Week 9 – The whanau from New Zealand join us

  • The three days after we returned from Crete were very quiet because the weather was stormy and rather cool – so we chilled out with domestic chores and administration – unaware of the whirlwind we were about to have unleashed upon us!!
  • Adrienne used some of her Greek honey and local produce to make some delicacies to impress the whanau, (NZ Maori meaning “family”).
  • Goodies from Crete – the donkey even gets a soap
  • Friday dawned sunny and warm and Helen, Rob and Georgina arrived. Georgina had 48 hours “to do Puglia” so we gave it a red hot go, with the undoubted highlight being Saturday night dinner at Masseria il Frantoio near Ostuni.
  • Adrienne and Grant

    Helen and Georgina
  • The masseria is about 70 hectares and almost all food served is grown on the farm with the best cooked by a group of nonnas, (no pretentious chefs here), just old ladies who cook on Saturday and Sunday nights, and extract every bit of beautiful local flavour for adoring guests who get what they are given, (no menu), and love every morsel of it! The meal was spectacular with every course cooked and presented superbly in the masseria courtyard, with advice as to the background of the dishes and wines.
Masseria il Frantoio – 8 courses of fabulous food and wines
Dessert – chocolate crepes with local variety of blood mandarin and green pistachios
  • This was after Saturday morning when we went to Ostuni and Helen, Georgina and Adrienne did their best to help the local economy – shoes and handbags were on the radar.
  • For one of us it was all too much – the insult was I only got 50 cents in my beggars cap
  • On Sunday we went to Alberobello, (the trulli town),  home for a swim and then delivered Georgina back to the airport to return to London.
  • Very touristy but UNESCO listed and quite spectacular
  • Check out my new ride at the Ferrari show- V8, twin turbo – the nonnas will be all over me!!
  • Helen and Rob are with us now until the 9th, so some beach days and more leisurely sight seeing coming up.

 

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