2243 To the Puglia Posse..

Here's my reasons:

Was buying a two bed apartment in Portugal for 175,000 euro. Got the deposit together and deal fell trough. :mad: Neal sat one night looking at flights and discovered Ryanair. Then started to look at property prices and discovered Puglia. Booked a week long holiday to view. Fell in love with the fact it was [COLOR="Black"]NOT[/COLOR] a touristy place, very few spoke English and the people were very welcoming. ;) Houses up a mountainside with panaramic views were also a no no for us with 4 children and a love of eating out in the evening. Eventual discovered a place that needed finishing off (Neal a builder anyway ) and for the sum of the deposit on the two bed appt in Portugal, now have a 5 bed villa with fruit trees and plenty of garden for kiddy winks to play in. Probably need to spend another 15 to 20k on but its then it will be exactly how we want it. We fell in love with the area straight away, stark contrast to the place in Portugal but now count our blessings and feel we have atcheived something a million times better and am now on count down for the next seven weeks when we can get back.

Not just Puglia, but have you sussed out how many in San Vito dei Normanni.....:eek:

Wanted somewhere to escape to in the sun.
[COLOR=black]Possibility of moving permanently.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Didn't want to be too far away to nip back to [/COLOR][COLOR=black]uk[/COLOR][COLOR=black] e.g Future grandchildren.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Spain[/COLOR][COLOR=black], [/COLOR][COLOR=black]Greece[/COLOR][COLOR=black], [/COLOR][COLOR=black]Portugal[/COLOR][COLOR=black], [/COLOR][COLOR=black]Cyprus[/COLOR][COLOR=black] etc didn't appeal, too many Brits and in some cases to expensive.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]France[/COLOR][COLOR=black] an option for Dave as he speaks French but in my opinion it's been done to death by Brits and can be expensive.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Both love Italian food and wine etc.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]South Italy[/COLOR][COLOR=black] more sun for longer throughout year.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Beaches and sea within easy driving distance, the option to scuba dive.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Mountains, snow and skiing too cold for me.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]History, Architecture and shopping all within easy distance.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Puglia[/COLOR][COLOR=black] reported as the new up and coming area to buy, relatively inexpensive and property value should increase. Not that this is a priority as long as it doesn't go down, be a bit p****d off then.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Discovered Trulli and as Dave and I had joked about finding our little Hobbit hole for years, it seemed rather apt.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Went on a reccy in May, fell in love with the area, the people, the life style etc.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Found a beautifully renovated Trullo within our budget, although we need a bathroom.[/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]And yes we were fully aware of toxic waste, Mafia, drugs, ladies in black, although not seen any around our Trullo yet! but may have to take up the profession if moving permanently as lack of the Italian Language at the mo wouldn't pose a problem. ;) [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]When buying, the piono piono, bureaucracy and fraud has driven us mad but it will be worth it in the end.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Aware that some of the area is very scruffy but the beauty and simplicity outweigh this. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Hopefully the influx in Brits buying will not change the area to much for quite sometime but time only will tell.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]So at this point in time we have found what we were looking for and roll on 23rd January! [/COLOR][COLOR=black][/COLOR]

Out of interest Aliena why wouldn’t you move to Puglia?

Bet I could find sfogliatelle, you could marry my son and I'm sure Tie Rack has opened in Brindisi! :D

[LIST]
[*]Was it your first visit to Italy? [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][I]Dave no, me yes but irrelevant as made up our mind we wanted a Trullo and have the rest of our life to explore the rest of [/I][I]Italy[/I][I]. [/I][/FONT][/SIZE]
[*]Did you find your house on the first trip to Puglia? [I][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]The plan was to look only but found what we wanted and still think it’s the one even after further research. [/FONT][/SIZE][/I]
[*]Was this pre or post ItalyMag? [I][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]Pre Italy Mag, wish to god we had found forum before! [/FONT][/SIZE][/I]
[*]What research did you do? [I][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]Books, internet and friends of friends but the forum has been the most helpful. Even then you have to go through the experience to really learn and then learn some more and then more! [/FONT][/SIZE][/I]
[*]On a scale of 1 - 10.. can you speak/understand any Italian? [I]1[/I]
[*]How far have you intergrated into local society? [I]Little yet but will[/I]
[*]How often can you get to Italy for more than "just the weekend"? [I]Both work full time so as and when hols allow[/I]
[*]If living there permanently, are you employed/retired/ducking and diving? [I]An idea for the future, probably do a lot of ducking, my Italians crap![/I]
[*]Are you located in a main town? [I]No but near to a main road so don't need a tractor to get to it.[/I]
[*]What age group are you? [I]Bloody old! Search the forum its on here somewhere.;) [/I]
[*]Are you fed up with all these questions? [I]No, keep um coming![/I] :p[/LIST]

Here we go with your next lot of questions

Was it your first visit to Italy? [B]No, had been skiing once before.[/B]

Did you find your house on the first trip to Puglia? [B]Yes, and looked at 9[/B]

Was this pre or post ItalyMag? [B] Pre[/B]

What research did you do? [B] None, I'm a very impulsive lady and go on gut feeling.[/B]

