southern Italy: it is easy to connect to both other Italian cities, as well as ferries bound for Greece. Many of our guests elect to spend a few days in the arrival city—inevitably Roma—then come to cook with us for the week, spending a few additional days in the south, afterward.

View our Students Gallery

Once booked, we are at your disposal regarding help with arrangements. During your stay we will continually consult maps, guide books and the internet, perfect for your future travel plans. Not only can we recommend other cities but we would be happy to call ahead and book your stay, and even dinner reservations, if need be.

Please do not hesitate to contact us inquiring about any particular activity—the south has it all.

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