A Perfect Week in Puglia
Jul 13th, 2012, 02:38 AM
#24
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 23,390
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Dina thanks ever so much for this...I love how you've organized the report! I am delighted that you had such a terrific trip and look forward to reading more!!
You managed to find not one but two of the restaurants near Savelletri that have been recommended to me over and over again by locals, and which I never had the time to try. They are both now at the top of my list, and I may even have to break my "no lunch" rule on my upcoming trip when I will be spending time in the area..
Adding links for the two restaurants along the Torre Canne/Savelletri strip:
http://www.pescheria2mari.it/
http://www.larotondadarosa.it/
You managed to find not one but two of the restaurants near Savelletri that have been recommended to me over and over again by locals, and which I never had the time to try. They are both now at the top of my list, and I may even have to break my "no lunch" rule on my upcoming trip when I will be spending time in the area..
Adding links for the two restaurants along the Torre Canne/Savelletri strip:
http://www.pescheria2mari.it/
http://www.larotondadarosa.it/
Jul 13th, 2012, 06:59 AM
#25
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,660
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Eks- you will love these places. Thanks so much for the links. I loved seeing the video clip of 2 Mari. The other link doesn't seem to work for me.
Kawh- yes, we used Nadia. Really nice lady.
Kawh- yes, we used Nadia. Really nice lady.
Jul 13th, 2012, 07:23 AM
#26
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 777
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Loving the restaurant reco's and Beach reviews.
Palazzo Persone has upped their rates for that room to €150, and that is for October. Maybe it would have been cheaper if I had booked it earlier. I'm sure we will love it though.
Palazzo Persone has upped their rates for that room to €150, and that is for October. Maybe it would have been cheaper if I had booked it earlier. I'm sure we will love it though.
Jul 13th, 2012, 10:23 AM
#29
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 777
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Can you believe I have accumulated 13 pages of restaurant recommendations and reviews from Puglia, all from this forum, which I am going to index and take with me.
As Vito said, though, it's not difficult to eat well in Puglia.
As Vito said, though, it's not difficult to eat well in Puglia.
Jul 13th, 2012, 11:35 AM
#31
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,660
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
DAY 5: MATERA, ALTAMURA, LAMA di LUNA
The next morning, our guide Nadia met us at our hotel at 9. She was thoughtful and interesting as she gave us a walking tour of the sassi. We shortened our tour to 2 hours (which turned out to be plenty of time), since we were dreading walking around for 3 hours in the heat.
After checking out and trying to keep up with Tomasso again on the way to the garage, we decided to head out of town and eat lunch in Altamura, where we wanted to try some of their famous bread.
ALTAMURA
We found an easy place to park on the street and then enjoyed a walk along the main street in the old town. Strangely, we didn’t see any bakeries. So then we started walking on the outskirts a bit, and we did find a nice little bakery where we bought a traditional loaf for the road, and a couple of delicious focaccia-type sandwiches to eat in the park. A very delicious and cheap way to have lunch!
We then headed to LAMA di LUNA. We were on a road for maybe an hour in which we did not see one other car! We persevered in our trust of our Italian GPS friend, and she guided us right to our next stop -- LAMA di LUNA.
hotel - LAMA di LUNA
This place is an oasis of serenity and beauty. The views of the vineyards are breathtaking. The pool area is gorgeous. It is truly a place that invites relaxation. Needless to say, as soon as we arrived, we planted ourselves in some chaises, under an olive tree and took a nap. We stayed two nights in a Murgia room. It was wonderful and spacious. The first night we had dinner at the Masseria. It was really good -- not memorable -- but tasty and satisfying. Breakfast was great, on the terrace with a lovely view. Pietro and Beatrice were warm and friendly hosts.
The only downside to staying here, and trust me we would happily return for the relaxation factor alone, is that there are no towns really close by to explore. You really have to be willing to drive a bit.
DAY 6: TRANI and ANOTHER AMAZING DINNER
After a lovely breakfast, we drove to Trani for lunch.
TRANI
Beatrice recommended a fish place in a piazza by the harbor. It was quite lovely and we enjoyed a lovely crudo appetizer and pasta lunch sitting outdoors. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the name of it.
Trani was a beautiful town to expore, but the heat got to us and we didn’t stay too long after lunch. That pool at Lama di Luna was beckoning, and we ended up spending most of the late afternoon and early evening under the olive trees again. I’m really happy we chose Lama di Luna instead of Trani as a place to stay, as we were able to enjoy Trani easily as a day trip.
dinner - ANTICHI SAPORI
It’s amazing that this really famous restaurant is in a hamlet that literally has 2 streets that are each about 2 blocks long. Do not miss this place. It is worth the drive from wherever you are staying, but it’s only 5 minutes from Lama di Luna. It was one of our highlight meals in Puglia. Simply put -- Outstanding food. Outstanding service.
The waiter convinced us that the portions were small and that three courses would be fine for us. We were so happy we got the three courses so that we could try so many wonderful things, but the portions were not small and we were beyond stuffed! Most memorable was the antipasto (which kept coming and coming!) and sadly I did not write everything down that we ate. I do remember refusing dessert but he insisted he would bring “one dessert for two people” that we could share. This turned out to be a bowl of chocolate covered almonds (i think that’s what they were??), three little desserts on a plate, AND a tiramisu. Then they brought two glasses of dessert wine, AND two digestivos, which of course we really needed.
Again, do not this miss this place. It was fantastic.
The next morning, our guide Nadia met us at our hotel at 9. She was thoughtful and interesting as she gave us a walking tour of the sassi. We shortened our tour to 2 hours (which turned out to be plenty of time), since we were dreading walking around for 3 hours in the heat.
After checking out and trying to keep up with Tomasso again on the way to the garage, we decided to head out of town and eat lunch in Altamura, where we wanted to try some of their famous bread.
