It can be said that Viviana was the beginning of this trip to Puglia.

Because I’m not such a big fan of uncertainty, and to buy train tickets to somewhere for so long without have a place to sleep is a bit too risky for me. Luckily, I came across Viviana’s profile on Workaway. At that time, I didn’t even know where Altamura was, or that it had a famous DOP bread, and UNESCO town like Matera was only half an hour away. I only knew that Viviana loved cooking and wanted to homeschool her 2 year-old son. Plus she would welcome me to join her family even over the Easter holiday. I saw that she was also on Couchsurfing and somehow I just ended up Couchsurfing her place…with Sara, my friend from Bologna whom I met through Couchsurfing 2 years ago.



I have to say that Sara, Viviana and I was quite a good combination, especially when in Altamura.

She was a young, beautiful and open-minded mum. A real full-time housewife who knew a l lot about tradition food and culture from her hometown but also had a keen interest in learning about other cultures around the world. I loved the way she wanted to raise Vito Matteo, her cupid-like son.

When she knew that I was a food writer, she wrote down what she wanted to cook for me to try.

And the food here was great, from the taste, quality, love and care that was put into everything.

It could be because Domenico’s parents had a ‘masserie’, a sort of farmhouse in an old, restored buildingin the countryside where they had vineyard, orchards, olive grove, almond trees, grew vegetables, raised chickens for eggs, pigs for salami and also had sheep. They would start making their own cheese next year.

Oh, and they also had a swimming pool.

I mean…I was lost of words. They should start hosting wwoofers and I might be the first one who request to stay there for a long term and ask if I could join their family.

On Pasquetta or Easter Monday, the day that everyone would usually go for a picnic or barbecue with friends, they said we could join them and asked where we wanted to go. The first place that came to my mind was Val d’Itria, the area in Puglia with lots of trulli, the traditional ‘cottage’ built with white stones.



So on Monday morning, after I made pancakes for breakfast, we en routed to Alberobello. The historical centre of this cute little town was filled with trulli, and I felt like we were in another version, a much brighter one, of Hobbit. Though the town was packed due to Pasquetta. Locorotondo, on the other hand, was so quiet and peaceful. We strolled around the small alleys and I had to stop and take photos at every turn. Each corner was so lovely in its own simple way.



That evening, Viviana made sourdough piadina (Italian flatbread from Emilia-Romagna) for dinner. The next day, it was my turn to share with them the cuisine from Thailand. They invited Lorenzo, their crazy friend, to join us for dinner.

They liked the food (*relief sigh*) After dinner, Lorenzo asked Sara and I if we wanted to go with him.

‘Andiamo?’

‘Si!’

I didn’t know where to, but I just say yes to everything. We got on his car and he drove us into town to buy some sweets from a pasticceria, at around 11pm.

This is the land of ‘la dolce vita’.

Sitting at the back seat, on my lap was a big box of sweets, including the tits (Tette delle Monache), a typical sweet from here, light and fluffy dough filled with whipped cream and ricotta. Legend has it that, because nuns can’t have babies their tits are going straight up like the shape of this sweet.

But then something unexpected happened, and the next thing I knew, the right side of my face hit the back of the passenger seat.

A car crash.

Well, Lorenzo’s driving can be a bit jerky sometimes, but the other was driving on the opposite direction on a one-way street. It was quite clear who was guilty in this case.

So the evening didn’t end as well as we thought it would be, but at least we got back home safely and could still enjoy the sweets.

And the tits were actually really yummy.



Next morning, Lorenzo offered to drive us around for a bit. We headed to Castel del Monte, the famous abandoned castle on the 5-cent coin. Almost an hour later (with a short stop at the bakery, buying warm bread and focaccia which infused the smell of the car), we arrived at the castle, but then he said there was nothing inside and suggested that we go further to Trani, a small seaside town.

So we followed.



Trani was a cute little town in the North of Bari. It’s a shame that the main church by the sea was closed for renovation, and we went there in the afternoon so the whole town was dead quiet.

Oh well.



After a delicious lunch of riso, patate e cozze and calzone cipolla prepared by Viviana, we packed our bags and she drove us to the train station.

I really loved this easy-going family, and how genuinely curious and interested they are about other cultures and the world. It would be lovely to see how Vito Matteo would be raised and educated in this alternative way.

Both of us wanted to come back in September, and I think we would.