Italy for the Ordinary | Puglia Part 4

This was our last full day exploring Puglia.

Sadness started to creep in.

On this day we visited two local towns: Locorotondo and Martina Franca, swam at Torre Guaceto (and poolside) and had our last dinner at Masseria Il Frantoio.

Join me as a look back and recall how we spent our day exploring Puglia.

Each morning at Masseria Il Frantoio we consumed a well appointed breakfast. I can’t articulate enough how much I enjoyed the setting and ambiance. The food was so fresh with local produce and traditional baked goods. Yum!! I wish I had some of those cookies right now! I wanted to soak it all in and remember every detail. At times we sat at an individual table and other times we were paired with other guests. There wasn’t one seating time for breakfast, so you could be at a multi-group table but be there by yourself. I think it’s a smart arrangement. Sometimes you need to be nudged a bit so you meet and chat with other travelers. I think it’s a nice way to encourage one to share your experience with others and gain insight on other people and their travels.

We took the advice of the concierge and explored two beautiful towns that weren’t too far from our masseria. We traversed Puglia over the last few days, so going local was just what we needed.

There isn’t too much to say about these beautiful towns other than they were more of the same; magical and historical Puglia. We did what everyone does when you’re visiting new places: walk around, shop a little and see the places of interest. We happened upon a large outdoor market which was quite fun. The one thing we didn’t do was eat in either town. We had such a great breakfast before we headed out, so there was no need to consume any more.

I suppose we all feel a certain sense of obligation to see as much as you can but by this point in our trip we saw enough towns. You get to a point where it all seems like a blur. However we couldn’t quite leave Puglia without seeing at least one more beach. So we ditched the towns and headed back to the coast.

I’ll show you some photos so you can see for yourself how lovely these two towns really are, even though we may have cut our visit a little short. In the first slide show you will see a few pictures of clotheslines. I am drawn to pictures of clothesline ever since my daughter Sarah took a fabulous photo of clothes swaying in the wind between two buildings when she visited Italy a few years ago. Clotheslines illustrate an innocence as nature tends to our laundry while hanging out to dry in fresh air and sunshine. I wrote about this in one of my blog posts, you can read it here if you like at: clothesline.

In the second set of slides you will see a bunch of pictures from a beautiful church in Martina Franca called Basilica di San Marino. There’s a interesting statue of the Virgin Mary wearing more contemporary clothing. It really seemed quite odd at the time. I wrote another blog post called: what to wear using this picture if you’re interested in reading how this contradictory statue illustrates a point of view.

The first set is from Locorotondo

The next slide show is from Martina Franca

We spent the afternoon at our last beach destination in Puglia called Riserva Naturale Torre Guaceto. This is another beautiful beach but left us with mixed emotions.

We parked our car along a rugged dirt road and left it hoping we were actually allowed to park there. We gathered our towels and headed to the beach. I think I managed to put my bathing suit while driving in the car. The things you have to do when traveling on a whim. I don’t like sight-seeing in a bathing suit, so you make do.

We walked along the somewhat rocky shore and couldn’t seem to find the right place to stay and swim. There was a lot of trash along the shore, so we felt a bit discouraged. We kept on walking and came to some areas where you could rent a lounge chair and swim, but again, we felt a little uncertain if this was where we wanted to stay. We kept on walking until we found the right spot and spent maybe an hour there swimming and enjoying the view. But, for some reason, we did not stay long. We didn’t really like this beach although it had great reviews. We got in the free bus ride back to where our car was, which was great so we didn’t have to walk back. Then we returned to our masseria. We were so glad to be back where it was pleasant, clean and relaxing. Some poolside lounging and swimming was the perfect ending to our last full day touring Puglia.

Torre Guaceto and our pool

Our final evening in Puglia came to an end. We had 4 nights there. We had dinner our first and last night at the masseria which worked out perfectly. The stage was set for dinner outside on the large patio, surrounded by fragrant flowers all under the summer sky. Our table was hand picked by the staff and we were in for a memorable treat. Even if the meal wasn’t wonderful, which it was, just the experience of eating in such a setting, truly was spectacular.

Our Last Supper in Puglia