Here we go: first of all, addendum to 7: Lecce is home of a truly excellent coffee producer, Quarta, www.quartacaffe.com; available throughout (southern, in particular) Puglia, but be sure not to buy the cheap product line designed for domestic coffee makers, but the superior grades made for coffee bars (available for example at the Quarta shop in Via Casotti 31 in Lecce).

And now into the far south: the Basilicata part of this trip had four legs (in addition to the above eight legs in Puglia). From north to south, once again:
9. Venosa, 2 nights at Agriturismo La Maddalena, www.agrilamaddalena.eu/cms/ - decent, basic accomodation in a moderately mountainous area that is less than overwhelming. Basilicata has always been a backwater, and thus are both the sights and, just for example, the roads - which is to say that it's a backwater up to this day, feeling very "northern" in respects of landscape and climate, but very "south Italian" as compared to Puglia. Signs of economic recovery are few here, to put it mildly; which is, among other problems, devastating for the sights, which are either in terrible condition or (perhaps even worse) terribly restored, with a breathtaking lack of knowledge, taste and quality.
Places visited: Venosa, Ripacandida, Melfi, Monticchio Laghi, Castel Lagopesole. The most interesting place in that area is Melfi, but since informations on Basilicata are definitely not easy to come by, I'm going to describe each place briefly (and not just the top sights as in Puglia). Venosa is a moderately pretty small town with a skipable castle; the main sight is an abbey that was important and influential back in Norman times; this abbey's church (11th century) is an example of devastating restoration, while its extension, which was begun in the 12th century but never finished, is still a picturesque church skeleton. Ripacandida has a parish church whose walls are covered with nice frescoes, Giotto style - from the 16th century, though (and thus no less than 200 years belated, speaking of backwater). Melfi has an important Frederick II castle that has been restored to the appearance of a 1980s social housing block (but is worth visiting, with clenched teeth, nonetheless: there's a surprisingly good and modern archeological museum inside, with one of the very best Roman sarcophagi ever unearthed); plus two well-restored cave churches with some good frescoes in late Byzantine style. (Plus Jewish catacombs that have been closed for restoration for many years.) Castel Lagopesole is another Frederick II castle, and another 1980s social housing block as it appears now. And Monticchio Laghi is a must-see for everybody who wants to make up for having missed traveling to Bulgaria or the German Democratic Republic in the 1960s - two small lakes in a beautiful environment, where everything man-made radiates the drab flair of a communist past that Italy never had - quite amazing! There's also an important pilgrimage church dedicated to Michael the archangel, with a monastery - reportedly baroque but recently restored, and now appearing as if erected three or four years ago at the most.
Meals: One lunch at a restaurant in Monticchio Laghi that shall go unnamed... I'm pretty sure that not just everything from the architecture to the waiter's suit has been designed in Bulgaria about 1966 (which is true for all the restaurants there), but that also the food came from the world's last stock of cans from communist Bulgaria, which the community of Monticchio Laghi must have purchased in 1989, certainly at a bargain price. One dinner at Agriturismo La Maddalena, quite good but unremarkable. One dinner at another surprising place: www.locandaaccademiadeipiacevoli.it - the second GOOD inventive restaurant of this trip!!!, after La Strega. Not quite La Strega's equal, but definitely another commendable place.
Butcher: Venosa is one of the most famous salami and sausage producing places all over Italy; and Venosa's most famous butcher is Sileno, www.salumisileno.it - really great stuff, particularly recommended: the pezzente, "the poor people's salami", made from pig's head and entrails, available spicy or not, and one of the very best dry sausages on this planet.

