The Italian Trip.
Day 1
So, here I am sitting, at 6 am, on our own private terrace in the warm morning sunshine.
We arrived last night after a long boring journey; having started out at 10am and arriving rather tired around 9 pm.
We were met by Carmela and family and friends with balloons, hugs and kisses for all. Which all made for a lovely arrival and a warm feeling of friendship.
We were whisked into many cars and sped off to our new homes; some of the party were staying in Brindisi.
There are seven of us staying on a farm, 2 couples and a trio, mother son, and young lady.
The Masseria Piutri is a large farmhouse dating from Roman times and has 25 acres of arable land.
The main crops are cherries, olives, grapes (from which they tread their own delicious red wine) and all manner of farm produce.
They have some livestock; chickens, guinea fowl, rabbits, goats and doves; 3 dogs and innumerable cats.
As the livestock are their friends, the only things we'll eat are the eggs.
Francesca and her husband, Cosimo have spent the last 33 years restoring the place and filling it with the old farm implements common to the district.
Most of the rooms have large vaulted ceilings and have very thick walls, which keep the house cool.
We were given a quick tour of the house and sat down to a meal of chicken, pizza, cold meats, and lots of their own red wine.
The wine was delicious and I had too much. Which made for a rather "disturbed night!!"
The rooms tend to vary in size; ours is long and has a slightly coombed ceiling, we have lots of drawers, set into the wall, as is the wardrobe; all perfectly adequate.
The shower is interesting; it is a wet shower, without a shower curtain so the spray can fly everywhere. So we devised a system where one would get wet then soap then shower off the suds. Perfectly adequate but just takes getting used to.
We have breakfast in the backyard, where there was a camomile lawn at one time. Now the rabbits have had most of it but in the early morning you can still smell traces of its former glory.
Francesca and Cosimo get up around 4,30 / 5 am to give the farm workers their instructions for the day; which fields need what doing to them etc.
They have 1or 2 ladies who help around the house, The principal one being Elvira, who arrives at 5 am and works till God knows when!
She cooks, bakes, prepares the food, everything, even keeps Francesca in order. We start the day with tiny cups of strong coffee and slices of cake (!) and warm biscuits with cherries. We all gradually assemble discuss the events of the day,
We are taken a tour of the fields and the house. Then we are driven to the local beach. There is not much to see and as the local council has not started to clear the beach of all the plastic and debris from the winter it is a tad bedraggled. The sun is very hot but a cooling breeze off the see is most welcome.
After staying there about 2/3 hours we are off back to the Masseria and a lunch of linguini and omelette, with more red wine!
In the evening we were taken into Brindisi where we met Carmela's parents and friends and the rest of our group. Then it was of for a tour of the splendid port.
The wide harbour is a base of the Italian navy and many fishing boats sail from there; it is also use by the American and N.A.T.O. It has a lovely broad promenade and restaurants and cafes along the front.
We go to have a meal at a delightful airy pizzeria; all 19 of us, We went for a large table up stairs open to the sky, but soon found we were chilled to the bone.
Carmela arranged for us to move down stairs and she phoned her mum and dad who, were to join us, to bring jerseys, jackets, anything to get us warmed up. We ate very well. The trouble with Italian meals they all start with antipasti, which is a range of dishes so tempting that you tend to pig out on them and when your sated, along comes the meal you ordered!
We all left most of the pizzas we ordered but took home a large doggie bag for the hens etc.
We got out of the restaurant about 2am; in all another lovely Italian evening.
Day 2
We have had a mini revolt!
Coffee is all very well but the traditionalist among us i.e. those of a certain age need a "proper cup of tea"
Francesca say there can be tea but she's "not good at it" So Kitty takes on the job of make a good strong brew. Very welcoming. We are gradually capturing the ethos of the place and we now clear our table and help carry the food etc. NO WASHING UP! That would be a step too far!
Francesca would like the rabbits that have escaped from the compound to be caught. We, of course, volunteer and for twenty minutes we run around the place, dare I say, like demented rabbits!
After much pursuit and banging with sticks Gary catches 2 out of the 6 the Cosimo says he like them running where they are; so we all relax again and have a " proper cup of tea"
A quiet night then so to bed.
Day 3
We awake to find problems with the water...there is none.
But a plumber is/could be on the way.
But as it's Saturday maybe not.
We all tend to chill, as we haven't really been doing anything strenuous; though the girls want to wash. This is a new water system they have had installed and it has teething troubles.
Cosimo hopes to get solar panels soon, it seems the government gives a grant of 40% to have it installed.
After breakfast we are off to the fields to pick asparagus.
As this farm is organic the weeds grow between the asparagus so it's more a game of "Hunt the Shoots" Edwina came out best. I asked why the weeds were allowed and Francesca said the asparagus and the weeds were good friends. They would have a better crop if some of the farm workers were assigned to weeding, but that's just my point of view.
