The Day of The Omens

Share

It’s late morning and we stuff our backpacks into the boot of Giuliana’s car.  The children say goodbye to the animals and run in circles on the grass for the last time.  The sky is lead-coloured and the sun, relenting behind its smoky screen, has had little chance to wipe up the nighttime dew that […]

The Last Supper

Share

There’s an unconsecrated church at the end of the road, which we have been meaning to visit.  Only a couple of minutes walk away, this small, unimposing, rustic building stands at the meeting point of three roads, and its door is always open.  I have never seen anyone coming or going, but invariably there is a […]

The Duchess & The Fairy House

Share

Giuliana told us to visit to Ostuni.  “The white city”, she said, “is one of the most beautiful places in Puglia”.  So it is with their usual impeccable timing that our children have fallen asleep in the car by the time we reach this dazzling sugar lump of a town, glued to a hillside an […]

Pig Point

Share

Giuliana, our bubbling wellspring of Puglian knowledge, wants to take us to the beach.  She usually swims at Porto Cesareo, where she has another house that The Sailor Man and his brother (The Tinker, The Soldier or maybe The Spy?) inherited from their parents, but today she is taking us to the sand dunes, bathing […]

To the Ends of the Earth

Share

Roo had woken numerous times throughout the night itching, and The Husband and I had come to his rescue with various concoctions of oils and creams to soothe him.  Upon waking, we notice that his body is covered in red spots and, although he’s in good spirits and without fever, we’re slightly concerned that he […]

Lovely Lecce

Share

The morning after the firework testing plant welcomed us with such enthusiasm to Puglia, we decided to spend the day exploring Lecce.  But first we would need to get a car. The Sailor Man and Agnese, his devoted daughter who appears to be a genetically-perfect copy of her mother, kindly give us a lift into […]