From internet date to real life

Once bitten by the trullo bug, there's no respite.  At least there wasn't for me.
In July, as summer approached we decided that we'd hire a trullo for a week or so and spend part of the school holidays in Puglia so we could explore the area a little more, look at a few more trulli - and of course by then I was desperate to clap eyes on the ruin IRL (In Real Life as the teen would say).

A trawl of the net and we found a lovely local couple, Nicla Ferrante and her partner Rodolfo Del Frassino who run a great business (site here) managing a host of holiday trulli and masserie (the local fortified farmhouses) to rent. (I can't recommend Nicla et al highly enough so if you're looking for a Puglia holiday as well as someone to come and cook local food for you at home or to provide insider regional info etc etc go no further).

The trullo they suggested we rent was way too big for us but as renovations had only just been finished, it was one of the few not yet booked and so turned out to be a good last minute choice. Trullo Bella Vita ended up being waaaay grander than anything we envisaged but it only cemented my obsession. 

Me snapping the teen at sunset

Sleeping in a stone hut with domed roof in high summer turned out to be an indescribably lovely experience, like entering a cool cave which is dark, quiet and allows you a full retreat from the world. We found it almost primeval and afternoon siestas, not a pleasure I've ever really indulged in - became irresistible.

 We also discovered very quickly how utterly delectable it is to sit around in an olive grove at sunset, cicadas screaming, tiny birds diving into scrub or water puddles around you, with an Aperol or chilled beer. (Yeah, I know, how utterly wanky!)

The ground in inland Puglia is a deep iron red, olive trunks almost sculptural in the growing shadows and when the moon is up reflecting the silver of the back of the olive leaves, the landscape becomes dream like - and you wish to God you had the talent to sketch or paint


Once its cool enough to get in the car, roaming local towns and villages, trying trattorie and exploring tiny fishing settlements with nothing but your nose to guide you is joy although we had to keep remembering that in southern Italy, nobody sits down for dinner before 9pm. 

Dinner in the piazzetta of Monopoli is chaos. And a joy.

Still, as the first days passed I had just one thing on my mind: our appointment with the charming Swede, Johan Zetterberg, who, it turned out was not just the owner of the real estate agency, casapuglia.com but was also the proprietor of  what I was already referring to as 'my' pile of rocks...... 

Midweek he gave us clear directions to a little piazza in the adjoining village and one sunny morning we met there so we could follow him - and his daughter, Emelie -and their rescue dog Charlie (more about him later) - to actually SEE the ol' ruin.