That night we went to an Eating Club, so called because, if it were a restaurant it would pay more taxes. The club itself was a bit "Spartan" but the food would be of the top quality. The chief was one of the best in Puglia and taught at the college. We were told to come hungry as not to eat was a bit of an insult!
Francesca drove us.
At night.
Francesca tells us as we drive along that she doesn't like driving at night as she has a cataract in her left eye; but if she closed it and squints she sees very well! This also probably accounts for the slight drift into the middle of the road, or the verge. [it was a joke!!]
I was sitting in the front and she and I get on well together and we talked.
Trouble is that Italians gesticulate when they talk and sometimes take both hands off the steering wheel slightly alarming, but all part of the experience.
I believe the place we are going to eat is an hour from the farm.
2 hours later we are lost and Francesca is asking directions from passers-by Kay suggests we stop hire a taxi to get to the place and pay him.
Francesca says "No Surrender!" and we plough on.
We arrive and find that others are lost and so don't feel bad.
Eventually the rest of the party arrive and say they weren't lost, they took the scenic route, yeah, right.
So began another mammoth meal, course after course of everything to tempt the palate; on and on; dish after dish; every time one would say enough, but then you would find yourself toying with the next dish and having another glass of wine, of course!!
We met new people as part of our group and they would try to speak to us in Italian but we were able to turn it all around so that they kindly spoke to us in English. Thank goodness.
All in all another great night. We piled into the cars around 1 am and meandered home to bed.
Day 4
In the morning we chilled out and watch as the families came from the surrounding areas to pick their own cherries. Francesca weighted them and they paid by the kilo. She always slipped in a handful extra for good measure.
Kay is helping out in the kitchen and picking up tips on authentic I Italian cooking.
In the afternoon we had the choice of going to the beach or to a winery, which was open to the public.
We elected to do that. Cosimo and Francesca came along to sell their produce...cherries.
The wine was of excellent quality and you could buy it by the bottle or the case, we thought about it but as we had a weight problem with out luggage and Ryanair; and sending it by the case would make it horrendously expensive we decided just to drink lots and enjoy it there.
You paid a flat fee and you were given a glass and 4 ticket. This allowed you to have four platefuls of food and all the wine you could drink, although most people used the spittoons provided, I thought it would be a waste of delicious wine.
The area was just a large hangar where the wine was made and had been cleared to accommodate many tables and chairs.
One of the nice things about it was that the majority of the people there were Italians and we, the tourists, were seeing what the locals enjoyed.
The food was very nice and you could keep going back for more till you had used up all your tickets. But the wine continued to flow.
After about an hour there arrived a local troupe of singers, dancers and musicians who entertained the assembly.
They danced and then came among their audience taking them on to the floor to try the local country-dances.
By then the wine had done its' work and everyone in our group got up and kept the Scottish flag flying with a combination of a little skill and lots of enthusiasm.
Thankfully the steps were quite easy; not like our own Scottish dances, so it was easy to "fake" it.
A really hilarious afternoon developed with the troupe being delighted with our attempts.
It was all very good.
Eventually we went home as the place was closing and some of our party were a bit the worse for wear.........
Tired but happy we all crashed out for the night.
We learned later that we had been too quick to pay to get in as Cosimo had arranged for us to get in free. But at least we had contributed to the local economy.
Day 5
We were all transported to the town of Lecce.
It has many churches and Roman ruins. Unfortunately, the tourist information centre was closed (too early in the season?) so we were wandering around with a small map with descriptions in Italian.
The churches date from the time the Spaniards occupied the area and looked lovely from the outside. They all seemed to be closed.
For lunch we found a restaurant where you could eat as much as you liked for 10 euros and we had a very nice lunch.
We all met at the public gardens where the shady trees cooled up down. We were to be picket up around 3 but Italian time stretches and we just sat until
our lift arrived.
We were taken to see the Trulli houses, which are tiny. The area being about 14 by 12 feet. And this for all the living and cooking space; the roofs are made by laying flat stones, one atop the other until they are conical and come to a point at the top. It was very much a tourist trap but very interesting to see how the people of the region used to live.
That night there was a party at Piutri. Again masses of food and wine and entertainers. All very nice.
I was chatting to a professor of music at the Lecce university and telling him about our exploits at the winery when he said "Yes, I know"
"But it just happened yesterday!" I said
He grinned and said " Yes, but Puglia is a small place, and word gets around."
So the Scots contingent has obviously made a good impression.
And so it went on through the night good food appearing all the time, wine, dancing and good chats.
And so to bed about 2/3 am.
Day 6? I think I've lost count! (last day)
This morning a group went to the beach the sea is still cool but lovely.
We elected to chill at the Casa we watch as 2 nonas arrived and set up a large trough on the table in the yard.
Elvira has stoked up the big outdoor oven with lots of wood and it was clear that BIG things were about to happen.
At 10 am 2 school buses drove up and disgorged about 40 primary school kids with their teachers.
They were here to learn about the old ways of the country and Francesca and Cosimo showed them over the farm. They went to the orchards and picked cherries and saw all the fields of olives and grapes, and told how they were cultivated.
