EDITORIAL
A
t the beginning of this summer, Radio Capital and Lonely Planet’s visit to Puglia, in search of ideas for the new guide that the Australian colossal in the field of tourism publishing (in Italy translated and published by EDT in Turin) is going to dedicate to this magnificent southernmost tip of Italy, led me to reflect on the visceral love that this land is able to generate in the hearts of so many visitors, apart from in its own people. Seeing the enthusiasm of someone who had just visited, I tried to reflect on the reasons for its appeal and many different factors that contribute to making Puglia worth visiting came to mind; the things that make us love it so passionately:
- Puglia has 800 kilometers (!) of coastline, with breathtaking beaches and cliffs that, from the Gargano to Salento, between the Adriatic and the Ionian, offer what is practically an infinite range of choice for whoever loves the seaside
- little white-washed towns (like those that Vittorio Bodini told of superbly in his lines) are magic places in which to stroll in an urban landscape of a human dimension; they are welcoming, full of grace, a joy to the spirit
- for those who love excursions, the trekking itineraries in the Bari Murgia or in the ravines of the Taranto area, in Salento or in the Umbra Forest are a must
- the Romanic churches, with their charming simplicity, and the Baroque ones, with their majestic decorations
- history all over the place: amphitheatres, castles, fortresses, fortifications
- archaeological sites of enormous interest, the chance to admire pre-historical ruins, like dolmens and menhirs and even dinosaur prints (the extraordinary “dinosaur walk” found in the Alta Murgia Nature Park)
- a fascinating range of arts and crafts: pottery, whistles, stone objects, woodwork, wrought iron, papier maché, refined textiles and lace
- a virtually infinite calendar of festivals and folk celebrations, processions and religious rituals, historical re-enactments, concerts, and plenty of pizzica dancing
- wonderful cooking, with foods from the sea and the land, dishes rooted in the peasant cooking tradition which has recently been rediscovered thanks to the Slow Food campaign, and with, dulcis in fundo, delicious specialities of pastries and ice-cream
- excellent wines and historical wineries that are a must on any enological/ gastronomic tour deserving of the name (in this issue of Bridge begins the publication of a feature that each month will guide the readers to discover Apulian wines).
It is true that in summer the beaches and rocks are too crowded, that it gets too hot for walking round the towns, that it might be difficult to get a table for dinner at one of the more famous restaurants. However I think that Puglia has a special magic in summer, when the dunes that crown crystalline seas are covered in wild lilies, when you can hear the cicadas chirping in the woods and the crickets singing in the evenings, when time winds down… amidst long days at the seaside and long nights beneath the starry skies. Come to Puglia one summer. Maybe this one.
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