4687 Puglia

Ah! Puglia- where nature is in technicolour, where the almond trees blossom in February, olives grow to a gigantic size, fog is non-existant, snow is extremely rare, & the sun can be said to be triumphant in every season.

Puglia - beloved of Frederick ll "Stupor del Mondo". Castles & cathedrals everywhere & a successsion of fortifield old frams & houses. Loads of legends tied up with historical events. Natural wonders like the caves of Castellana. The ancient battleground of Cannae where Hannibal routed the Romans but then retired from the field instead of carrying on to Rome itself.

Brindisi, the jumping off point of all the armies of Imperial Rome, the column marking the end of the famous Appian Way. From here the Crusaders sailed to the Holy Land & still today the port of Brindisi is the gateway to Greece for the young backpackers.

Taranto the "City of the Two Seas" with its fine Centro Storico and a museum famous for its collectio n of Greek artifacts. Yes, the Greeks were in Puglia & so were Arabs, Byzantines, Normans, Aragons & Angevins.

Ostu ni a city of brilliant white in the sun, Locorotundo a completely circular town, the ruins of ancient Egnazia where Horace stayed on his way to Brindisi.

Bari, now a large important port rivalling Brindisi & famous for the Feast of San Nicola (the original Father Christmas) & an emirate under the Saracens,

Baroque Lecce with marvellous works of art that look like marble but are in fact made of papier mache. The still imposing Roman arena.

The fairy tale town of Alberobello with its trulli. I could go on.

Ah yes! Puglia - the food, the wine, the vineyards, the ancient olive groves, the sheep, the brilliance of the blue Adriatic.

Nature in technicolour indeed.