ALTAMURA
We found an easy place to park on the street and then enjoyed a walk along the main street in the old town. Strangely, we didn’t see any bakeries. So then we started walking on the outskirts a bit, and we did find a nice little bakery where we bought a traditional loaf for the road, and a couple of delicious focaccia-type sandwiches to eat in the park. A very delicious and cheap way to have lunch!
We then headed to LAMA di LUNA. We were on a road for maybe an hour in which we did not see one other car! We persevered in our trust of our Italian GPS friend, and she guided us right to our next stop -- LAMA di LUNA.
hotel - LAMA di LUNA
This place is an oasis of serenity and beauty. The views of the vineyards are breathtaking. The pool area is gorgeous. It is truly a place that invites relaxation. Needless to say, as soon as we arrived, we planted ourselves in some chaises, under an olive tree and took a nap. We stayed two nights in a Murgia room. It was wonderful and spacious. The first night we had dinner at the Masseria. It was really good -- not memorable -- but tasty and satisfying. Breakfast was great, on the terrace with a lovely view. Pietro and Beatrice were warm and friendly hosts.
The only downside to staying here, and trust me we would happily return for the relaxation factor alone, is that there are no towns really close by to explore. You really have to be willing to drive a bit.
DAY 6: TRANI and ANOTHER AMAZING DINNER
After a lovely breakfast, we drove to Trani for lunch.
TRANI
Beatrice recommended a fish place in a piazza by the harbor. It was quite lovely and we enjoyed a lovely crudo appetizer and pasta lunch sitting outdoors. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the name of it.
Trani was a beautiful town to expore, but the heat got to us and we didn’t stay too long after lunch. That pool at Lama di Luna was beckoning, and we ended up spending most of the late afternoon and early evening under the olive trees again. I’m really happy we chose Lama di Luna instead of Trani as a place to stay, as we were able to enjoy Trani easily as a day trip.
dinner - ANTICHI SAPORI
It’s amazing that this really famous restaurant is in a hamlet that literally has 2 streets that are each about 2 blocks long. Do not miss this place. It is worth the drive from wherever you are staying, but it’s only 5 minutes from Lama di Luna. It was one of our highlight meals in Puglia. Simply put -- Outstanding food. Outstanding service.
The waiter convinced us that the portions were small and that three courses would be fine for us. We were so happy we got the three courses so that we could try so many wonderful things, but the portions were not small and we were beyond stuffed! Most memorable was the antipasto (which kept coming and coming!) and sadly I did not write everything down that we ate. I do remember refusing dessert but he insisted he would bring “one dessert for two people” that we could share. This turned out to be a bowl of chocolate covered almonds (i think that’s what they were??), three little desserts on a plate, AND a tiramisu. Then they brought two glasses of dessert wine, AND two digestivos, which of course we really needed.
Again, do not this miss this place. It was fantastic.
Jul 13th, 2012, 07:42 PM
#35
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 777
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Tengo I think I'd be plagiarizing a few honored and respected long time Fodorites like ekscrunchy, Franco, ssteve, Vito, flame123, dina4 the OP, and others, as I cut and pasted from their trip reports. 
Jul 14th, 2012, 01:08 PM
#37
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,660
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
ok, time for me to finish up...
DAY 7: Sadly, our last day in Puglia -- BARI and back to ROME
After another lovely breakfast, we were sorry to have to leave Lama di Luna.
We returned our rental car in Bari, where we had reserved train tickets to Rome. We checked our luggage at the train station and had a good hour and a half to walk around. The town near the train station (north of it) was quite nice. We tried to have a quick lunch in a place Mario Batali recommended, but they didn’t open until 12:30 and the lady recommended a great salumeria to get sandwiches for our train ride.
We had first class tickets to Rome -- very comfortable, and much quieter and less crowded than the second class seats. Worth it for a four hour ride.
___
Puglia Summary
We were thrilled with all four hotels.
We were thrilled with almost of our meals, and perfectly content with the rest.
We wish we had more time...
In retrospect, we would have liked to stay longer in the Ostuni area at La Rascina. It is close to many towns and lovely beaches.
My husband says he could have easily sacrificed Matera for that, only because he viewed it simply as a curiosity and quite out of the way. I’m happy we visited, because I thought it was a unique experience.
As usual, there’s not enough time to do everything you’d like to do, so all that means is we can’t wait to go back...
So happy a few of you are heading to Puglia soon! I hope you have as great a time as we did, and I’m happy to answer any questions...
DAY 7: Sadly, our last day in Puglia -- BARI and back to ROME
After another lovely breakfast, we were sorry to have to leave Lama di Luna.
We returned our rental car in Bari, where we had reserved train tickets to Rome. We checked our luggage at the train station and had a good hour and a half to walk around. The town near the train station (north of it) was quite nice. We tried to have a quick lunch in a place Mario Batali recommended, but they didn’t open until 12:30 and the lady recommended a great salumeria to get sandwiches for our train ride.
We had first class tickets to Rome -- very comfortable, and much quieter and less crowded than the second class seats. Worth it for a four hour ride.
___
Puglia Summary
We were thrilled with all four hotels.
We were thrilled with almost of our meals, and perfectly content with the rest.
We wish we had more time...
In retrospect, we would have liked to stay longer in the Ostuni area at La Rascina. It is close to many towns and lovely beaches.
My husband says he could have easily sacrificed Matera for that, only because he viewed it simply as a curiosity and quite out of the way. I’m happy we visited, because I thought it was a unique experience.
As usual, there’s not enough time to do everything you’d like to do, so all that means is we can’t wait to go back...
So happy a few of you are heading to Puglia soon! I hope you have as great a time as we did, and I’m happy to answer any questions...
