Our sailing blog has been greatly neglected this past winter and spring. Life got in the way – more precisely, land life in a very cold land. It was hard to find inspiration for writing about adventures along the sunny Mediterranean while wading about in deep snow. Now that the new sailing season has already begun, perhaps it’s time to draw a quick summary of the places we visited from our winter base – in no particular order. Next time, I might tell you more about which way the winds are blowing this summer.

Apulia

The county Apulia, or Puglia, stretches from the southeastern tip of the Salento peninsula – the boot heel – along the Adriatic coast as far as Gargano – the spur of Italy. The biggest city in the area, Bari, has 300 000 inhabitants. Brindisi, our winter base, is a much smaller town with a population 80 000. Both have an international airport, which even sailors can sometimes benefit from.

We walked a few kilometres to the airport, rented ourselves a set of wheels, and took the road inland. Soon enough, we found ourselves surrounded by a lush, green agricultural landscape. Apulia is one of the most fertile regions of Italy, producing a third of the country’s olive oil, two-thirds of grapes, a lot of wine, durum wheat and a diversity of vegetables that thrive under the warm sun. Apulian cuisine represents the Mediterranean diet at its purest, with lots of fresh fish.

Trulli

A cheerful speciality of Apulian architecture is the trullo house, trulli in the plural. These stone buildings were originally used as storage on small farms and modest dwellings for farmers and farm workers. They have a simple drywall structure, a prehistoric building technique still in use in this region. Limestone walls are laid without mortar in a circular or rectangular shape. The roof has a domed inner skin of wedge-shaped stones and a watertight outer cone of limestone slabs. According to old legends, storage trulli could sometimes be dismantled if tax collectors were spotted in the area, and then quickly reassembled once the danger was over. Larger family houses are often comprised of several rooms side by side, each with its own domed roof.

Alberobello

Trulli can be found throughout the Valle d’Itria, a fertile highland between the towns of Ostuni and Putignano. The largest concentration of trulli is in the town of Alberobello, with more than 1,500 cones. The oldest may date as far back as the 15th century. During our visit on a late autumn evening, the town was still full of visitors. The anthill of trulli hides endless souvenir shops, restaurants, bars and guesthouses. Despite the swarming crowds, four hundred trulli are still in permanent residential use.

The trulli cones are often decorated with different shapes and painted symbols – both pagan, Christian and astrological signs.

Ostuni

Within the trullo region sits the magnificent hill town of Ostuni. It has been known, naturally, since the dawn of history and through the various phases of the Roman Empire, but the town’s current appearance is very much medieval. The Normans built the city at its current location on top of a high hill, which rises from an otherwise featureless landscape to a height of over 200 metres. Over the centuries, the defensive walls were strengthened, and they’re still standing proud. A chain of defence towers was also built along the nearby coast. This way, Turkish Ottomans and other potential attackers could be detected and the town defences alerted in time.

Ostuni is, along with Alberobello, one of Apulia’s busiest tourist destinations. It’s also a popular retirement home for ex-pats escaping the less desirable weather conditions. And no wonder – the narrow streets and little plazas make you feel very cosy. What is it about these medieval maze-like towns that make them so human size? The life within can be seen and heard – music and soap operas blaring from the open windows, clotheslines strung over the streets, and lively chatter in the cafes. The blue sky overhead, but pleasantly cool in the shadow of tall houses. Not to mention the unexpected views over the green countryside and the gleaming sea in the distance.

Before the year 1000, there was a Byzantine (Greek Catholic) church on the site of the Ostuni Cathedral. The current Romanesque cathedral is from the beginning of the 13th century, but suffered badly in a 15th-century earthquake and was rebuilt in Gothic style in 1469-1495. The beautiful rose window originates from that time – there were originally four of them.

Mesagne

We stopped for a quick bite in Mesagne. The town is built around a beautiful baroque church and is protected by a handsome Norman castle. Apulia is full of little gems like this.

Castello Normanno-Svevo di Mesagne was originally built during the Norman times, but the castle’s current form is a combination of later changes and additions.

Francavilla Fontana

Our tour of “Little towns with impressive castles” continued to Francavilla, where we found this Castello Imperiali.

Mola di Bari

On our way back from a certain Scandinavian furniture department store in Bari, we stopped in Mola di Bari, a small fishing town. It was late afternoon, and the fish market had just opened its doors. Fishing vessels were still arriving in a steady line from the sea and their catch was being carted to the market hall. There was plenty of choice for an eager cook – it appears there’s still fish to be found in the Mediterranean. The constant puzzle of “What should we eat today?” was solved for many days ahead!

Winter in Italy

Brindisi proved to be a very good choice to spend the winter. There were no bad spells of rain or stormy weather, and sunny days were warm enough all winter for a Finn to walk around wearing shorts. In November we moored permanently at the town quay (Approdo delle Indie) and there our Aina happily floated, safely tucked between two superyachts, until the end of April. Then it was time to head back out to sea with a fresh spring breeze.

• Brindisi – Ancient Port of the Adriatic
January 15, 2023
• New Sea, New Land – Sailing to Otranto, Italy
December 20, 2022
• Ambracian Gulf and Vonitsa – Towns, Castles and Nature’s Wonders
September 9, 2020