A few weeks ago, I posted a question on my WOW! Travel Club Facebook page: “If I could live anywhere else I’d live in __________.

I could think of no other answer than where I already live. I love my home and my friends and my life. Throughout my years of travel – to some of the world’s most wondrous destinations, no place had captured my heart or my imagination to the degree that I might consider living there for any length of time.

I have a new answer to that question: Puglia.

This sun-drenched region of southern Italy – the heel of the boot – is instantly likable and easily livable. The pace is relaxing, something I particularly envy as I navigate the choked streets and freeways of LA, rushing from here to there and back again. There’s a simplicity to life in Puglia. A stripping back and focusing on the essential qualities we all need to be happy and fulfilled. I can see writing a memoir here. I can see making a living here. I can envision making a home and making friends here.

Here are just a few of the reasons why I find Puglia so compelling:

 

1.  La Passeggiata

On a Saturday evening in the historic center of the seaside town of Monopoli on the Adriatic Coast, I observe people strolling arm-in-arm through the tangle of streets and along the waterfront. The Italians have a name for this phenomenon. They call it “passeggiata”, an Italian tradition that translates to a gentle stroll (slow!) through the main streets of town. It’s an evening ritual – a means of finishing the day, catching up with the goings on in town, seeing and being seen – of passing time together.

2.  Italian Charm

Men sit three abreast on benches or on the steps of the ancient stone churches. Teenagers laugh and flirt face-to-face, without the filter of a smartphone. Toddlers toddle and sometimes (gasp!) even fall down on the slick, uneven cobblestones.

[Editorial comment: No law requires that municipalities install skid-proof cobblestones here. Presumably, slips and skids on ancient squares of limestone worn smooth over centuries of use is not sufficient grounds (excuse the pun) for Italians to pursue lawsuits. Another delightful reason to love Puglia!]

And as I look around, I see laundry fluttering overhead and window boxes overflowing with ivy and geraniums, so iconically Italian, it almost feels like a Hollywood set. Yet so comfortable and charming. A feast for the eyes.

3.  The Lost Art of Dining

Each evening in Gallipoli on the opposite coast (the Ionian Sea), customers wait for the fishing boats to come into the seaport with their catch of mussels or sea urchin or octopus. Food is taken very seriously in Italy. Even in the airports, restaurants serve bountiful caprese plates with ripe red tomatoes and fresh balls of mozzarella with a flute of Prosecco.  Not a McDonalds in sight.

Dining in Puglia is a relaxed, casual and friendly experience. Square wooden tables spill from family-owned restaurants covered with crisp cotton tablecloths, napkins, proper cutlery, a bottle of olive oil and a salt and pepper mill. The daily menu features farm-fresh produce and regional fare. Waiters in fresh white cotton shirts and black aprons engage in pleasant conversation with every table. As an observer with a limited Italian vocabulary, I wonder what they’re talking about. What has the waiter said to cause an elderly man to throw back his head in laughter? What is the little girl timidly whispering to her mother? What are the lovers discussing as they tenderly lean in, focusing only on each other?

4.  History Re-Purposed

In the baroque city of Lecce, the ancient limestone amphitheater – once the setting for gladiator bouts – is still used for concerts and performances.  What an experience it must be to perform here! Students can attend the opera for one Euro. And I understand the acoustics are spectacular!

5.  No Nonsense Driving & Traffic Rules

Traffic flows because: 1) there’s not a lot of it, and 2) traffic circles don’t impede the flow. At intersections, drivers use logic to yield and stop when necessary. Drivers can park in either direction on both sides of the street.

6.  Local (and Laid-Back) Business

Small businesses are patronized by locals. Most are closed for a few hours in early the afternoon to enjoy a fresh lunch and maybe a nap. Always closed on Sundays. Most Americans might be frustrated, even shocked by the clear disinterest in retail commerciality, but that’s all part of the ease and simplicity that comes with the territory. Besides, Sundays are reserved for fabulous meals followed by an extended passeggiata (see #1).

7.  Italian Style

At the Rome Airport, I saw a man in a blue blazer (maybe a manager?) emptying trash bins. A 20-something guy with a shaved head greeted his mother and sister with kisses (first the right cheek, then the left), and his brother with a head butt (first the right side, then the left). Women run around in gorgeous shoes, seemingly without pain.

8.  Last but not least…the coffee

As with their food, Italians take their coffee very seriously. Whether iced or espresso, they love their coffee and it shows. Coffee shops serve coffee in proper cups and saucers. No paper. No pumpkin flavors. Yet another experience to be savored, not rushed through with your name scribbled on a paper cup. As I watched a barrista use tongs to plop individual cubes of ice into a glass, I noticed how pleasant the “clink, clink, clink” sound is compared to the grinding crash of ice dispensed from a machine.

Aaaah . . . slowing down to admire the simple things . . . the best part about traveling . . .

Some more images of Puglia that I love . . .