10. Acerenza, just one night, fortunately, at an agriturismo, www.loggiadelmonaco.it, which is as ugly as accomodations can possibly be, but there was hardly any choice: this area is even more backwatery than the Venosa-Melfi region, and accomodation is scarce.
Sightseeing: Acerenza, Cancellara, Oppido Lucano. No top sights here. The Norman cathedral of Acerenza is one of the worst examples of a historical building restored to death, absolutely incredible. Cancellara is one more example of guidebook fiction ("pretty, perfectly preserved medieval center"), as reliable as ek's quotation from the Cadogan guide. Oppido Lucano, though a particularly ugly town, has interesting frescoes in the convent of S. Antonio, a sight that you won't probably find in any guidebook; those 16th century frescoes are by Giovanni and Girolamo Todisco (father and son), natives of Basilicata who were quite accomplished Renaissance painters, though suffering from backwater isolation - it seems obvious from their works that they had few opportunities to travel to important art regions, but on that condition, it's impressive what they achieved. (Any proper scholarly research on the Todiscos is sorely missing.) Recommended for people with a slightly crazy special interest in painting, like myself.
Food: one lunch at La Loggia del Monaco, "our" agriturismo, which is incomparably better as a restaurant than as a hotel (which isn't that difficult, either). One dinner at Osteria del Borgo Antico, Via Garibaldi 23, Cancellara; extraordinarily nice people, rustic food.
There would have been an interesting olive oil producer in Cancellara, www.frantoiobiscione.it - however, they were closed and didn't answer the phone on both our days in the area.

Ah, one more addendum to 5 (sorry - unlike accomplished trip reporters like ek, I don't take any notes when traveling): in seedy Massafra, there's a really good pastry shop with a variety of delicious soft cookies: Zanframundo Tonigel, Piazza Garibaldi 20.

Franco now I know you are joking with the "accomplished trip reporters like ek!" I am flabbergasted at the depth of your knowledge, and your ability to recollect even without a notebook! This is quite an incredible wealth of information! Do you mind sharing your (surely, written in Italian) sources for the olive oil producers and butchers?

On the food front, you do not seem to be as delighted on the whole as I was with the food in Puglia. Here I was, gushing over places like Masseria Gattmora, while you did not find it excellent at all. The fact that the owner had no idea of the type of mushrooms he was serving did set me back when I read it! Of course, I never considered that there were farmed cardoncelli!

Your depth of knowledge, and your willingness to share, is a valuable gift for which I thank you and I am sure that in this, I speak for many on this forum.

ek, no, I wasn't joking; in your trip reports, I've never noticed any addenda, nor any need for them. My main source for olive oil is Slow Food's website - I've started out checking which producers have been awarded "tre olive" over the last few years. Slow Food is also where I found Michele Sabatino, the butcher of Apricena (through the musciska presidium); add several guidebook recommendations, tips that I got from locals en route... and about the Salumificio Sileno in Venosa, I learned on a South Italian recipe book by Cornelia Schinharl, and thus written in German.

As far as the food front in Puglia, I would say I was much delighted - it's not that easy to delight me with food since I'm a very (perhaps too) demanding eater, and with Palazzo D'Auria Secondo, Masseria Barbera, Upepidde, Masseria La Calcara, Antico Borgo (in Cisternino), Osteria Piazzetta Garibaldi, La Strega, L'Incontro, Sciuè Sciuè and Corte degli Aranci, I'm counting ten restaurants that I found commendable (from very good to world-class). Ten restaurants in 19 days, that's more than I can hope for in most regions. Masseria Gattamora, other than not knowing their own ingredients, was another proof that I just don't like inventive food in Italy; all the more, I'm taking my hat off to La Strega.

Franco and Ek, I have seen the reference to the Slow Food website but am not able to find exactly what you are using in a search. Will you give us a link?

Franco, we will be staying one week in Galatina and wonder how you found this town? Any other good eating in Galatina?

Thank you.

Cindy, Galatina was quite a find for me - a town in Lecce baroque style, much smaller but perhaps even prettier than Lecce proper (though without being half as lively), plus excellent late Gothic frescoes at S. Caterina. As far as eating, my entire knowledge is already on this thread; don't miss the risotto con porcini at Antico Borgo, that was the excellent dish we had for lunch.

