After an early flourish Spring seemed to get discouraged and go away again, and I began to think that the Puglian motto ‘domani si pensa’ – tomorrow we will think about it – even applied to the weather.

But today is glorious; the sky is blue, the sea a sparkling turquoise and every scrap of spare land, even in town, is carpeted with wild flowers.

In the centro storico, or historic centre, the air is ‘spring fresh’, albeit it out of a bottle, as everyone hangs load after load of washing from their balconies and, walking down the narrow streets, you get wafts of fabric conditioner mixed with the smell of delicious things cooking for lunch. On the subject of food, and here it always comes back to that in the end, there are the first broad beans in the market and early strawberries – still expensive but a welcome splash of colour.

Walking down past the market to the sea, I remember why I am here.  Something about the way the light turns the local stone golden, the sea the clearest aquamarine & the lush green of the grass, spangled with flowers, so vivid you almost have to look away…

Suddenly all the usual day to day hassles, deadlines and preoccupations  disappear and, for a moment I feel so perfectly happy I could burst. And I wouldn’t be anywhere else, for anything….