Meandering through Monopoli

But first, coffee

We woke to a strange feeling. A real dichotomy of emotions. Elation, knowing that we were in Puglia, waking to the gorgeous sunshine of Monopoli. We had days and days stretched ahead of us to explore this beautiful part of the world. Yet, deflated remembering the football result from last night’s Euro Final.

I prepared fresh coffee, putting thoughts of football firmly behind me, and we sat out in the early morning sunshine, under a cloudless sky, making a plan for the day. For many weeks, possibly months, these small towns in Puglia were simply something from the pages of Instagram. Places we discovered through social media and immediately added to our “must visit” list. However, this resulted in a list that was long enough to support a whole year in the region. We had three weeks. Life is a compromise, and travel is no different.

Breakfast in Monopoli

The first day of these three weeks started well. With a fresh, and still warm, slice of Puglia’s famous focaccia for breakfast. Served with “un cafe”, a delicious shot of espresso. Our AirBnB was situated right in the old town of Monopoli, amongst so many bars and cafes, and mere steps from the very inviting blue waters of the Adriatic Sea. A sea that we would find ourselves swimming in before too long. Monopoli is a beautiful town. Situated some 500 kilometres  from the nation’s capital, Rome, and just across the Adriatic sea from Croatia and Albania it had a distinctly different feel to the places we have visited in the Italian north. 

The Greek influence

We both remarked how much we were reminded of places like Dubrovnik and Korçula in the south of Croatia. A lot of this is down to the history of the region. The buildings are very white, much like you would see further south, and across Greece. Not very surprising when you consider that in around 8BC, Puglia became a Greek colony. The name Monopoli itself is Greek. Mono and polis, meaning unique and singular.

In the time since then it seems as though Puglia has been invaded by everyone, leaving a distinct character and cuisine behind. If it wasn’t for the ubiquitous Aperol Spritz you could be forgiven for forgetting that you were even in Italy.

The Aperol Spritz ritual

But in Italy we most definitely were. And drinking Aperol Spritz became one of our daily rituals. At home in Australia, it feels a little like a fad, seeing Aperol Spritz bars pop up through summer. Being in Italy it felt the most normal thing in the world. Having travelled top to bottom through this beautiful country I can confirm that Aperol Spritz is the number one aperitivo drink for all Italians.

In summer, when they are not drinking Aperol, the Italians are at the beach. Being coastal, Monopoli is home to a number of delightful small beaches. I use the term, “beach” lightly, as it seems that any small patch of land, however many rocks there are, between the land and sea is called a spiaggia (beach) and is taken over with parasols and sun loungers. And this being Italy they were all packed, people vying for a spot of sand/rock edging the crystal clear blue waters. Very inviting waters. With the mercury hitting the mid 30s it wasn’t long before we were in our bathers and having a dip. 

Dolce far niente

It may have only been day one but we were taking to Italy like a duck to water. Swim in the sea. Lunch with a cold glass of local wine. An afternoon siesta. Then out for early evening aperitivo. Yes, an Aperol Spritz. One thing that we noticed immediately is how seriously the southern Italians take their afternoon siesta. Shops and restaurants all (yes, all) close between the hours of 2pm to around 7pm. We struggled to find anywhere open in these sleepy afternoon hours. A full embrace of the famous Italian saying, “dolce far niente”, loosely translated as the sweet doing of nothing.

We adapted. Stocking up on cold beer before the shops closed, we had chilled afternoons, napping, reading and catching up on my travel journal. This left us fresh and ready for our evening passeggiata, an Italian tradition. Strolling through any street in Italy in the early evening gives you a real insight into how the locals live. Sat on stools outside their door watching the world go by. Sat with friends around a small table playing cards. Elderly couples walking hand in hand, probably as they have done for the last 40 years or so. The younger generation meeting up with friends in bars and drinking, you guessed it, Aperol Spritz. The dolce vita.

One thing we did notice, being this far south, was that many places were cash only. Coming from a country that is almost exclusively card (and phone) only, this has caught us out in the past. Memories of stomping up and down the (very) steep hills of Porto looking for an ATM still bring me out in sweats. Thankfully, Monopoli is a lot flatter, and smaller, and each day we were easily able to ensure we had some Euros in currency. And that we were able to afford that perfect pizza for dinner. I could write a whole blog on pizza. I once did. Suffice to say, in Puglia we found pizza just as good as the best from Naples, the spiritual home of pizza.

Bring out your skeletons

Enjoying the good life, we also got to reflect on life in general. And that we are not here forever. As is fairly common in Italy, Monopoli has a crypt. A place that skeletons get to call home. In the cathedral we saw the skeletons of monks from the 1700s. An eerie sight and one that you become accustomed to whilst visiting churches in Italy.  Momento mori.

From visiting the dead, to the sleep of the dead. All the travelling, swimming, and possibly all the wine, meant that as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out for the night. Waking early, and before we were ready to leave this gorgeous little town, it was time to pack up and see if our Fiat 500 was where we left it. It was. Two days in Monopoli left us yearning for more, and thankfully, we had more. Today our destination was Ostuni, 40 minutes south, with a detour. And what a detour.

Alberobello 

Alberobello is as hard to pronounce as it is to spell. Thankfully, it is easy to find. A short 30 minutes drive from Monopoli. If you don’t know why we were visiting, and why we were very excited, let me explain. Trulli. Lots of them. If you are not familiar with the name, I am sure you have at least seen a picture of them.

Alberobello is home to hundreds of trulli. A World Unesco Heritage Site, Alberobello has been home to trulli since at least the 14th century. A very unique dry stone construction that is unique to this part of the world. Naively, I imagined that we would see a couple, here and there, as we made the 30 minute drive into Alberobello. Victoria knew otherwise. For this road trip she had done some meticulous planning and once we had parked the car she knew where we were headed. I’m glad one of us did.

The main street in the historic centre of Alberobello is lined with trulli. There are hundreds of them. They are quite the sight. Very impressive. And if this was anywhere else in the world we would have been surrounded by influencers. You know, those annoying people who tell you that you “are spoiling their perfect picture of the white churches of Santorini”. The last person that said that to me is now influencing nothing more than the bottom of the Santorini cliffs.

Here, it was relatively busy but nothing like we have experienced in other places in the world that are slowly being destroyed by Instagram tourism. Maybe this part of Italy is yet to be truly “discovered”. Maybe we are ahead of the hordes. This, I am happy with. 

A taste of Puglia

With a satisfied smile, we found a little osteria in a quiet square, and I had my first taste of orrichiette con cime di rapa, perhaps Puglia’s most famous dish. Little ear shaped pasta (orrichiette meaning ear in Italian), with turnip tops and a sprinkling of cheese. A dish of startling simplicity, of which the region is famous for. It wasn’t the last time I would have this delighful dish, and as we strolled back to the car, with our thoughts turning to Ostuni, I was already thinking about dinner, the all important Aperol Spritz.

Ciao!