- Our friends Joy and Alison arrived on Saturday evening, so over a few bottles of Primitivo we planned the week ahead – little did we know that two Olympic gold medal class shoppers had arrived!
- Sunday we were straight into the sightseeing, and headed for Alberobello, (jewellery from the same upmarket place that Helen had found), and then Ostuni for pizza in the piazza and into the old town for dresses, (including one for Adrienne), necklaces, a huge red sunhat, tops, and we wandered home about 11.00pm after gelato in the piazza.
- Monday we headed for Auchan shopping centre in Mesagne – the summer sales were still on so shoes, (Alison found the same FMF’s as Adrienne, but on sale), an O bag, a top – these two went at it.
Stand clear, this could get dangerous - Tuesday was a beach day, but Wednesday we went to Otranto, (or in Joy’s case O’tranto – the famous Irish town), and these two hoovered the shops at breakneck pace – handbags, dresses, tops, jewellery, shoes, and we even managed to stop for lunch.
Taking a break at Otranto Castle
- Thursday we went for the olive tree tour at Masseria Brancanti, and then to Masseria Salinola for dinner. As with our previous masseria dinners this was a spectacular setting with fabulous food, service and wines – a real highlight to finish a fun, (but exhausting), week.
Reputed to be one of the oldest olive trees in Puglia this tree is about 3000 years old and still producing at Masseria Brancanti
- Friday arrived and after 5 big days we headed for Polignano a Mare, (more shopping – all our guests have found the artisan jewellery store here), and then to the airport in Bari to wave our last visitors to Italy goodbye.
- We decided that after 4 months and many visitors that we should rate all the shopping efforts, so at the risk of denigrating some efforts, (for which we apologise), here are our assessments in horse racing speak
- Pauline – first to the barrier but jumped tentatively and never really got going, a particularly poor showing at the Auchan O bag shop – rating: 2/10
- Gai and Jayne – jumped well and went in hard, but knew they were running a long race and did not do too much damage to the credit cards – rating: 5/10
- Helen – arrived with an empty suitcase and some serious intent – jumped out well, ran hard, attacked the shopping seriously and methodically, no shoe or dress left uninspected, (Brindisi Zara want her phone number as a shopping consultant), and finished the race in good style – rating: 8/10
- Anna, Georgina and Cally – young fillies stepping up in class – tried hard but lack of wallet weight held them back – rating: 5/10
- Joy and Alison – last to the barrier but jumped straight to the front and stretched the lead at every opportunity – these two are cup winning shoppers, and made a considerable contribution to the Italian economy. Is it a coincidence that the Italian prime minister has announced tax cuts today? It is a credit to them that they did not play favourites – every town we visited enjoyed a shopping bonanza – a fantastic effort – rating: 10/10
- This was our last full week in Puglia as we leave on Wednesday for Caserta and then on to the Cinque Terre. Our next post will have a summary of our 4 months in Puglia – we have loved it and recommend little known Puglia to everyone – this is a hidden gem and should be on all to do lists before it becomes “Disneyland” like Tuscany.
I note with interest that Adrienne was not mentioned in the shopping sweepstakes.
Is that because she was on home turf, had the advantage of several barrier trials before the said guests arrived, and was at Winx odds for the race??
I like the pink slides with the tassels best. 😄
that’s perfect! perfetto!
Amazing… a suitcase dedicated to just shoes!!!!!! Adrienne is going to need a walk in robe for just her shoes 🙂
Ahhh, a great week with you both. Thanks so much for being our personal tour guides.
Have to tell you both that Roma was also a shopping spree, we had 4 lovely days before we returned to our respective countries.
Have to agree that Puglia is a hidden gem.
Your suitcase is safely tucked away in my storage cage.
Once again, heartfelt thanks for having us.