compass || escape
Finding Puglia Welcome to Italy’s final frontier. |
70 Artful Living
| Magazine of the North
and rows of perfectly planted trees. I looked out on them, unaware and unappreciative, as I made my way south from the Brindisi airport to Masseria Cisterna Rossa. Situated in Ruffano, the spectacular villa is part of the Thinking Traveller’s impressive portfolio of luxury rental properties. An afternoon massage helped ease my jet lag, at which point I asked my host:
What kind of trees are those? Olive, he replied with a smile. I looked out on the groves surrounding us, this time in awe. As it turns out, Puglia is home to some 60 million olive trees, many of them so ancient that they enjoy government protection. The region where the Adriatic meets the Ionian produces nearly 40 percent of the country’s olive oil.
PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY THE THINKING TRAVELLER
P
uglia is a world away from the rest of Italy. With its rocky, flat terrain and its abundant cacti, it doesn’t look like Italy. And with its arid, salty environs, it certainly doesn’t feel like Italy. But the country’s southeasternmost region, as I came to find, may be Italy in its truest form. The rough, red earth is broken into rows
BY KATE NELSON