Tucked away, just behind the main piazza in Nardo’ is Palazzo La Rosa. Despite the very central location, it is in a quiet square, reachable by car and with parking outside, which is unusual in the Centro Storico. Nardo’ itself is … Continue reading
The first time I visited Nardo’, I was there to see an apartment for a client, one of a series of appointments spread down the west coast of Puglia. The estate agent was also in a hurry and, as I … Continue reading
Updated 7/3/2022
The title is a bit tongue in cheek, but I get asked this question so often that I thought it might be useful!
With a background, first in Journalism, then in niche travel, and finding myself in Puglia, at a time when the area was relatively unknown, a lot of my work in the last sixteen years has come about from a feeling of ‘someone ought to…..’ and from people approaching me. For this reason it has been extremely varied, but now the area has become better known, there are more services offered (so I don’t have to) and I have also got older and perhaps have a much clearer idea of what I want to do when I grow up!!
Now my work mainly concerns property though I occasionally still organise tailor made travel. I enjoy both for the same reason, it is profoundly rewarding being able to work out exactly what people want or need and to be able to provide it. To be able to do both in a place that I love, and to share that place with people, and make it more accessible to them, is also very satisfying. Continue reading
Every time I have a couple of hour or so to wander round Monopoli I remember why I am here. It is always possible to, as they say here, ‘unire l’utile col dilettevole’ – combine the useful with the delightful. … Continue reading
Here the weather is getting warmer – last week there were even (Italian!) people sunbathing on the rocks by the Porta Vecchia beach! I love this time of year and have been enjoying putting away my winter clothes this weekend. … Continue reading
Villa delle Ginestre – sleeps 10 in 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
It works like this: Email your answers to the following questions to caroline@personalpuglia.com and we will enter you in our prize draw. There will be two draws – March 31st and April 25th. We will not use your email address for any purpose whatsoever unless you also sign up for our monthly newsletter. Continue reading
Buying a property with a sea view is a dream shared by many. If you are looking to buy in Puglia, however, where the clear turquoise sea enhances this view even further, there are a number of things you should … Continue reading
When autumn approaches, ‘one off’ stalls, selling mushrooms that people have collected, join the regular stalls in the market. Pride of place goes to the Cardoncello mushroom, which grows in the ‘Murgia’ area – the stony elevated plateau that occupies more or less the centre of Puglia. Continue reading
No matter that it has been summer here, by any normal standards, for weeks. Soon it will be SUMMER, and a whole succession of happenings take place: feast days, fairs, outdoors concerts and wonderful opportunities for people watching, as eveyone gets dressed up to the nines and parades around all evening!
We have listed public events below but, particularly around Ferragosto, there will be happenings everywhere and we will keep this list updated as there is a tendency here to publish things at the last moment. Continue reading
Boat trips
This is the first newsletter since the April one – apologies to all subscribers but we have been very busy organising all of our planned activities for the summer, and also I have been helping some people to find and buy a house, get quotes for the necessary work and so on. In both cases I have definitely come up against the less pleasurable aspects of life in the South of Italy, namely the need to do constant ‘salti mortali’ (death leaps) to overcome layer upon layer of bureaucracy, red tape, and a, shall we say, flexible, attitude to time keeping or the need to make any decisions whatsoever within a set time frame!
No matter, nothing that a quick trip to the beach every so often can’t resolve and some of the lovely visitors whose holidays we have organised in this period have provided definite moments of light relief! Continue reading