As far as tre olive, you have to search the "notizie" section of the Slow Food website for each year individually, there's nowhere on their website where all the links for the olive oil awards are to be found in one place. Look here for 2008, just to give an example: http://www.slowfood.it/sloweb/ita/de...6A3Etqw3656C22

11. Matera, four nights at Residence S. Giorgio, www.sangiorgio.matera.it - certainly the top accomodation of this entire trip, Puglia included. Several small apartments scattered throughout the city center (most of them cave houses in the Sassi), with a centrally located reception staffed for several hours a day; brilliantly restored, tastefully furnished, extremely nice people, a gem. The region around Matera is Basilicata's most interesting part by far.
Places visited: Matera and the Parco della Murgia, the Cripta del Peccato Originale, Montescaglioso, Metaponto, Miglionico, Aliano, Tursi and Anglona; the top sights are Matera, the Cripta del Peccato Originale, and Metaponto. Matera is just stunningly beautiful now (here, again, it's hardly credible how much the place has changed; but it's the only such place in Basilicata); and yet, the recent past of the now excellently restored Sassi quarters, with its proverbial poverty and hardship beyond any imagination or description, is continuing to have an effect: absolutely no local wants to live in the Sassi, beautiful as they are now. They're entirely dedicated to hotels, or to second homes of wealthy aliens (Italians, mostly, but not from Basilicata), so have become a typical Potemkin village. The cave churches are of moderate quality - the beauty of Matera is the cityscape. (At least the cave churches that we could see; since the city of Matera is totally unable to organize access to those churches properly, and puts them out to tender not as a package, but individually, and always for one year maximum, the management of each church is continuously changing, sometimes every two months!!!, and some of them are inevitably closed and inaccessible at any given time - and so was S. Barbara when we were there, which is considered the most important cave church of Matera. Speaking of communal incompetence, the people at the tourist information had never heard of the existence of a church named S. Barbara.)
What I really recommend to skip, though, is the Parco della Murgia Materana, a major center of incredible indolence, incompetence, rip-off and neglect. The park is a huge natural reserve in a gorge full of ancient cave villages and churches; you absolutely need a guide to venture into it since there are no proper maps, no marked paths, and all the sights in the park unlocatable and/or locked. The regular guided tours that the park administration is organizing may be fine to see the landscape, but for art lovers less so since they don't include the more interesting churches, so you need an individual guide for, as to the park's tariff regulation for official guides, 100 Euros per day, independent from the number of participants. (Just compare with the tariff of the archeologist guide at Canosa di Puglia... Basilicata is a far poorer region than Puglia.) There's a list of official guides on the park's website, www.parcomurgia.it; calling the persons on the list, it's strange that almost none of them actually seems to work as a guide, though, and if you're lucky, you give up before achieving any result and don't see the park. (If you have bad luck, like me, one of those ex-guides recommends you an actual guide.) The reason why that guides directory is less than helpful is quite surprising: it hasn't been updated on the park's website for - 13 years. No mistake: thir-teen YEARS! On the web! Very probably world record... The hassle continued: the guide, with whom I had made the appointment weeks earlier, didn't show up: he had, of course without notifying me, decided to have a colleague step in for him, without providing that colleague with any useful information, not even the meeting point on which we had agreed; that colleague had not the faintest idea about art; one of the churches we had wanted to see is a private property, and the original guide had promised to procure the key, which he hadn't done, and the actual guide made us walk to that church to tell us only when we were already there that we couldn't enter; the greater part of the churches in the park don't even have a door, though, and are in corresponding (deplorable) state of preservation - which is not that bad, on the other hand, since those churches aren't of any particular artistic value, anyway, as it turned out only on site (hardly any pictures are available on the web or in guidebooks, with good reason, as I know only now). Last but not least, a great percentage of the paths in the park are trails trodden by goats and Podolica cows in a steep, rocky gorge, unsecured by any handrails, stairs or anything and pretty dangerous even for a rather practiced hiker like myself (but don't expect those guides to tell you ahead!). It didn't surprise me to learn, after that experience, that the last president of the Parco della Murgia was put on trial charged with unjust enrichment...
The Cripta del Peccato Originale, in marked contrast, is Basilicata's best sight IMO: a cave church with splendid frescoes from the 8th/9th century (!! - that's an age that saw hardly any frescoes painted anywhere in Europe), splendidly restored, access perfectly organized - no relation whatsoever to the city of Matera or any other political body, privately owned, privately restored without any public support...
Montescaglioso has a not even mediocre baroque monastery (another of those guidebook fiction "pretty" places), Miglionico an above-average castle and a very good polyptych by Cima da Conegliano, of all painters (don't ask me how and why this Venetian painter ever ventured as far south as Miglionico!). The famous Greek temple of Metaponto hardly needs further description. Aliano, immortalized as hopelessly poor and wretched "Gagliano" in one of the most important political essays of 20th century Italy, Carlo Levi's "Cristo si è fermato a Eboli", is still miserable and forlorn and for Levi fans only. Tursi has an old quarter going back to Saracen times (9th century), which is today as devastatingly destitute and ruinous as Matera must have been in the 1950s, a sad sight indeed. Anglona was a Byzantine town; all that remains today is the provincial but pretty 11th/12th century church of S. Maria.
Food: one dinner "at home" with local cheese and salami. One picnic lunch with the same stuff inside the park. One lunch at Hemingway, Via Ridola 44, Matera, nice place and above average food. One dinner at Le Botteghe in Matera, www.hotelamatera.it; very good but slightly overpriced. Two lunches and one dinner at I due sassi (no website), in Matera as well, Via Ospedale Vecchio 1 - also very good, even better than (more famous) Le Botteghe, but for "real" Basilicata prices - particularly recommended: local lamb baked in a clay pot, a memorable dish. One dinner at www.ortodilucania.it near Montescaglioso, an agriturismo; very good food there, as well, nice owners, and excellent preserves to take home (tomato purée, sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil and so on).
Olive oil: another missed opportunity at www.olearianivuori.it near Montalbano Ionico. I had made an appointment with the owner weeks ahead, but he forgot it and was in Bari the day we wanted to visit his farm...

