Puglia

Our daughters lead busy lives and time spent with them is precious. Our elder daughter was to be working in Puglia for a few days and she invited me to join her.  No sooner was I home from Ischia than I was packing for a return to Italy. I'd never visited this area before, there would be plenty of new experiences. What a treat!
When we turned into the drive the hotel appeared to be some sort of ancient, fortified building.

It was fascinating to learn that it is newly constructed, only a few years old, built in the style of the fortified farms and country estates, the masseria of the area.

The hotel is built with the local creamy tufa stone and the arched ceilings echo the storage rooms of the masseria.

Decorative baskets of fruit and walnuts are placed about the floors to reference the use of these cool spaces for the storage of produce.

Some of the decorative touches are rather strange!

Two large outdoor pools looked very inviting but no-one was swimming in them. Still, it had to be done. "It's refreshing," the pool attendant said when I asked. I swam a few lengths and got out. He came over with two towels, a sure indication that he knew just how 'refreshing' it was. "You were right" I told him. (After that I swam in the deliciously warm indoor pool and the children's outdoor heated pool when the children had left.)

We were staying in the main part of the hotel and while my daughter worked I was free to wander about and explore. I opened double doors and walked out into this central space. The door closed behind me and wouldn't reopen. There wasn't a soul about! I eventually found a small exterior staircase and found myself by the kitchen with only enough Italian to apologise for being a nuisance but not for a clear explanation as to why I needed to be walked through the kitchen prep area! Italian doors seem to be becoming a bit of a thing for me.

Part of the hotel has been built as a village, a pattern that seems to have become popular in recent years. I've revisited a hotel in Greece where I used to holiday with my parents and found a whole little 'village' has been built in the gardens in the intervening years.

This 'village' has a faux marketplace,

all strangely deserted.

We ate in a different restaurant each evening.

There were some lovely touches at the Due Camini. My fish course was amusingly presented with two sauces arranged on the plate as head and tail.

More fun was to be had when it came to dessert. We were presented with a metal box with nine compartments, six of them occupied with different ingredients. From these six we were to choose our three favourite flavours/combinations and place them in the empty spaces. The box was then taken away so that the chef could create an individual dessert.

Where's a photo of the result? I hear you ask. When it was put before me I quite forgot to take a photo. It tasted divine!