They were shown the animals and tried to catch the rabbits. Saw the hens and the goats and generally enjoyed the freedom to run around.
The Nonas showed the children how to make dough for bread and the kids dived in making small figures and rolls which they watched going into the oven.
At noon they were given pasta and Tuscany potatoes (Kay's favourite) for lunch, we helped to dish it out.
About 4 pm the mothers started arriving to take them back; and off they went clutching their still warm bread that they had made themselves.
For the Masseria this in another form of income which is always needed.
It is very tiring but Francesca loves showing the children how their parents used to live as it is a disappearing way of life as more and more of the young people drift to the cities.
Afterwards we packed and assembled in the kitchen to wait for the transport to the airport.
All sad that the adventure was about to end.
We said our goodbyes to Elvira and she spoke in Italian and we spoke in English but we all understood the meaning.
We arrived in Stansted at midnight thinking that all the excitement was over ...but not quite.
The taxi service send us all to the wrong cottage and the poor souls that we woke up couldn't believe that there were 14 people wanting rooms in their small place (it has 3 rooms)
I mean, we all got on very well over the holiday but this was a bedroom too far!
After much mobile phoning the driver got in touch with the dispatcher and all was resolved and we took off at high speed down the narrow country lanes.
On the taxi radio, they issued an apology. But we would rather have had a discount!
We were still very much in Italian mode and could take anything the Gods threw at us.
So we laughed and joked as we bounced around the cab.
At 1.30 am we arrived at the real cottage (a 17th century house) and were given a warm reception.
It was very nice to be able to make a "proper cup of tea" in our room.
Francesca tried but it was Kittys skill that saw us through; considering all she had was a strange wee kettle and no teapot she did very well.
In the morning instead of the usual cake ,warm biscuits and cherries we all seemed to be tucking into the full English breakfast.
It was then that it struck me that the intense Italian experience was over
Sadly.
Would we do it again? BRING IT ON!!!
The Group.
There were 12 of us tourists but I can only talk about the 7 who shared the Masseria Piutri experience.
7 disparate people who came to be there because of their love of things Italian.
It could have been a disaster, but, what with the strange breakfasts (which we all came to enjoy) the water problems and getting to understand Italian time, the bonding process was very swift.
We were all blethering away like old friends in no time.
Even Ella, who came over as being a bit shy and hesitant was soon chatting away with the rest of us.
We all went out of our way to help each other and mkae the holiday so special.
Italian Time
There's British time, European time and then there's Italian time, which seems to defy the laws of physics and can expand according to...the weather, how you feel, how Cosimo feels and how the jeep feels.
All these important things must be taken into account and discussed at length; preferably over breakfast of intense coffee, (or a mug of Kittys tea)
warm cake and cherries.
One soon falls into the way of Italian time, indeed, you soon begin to relish NOT being a slave to the clock.
You are given the time to watch things grow, how the animals enjoy themselves and, now and again, catch the whiff of the ghost of the camomile lawn; and life drifts along at a different pace, which you can't appreciate in the city.
The owners of Masseria Piutri are gems.
They made us feel that we were not guests on a paid holiday but friends who hadn't met for a long time.
Piutri is a working farm but they always had time to talk to us (in English, thank God!) and drive us where ever we were going and then come back to collect us.
If we had stayed at a normal tourist hotel, breakfast would have been between 8 am and 10 am miss it and you lose it.
But at Piutri, after a nights carousing, we would gradually appear, trying not to show the effects of the night before, and be greeted with coffee, (or if you were very lucky, Kitty's tea) cakes and cherries.
Coffee was always available and the meals were beautifully cooked and plentiful.
Francesca was always ready to stop what she was doing and attend to our needs.
I would say that as well as keeping up the old ways of farming Francesca and Cosimo are keeping the traditional hospitality alive and well
How to book it
To survive here, you'll need a car, or a bunch of local friends to dedicate you all the time and efforts that you would expect from longer dated friends. A new travel company, Italia Direct (UK), is making this innovative concept one of its key strengths; they will plan your holiday around your requirements, arrange for a host family, an independent villa or a masseria to host you, and will make sure that all you need to worry about is to go with the flow, relax and perhaps learn some Italian along the way. Prices will surprise you too. A typical daily HB rate with your own luxury and traditional apartment set in vast organic farm land, in traditional 1500 Saracen masseria, will cost you only £ 48 per person, and that includes excursion to the renowned trulli region, Lecce town, with its baroque churches and sophisticated feeling, great family beaches, and the international atmosphere of Brindisi and its port. Whist there you may want to consider investing in a relocation property, or family holiday villa, or be inspired by wine tasting and couckery courses ala Jamie Oliver... Daily flights to Brindisi with Ryanair only last over 2 hours from London Stansted with plentiful connections from Edinburgh and Glasgow Prestwick. www.ryanair.co.uk
For info please email tours@italia-direct.co.uk
Brindisi Hotels
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