Missed appointments, missed opportunities, out-and-out incompetence..all this would almost be humorous if it were not so terribly sad.

I have to take time to digest with my map at hand, but your accounts bring to mind the experience of the owner of my "local" Italian food/cheese/salumi, etc shop here in New York. He actually organized a little in-store festival of products from Bailicata a few years back. This happened to be about the same time as the Saveur article by F. Prose was published. The article included a recipe for pasta with Senise peppers and bread crumbs which became, and remains, one of my favorite pasta recipes to make at home.

After the event, this shop began to stock these peppers. All was well for two years or so. But last year, I began asking for them in the fall, only to be told that the shipment had not arrived. "Any day now," I was told, over and over again. This went on for months and finally the shipment did arrive--only to be held up at the airport, because the producers had not completed the necessary paperwork. The owner of the food store was almost tearing his hair out every time the subject of Lucanian food arose. Over and over again he lamented the carelessness and apathy of the vendors. This is a guy who imports food from all over italy but has had nothing but trouble when trying to bring in, and publicize, products from that region....


I've linked this before, but if you are curious:

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipe...d-Bread-Crumbs

12. Two nights in Acquafredda near Maratea, at Hotel Villa Cheta Elite, www.villacheta.it; culturally, this is a really poor part of Basilicata, but the landscape on the Maratea coast is stunning. There are surprisingly many tourists in Maratea, above all well-off American and British tourists; and Villa Cheta Elite is one of those tedious hotels that are made for people who absolutely want everybody to know and to understand that they are REALLY well-off, and oh soooooo posh.
Places visited: Maratea and Rivello. You wouldn't come to this part of Basilicata for its art and architecture; but the region is growing continuously more mountainous from east to west, and around Maratea, high mountains are suddenly dropping into the sea at an indented coast: so this stretch of coast is indeed extremely beautiful, even though prone to bad weather (the deep coves, the high mountains, a west coast, thus are the prerequisites for a high probability of rain). Attention, the uniformly steep, narrow and twisting roads in that region are for really brave drivers only! Rivello has another convent of S. Antonio, with more frescoes by father and son Todisco (see above for details).
Food: one lunch en route from Matera at Bar-Pizzeria Cosentino in San Brancato; decent at most, but how happy we were to find anything at all to eat in this forlorn country where every restaurant or bar (and there were pretty few of them) was closed, either without any obvious reason or forever. Two breakfast-brunches at Villa Cheta, for reasons of practicality rather than excellency. One dinner at Il Giardino di Epicuro in Maratea, good enough food but nightmare atmosphere; towards the end of the meal, the place turned into kind of a bazaar, with heavy pressure exerted on behalf of the owners to buy their overpriced and mediocre liqueurs or their home-made (horribly ugly) junk jewelry. Most other tourists (and there were tourists only at that restaurant) seemed to love it, though... One dinner at Trattoria Casareccia in Maratea, average food, but one of those now super-rare old-fashioned places where somebody is operating one room of his private house as a trattoria, cooking in his private kitchen - likeable and funny, and incredibly cheap.
Unusually for the undersigned, a beach recommendation: La Secca a few kilometers south of Marina di Maratea; expensive, but well-kept and in a stunningly beautiful setting. www.lasecca.com - they also have (less beautiful, obviously) apartments.
Very good salami: Azienda Agricola Il Golosone, Contrada Pietraferrata 41, Lauria.
And one last address, for ek in particular: Azienda agricola Pennella, www.peperonipennella.it - one of the most famous producers of dry sweet peppers, Basilicata's most typical produce. Pennella's peperoni are decidedly better than most others!

