Puglia Trip 2018

[Kportgrl]

Folks in this forum were so helpful to me in my planning if our trip that I wanted to post a report of it as we go.
Part 1. Trani. Love it, love it, love it. Stayed in a very sweet B&B called Ill Moretto. Nice owner but I probably would not recommend it based on street noise. Not a busy street but narrow cobble stone with cars rambling down and folks talk across balconies. Loved the atmosphere but just had trouble sleeping. Windows closed but not very sound proof. The town itself was a beautiful fishing village. Super restaurants (quintessenza was a highlight) and friendly people. No one speaks English but that’s fine. Trani is very “real” seemed so much less “manufactured “ than Positano, where we were last year. Spent three days just wandering, eating, sampling wines and getting over jet lag. Today on to Ostuni.

 

[SusanSeattle]

How is the weather? Did you fly into Bari?

 

[Kportgrl]

How is the weather? Did you fly into Bari?

Flew to Rome and then took train to Bari and rented a car. It’s a bit cooler than I expected. I took a light jacket but ended up buying one a bit heavier here. I felt badly about that until I ran into another woman today who said she ended up doing the same thing.

 

[Kportgrl]

Tomorrow is our last day in Ostuni so I thought I should post some general thoughts about the area as well as some info on Casa Tavani, our rental in Ostuni. First Casa Tavani; I believe it has changed ownership. It’s, of course, in the same great location, and is very well stocked as far as kitchen stuff goes. A few eccentricities... although there is a washing machine, there was no “starter kit” of detergent as most rental units we have gone to have had. The entire unit (kitchen +2 bathrooms) had ONE liquid soap. No one had signed the guest book for over a year and much info provided was out of date. The woman who is kind of the agent for the place here does not live in Ostuni, seemed to know nothing about Ostuni and said she did not speak English. Ok... about Ostuni: loved Forno 31, went every day. It’s a lovely city for strolling, both in and outside the Centro storico. Prepared meals here and didn’t dine out much in the city but lots of great bakeries and Gelaterias and produce stores. Visited most of the nearby towns and had probably the best meal of our lives at a little Michelin place called Angelo Sabetelli in a town called, Putignano. The “white” towns were nice but we were happy with the decision we made to stay in Ostuni. I’m happy to answer questions for anyone planning a trip to this area. It’s very very quiet here at this time of year. On to Lecce for us on Saturday.

 

[Pauline]

It looked like you were going to start a new thread for each part of the trip, but it works best for those of us reading if all the posts for a trip are in one thread. I moved your second post into this thread and changed the title of the thread, so that all your Puglia posts can go here.

We stayed at Casa Tavani with the previous owners a few years ago. At that time the local representative was an English speaker. Too bad she isn't looking after them still!

We also went to Forno 31 frequently!

We did not make it to Lecce so I am looking forward to reading about your time there!

 

[Kportgrl]

Lecce part 3 Puglia 2018
Hope I’m posting correctly here.

Even though I picked up a nasty cough in Ostuni, and we were not too active in Lecce, we loved it. We stayed at the lovely, fantastic, superlatives don’t do it justice, Roof Barocco Suites. There are only two units; and when we first booked they only had the two bedroom. We didn’t need it but ultimately, given my illness and how much we hung out on the beautiful, flower filled, lounge laden,balcony, we were glad we got it. Breakfast every day was multi course with gourmet sweet and savoury treats. And there was always leftovers for later; no problem given our frig and kitchenette. I would highly recommend this place. Parking was a breeze because our host’s husband led us to their underground spot. We stayed pretty much within the walls of the old city, so never moved the car. Lecce is an awesome place with many churches, restaurants and even bookstores. I think it would be a great spot to do Day trips from as well as hang out in. Would gladly have stayed longer but Roof Barocco was full and we had reservations in Otranto. As always, I’m happy to answer any questions.