Puglia: Another place, another time

“Puglia!?” is the response of our Tuscany and Sardegna destined Italian friends when we discuss our respective summer plans. “Si, Puglia” because … well, you either get it or you don’t.
Sunshine? Tick! Azure coastline? Tick! Delicious food? Ditto! But nowhere else in Italy does it feel, just briefly, that you’ve left the intrusions of the 21st century behind. Time moves slowly and people are genuinely welcoming. From fairytale trulli and semi-pagan shrines, to stout Norman fortresses and frothy, baroque palazzi (all unblemished by graffiti), its complex history and culture is vividly apparent. Even the myriad local dialects, of diverse ethnic origin, indicate that you are in an Italy completely unlike that of the more trodden paths.

Acres of gnarled, ancient olive groves thrive in seemingly barren, rocky soil. Going for a run along a meandering, rural road – the fading sunlight reflected off the red earth washing everything in rosy hues – wave to a shepherd, and be wished “Buona sera” as he cajoles his cling-clanging goats round the tomato-field, past the cacti and over the next rise.