That's it now; many thanks for the extremely flattering comments. (And don't forget that this thread was once meant to deal with lbel's trip to Puglia, and that lbel will certainly be glad to get some more tips.)

Sorry, ek, crossposting (yes, actually, it took me that long to write the final installment on Maratea). Unfortunately, your Italian food store's experiences match my own quite well... but you might try and ask whether Pennella (see the Maratea post) would ship their peppers!

Ibelgray:

You may have already gotten enough information from this thread, but here's a little more.

We were in Puglia in 2009 and loved it.

Here's the link to my web page about this trip:
http://www.travel.stv77.com/puglia/puglia.htm

sssteve: I've looked at your web page a hundred times! It's great. Thank you.

September should be a great time to visit Puglia...

LBEL: Did you decide on your itinerary yet? Agree that September is superb.

Totally missed this thread as I was, at the time, in Puglia ;-) (I own a villa there, 20 mins south of Ostuni). I haven't gone through the thread, but from your first post, definately choose Ostuni over Fasano and DO stay at La Sommita, it's stunning (and is the most delicious smelling hotel I've ever stayed in!)

Eks: pretty much! I think it's going to be:

2 nights Trani (Mare Resort)
3 or 4 nights Lecce (Patria Palace or Risorgimento or Persone)
3 nights Ostuni (La Sommita)
2 or 3 nights Naples. (Hotel? Don't know yet, open to suggestions).

Our friends who have a similar travel style absolutely loved staying in Trani, and also mentioned a seafood place there that they said was the best seafood experience of their lives. It's called Osteria Corteinfiore. I'm psyched to try it.

They also loved Matera so much that they stayed there an extra night, so now I'm weighing whether to squeeze in a night there, or just do it as a day trip.

Kate, so glad to hear your vote for La Sommita.

Sounds great! You may even run into my sister, who is headed that way in September!


Trani's Corte in Fiore is mentioned in one of Lidia Bastianich's Italy cookbooks...

http://www.corteinfiore.it/


The big decision in Naples will be whether or not to stay smack in the middle of the historic district, perhaps at the Decumani Charme, or to stay a bit removed from the fray, perhaps in Chiaia. I would not stay on the water in Santa Lucia area as I found that stretch to be one big hotel after another...

We liked this hotel in Chiaia; there is nothing exceptional about it but rooms are very nice and location is good if you want to be in a more upscale area, still within walking distance, of the center.

http://www.palazzoalabardieri.it/

Oh, that kind of sounds perfect for Napoli. Thanks for the rec, Eks!

BTW, I've emailed Masseria Barbera twice, but not a peep in reply. Did you have trouble getting through? I do have a res for Antichi Sapori.
If you were going to do just one of the two, which would it be? Should I keep trying Masseria B?

I am not surprised that they have not answered quickly. I would send the e-mail again or, better yet, have your hotel in Trani make the booking for you. As I recall, they do not speak much English so perhaps you could put the request into faux Italian....look here:


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-in-puglia.cfm



If you only have room for one, Antichi Sapori would be my choice. You cannot miss it if you are in the area. And you must order the mixed antipasti to start.

Also, while in Ostuni you will be near those two celebrated places in Ceglie...

Maybe start a new thread on Puglia restaurants?