Magnificent, craggy olive trees that have been here for 1,000 years, their gnarled trunks like soulful works of art, dominate the landscape. In spring, fields of red poppies blaze underneath. (Those trees are another UNESCO treasure, and so protected that a Middle Eastern prince’s attempts to buy some for his palace failed, no matter how much money he offered.) Best of all, the crowds are relatively thin. "What makes Puglia so extraordinarily intense is the absence of that elegant patina that can permeate well-traveled regions; it permits the most genuine hospitality,” says Antonello Losito, a Puglia-born former professional cyclist who started the bespoke travel company Southern Visions nearly ten years ago to bring American visitors deep into this peninsula. “In other parts of Italy this has somehow been lost; the purity of a smile, the banquet of meals together, the warm hugs and handshakes. This part of the world has been endowed with talent to spare and vivid colors that imprint themselves on the memory: the absolute blue of the clear sky and the two seas, the vibrant green dance of ancient olive trees, the blinding white lime wash on the buildings. I came close once to running away and heading off, but I realized I would have not made my way without all this magic and beauty.”

Pills of Puglia😄 Italy's Next Great Destination

From Farm to Table

Cheese Making & Cooking with Locals in Historic Gallipoli  

Experience a mozzarella-making workshop at an idyllic small family-owned Puglian farmhouse, atmospherically located in the Salento countryside. Follows a tasting of best regional organic products, actually a reachable variety of cheeses, hands-on bread, cakes, honey, marmalades. Next we’ll take explore historic Gallipoli and its Greek-inspired fortified historic centre, including St.Agata Island and the magnificent baroque cathedral. Stone walls and an ancient castle hide narrow streets of whitewashed buildings, where nets, herbs and tomatoes hang in doorways and windows, and friendly locals smile as you wander the cobbled maze. Visit the vibrant open­air  fish market of the Porto Vecchio and  the astonished underground oil mill of Palazzo Granafè. Enjoy a yummy Italian aperitif with typical regional snacks, like rustico, calzone, focacce on a terrace overlooking the sea. Then it’s time for an authentic farm to table culinary adventure. You will learn about cleaning, preparing and cooking fish with Maria who will host you at her place. Together you will prepare some traditional regional recipes with seasonal vegetables and Ionian fish based on daily catch – it doesn’t get fresher than that!  Follows a dinner matched with great local wine with our new friends. Keep on reading on our facebook page www.facebook.com/PugliafuturaItaly. For more info and to book please email [email protected].

From Farm to Table. Cheese Making & Cooking with Locals in Historic Gallipoli

Experience a mozzarella-making workshop at an idyllic small family-owned Puglian farm house, atmospherically located in the Salento countryside. Follows a tasting of best regional organic products, actually a reachable variety of cheeses, hands-on bread, cakes, honey, marmalades. Next we’ll take explore historic Gallipoli and its Greek-inspired fortified historic centre, including St.Agata Island and the magnificent baroque cathedral. Stone walls and an ancient castle hide narrow streets of whitewashed buildings, where nets, herbs and tomatoes hang in doorways and windows, and friendly locals smile as you wander the cobbled maze. Visit the vibrant open­air  fish market of the Porto Vecchio and  the astonished underground oil mill of Palazzo Granafè. Enjoy a yummy Italian aperitif with typical regional snacks, like rustico, calzone, focacce on a terrace overlooking the sea. Then it’s time for an authentic farm to table culinary adventure. You will learn about cleaning, preparing and cooking fish with Maria who will host you at her place. Together you will prepare some traditional regional recipes with seasonal vegetables and Ionian fish based on daily catch – it doesn’t get fresher than that!  The highlight will be a dinner matched with great local wine with our new friends. Keep on reading on our facebook page www.facebook.com/PugliafuturaItaly. For more info and to book please email [email protected].