On a scale of 1 - 10.. can you speak/understand any Italian? [B]9 months ago - 0, today - 1[/B]

How far have you intergrated into local society? [B] Have made a few Italian freinds and one we can't even have a conversation with due to the language barrier but with hand signals and nods of the head we get by and his name is Oronzo and he is calling at the house every week just to check its ok whilst we're not there.[/B]
How often can you get to Italy for more than "just the weekend"? [B]Went 3 times last year, 1 week, 5 days and myself 2 weeks, Neal went for 4 weeks.[/B]

If living there permanently, are you employed/retired/ducking and diving? [B] Not permanent yet so still near you in Haydock[/B]Are you located in a main town? [B]5 mins[/B]

What age group are you? [B] Exactly 40[/B]
Are you fed up with all these questions? [B] No I'm a nosey cow as well[/B]

I'll answer the other questions in a mo

If you are only able to get to Italy a few times a year.. why did you/are you buying? [B]Long term investment and had the money in the bank doing nothing.[/B]

Did you consider a long term rental? [B]No[/B]

Did you consider renting short term - as and when required only? [B] No, inlaws have a place in Portugal we could use any time we wanted but wanted a non holiday feel destination and didn't want to be bumping into tourists and holiday makers with their airbeds under their arm pits all day long.[/B]

Was the
[*]under 150,000 euros?
[*]over 150,000 euros?
[B]
Even with fees and taxed under 80,000 euro [/B]

How long have you owned your house? [B]May[/B]

Do you have any plans to sell in the future? [B]Nope[/B]

Any more

No point in havingthe bank sort and account as there's nowt left ;) Party, anytime and I'll let you know when we have one here as your only 30 mins away.........What part of Liverpool are you in, I've family in Walton village, Tuebrook, Knotty Ash, Bootle to name but a few:rolleyes:

You want Aliena to marry your son! Don't you like him? ;) [I]He's not bad just costs me too much money and his sister, would you like her too then I can give up work and move to Puglia.[/I]

[LIST]
[*]If you are only able to get to Italy a few times a year.. why did you/are you buying? [I]Cos it's fun to have somewhere in the sun.[/I]
[*]Did you consider a long term rental? [I]Cost far to much and not an investment.[/I]
[*]Did you consider renting short term - as and when required only? [I]Same as Above[/I][/LIST][LIST]
[*]Was the [B]purchase[/B] price of your house in Italy..
[*]under 150,000 euros? [I]Still waiting for 23rd Jan, will let you know then but a lot less, it's a tiny Trullo, just big enough for the two of us ;) [/I]
[*]over 150,000 euros?[/LIST]And for those already living there..
[LIST]
[*]How long have you owned your house? [I]Jan 06!!![/I]
[*]Do you have any plans to sell in the future? [I]Maybe, maybe not.[/I]
[*]Are you currently trying to sell.. for whatever reason? [I]No, trying to buy still![/I]
[*]Have you ever eaten sfogliatelle? [I]Probably but didn't know what it was.[/I]:confused:[/LIST]There.. that should keep you busy for a while! [I]Not really any more? :cool: [/I]

The ones in Walton are a very sad tale indead, mothers sister and her husband and two offspring. Husband had legs off and eventually passed away due to alcaholism (his mothers is 103 in August) mothers sister passed away in March, same fate but with legs in tact. Eldest lad going down the same route and daughter totally pi--ed off, no that wasn't meant as a pun. You could have asked about the ones in Tuebrook, different story, 8 bed house, different side of the family;)

Everyone reading all this cr-p will be on voting for the chat room tomorrow Aliena so we can carry on with our piffel without bringing the forum down to our level. Must go and get another sherry............be glad to go back to work tomorrow

Thats it now, another thread gone right off track into piffleness....Does he have a brother :rolleyes:

Bringing us back to the original question:

We first visited Puglia over about 25 years ago. We toured Italy with MGB and tent all around the coast, down the west and up the east. Our favorite area was Puglia - particularly Gargano. However, we were fascinated by the Trulli further south.

We then drove down there every year for many years - from newly marrieds through babies and toddlers, then the travelling became too much for the children and we ended up going to France and Spain. We always hankered after Italy.

We had a holiday in Tuscany when the girls were older - still loved Italy. For our 25th wedding anniversay we travelled back to Gargano. Then trawling through the internet, the thought came to me - why not buy a very cheap trullo?

We went on a day trip visit - to squash the idea. However, we loved the first place we saw. Were shown other places that day which were much better value but didn't take our fancy. We went back over for a long weekend and viewed many other properties but again we liked nothing as much as the first property - ended up buying it. Very emotional decision rather than financially astute. However, don't regret it. Love it more each time we go over.

Needless to say it wasn't a very cheap trullo, but a very pretty, larger one, habitable but still requiring a lot of work. Unfortunately, it is too comfortable and all the work that needs to be done is disappearing into the distance as we wonder if we should just leave it as it is and just relax and enjoy it.

We don't intend to move there permanently (both still working) but in retirement could see us spending half our time in Italy and half in England. However, each time we go over it gets more tempting just to up sticks and stay!

Puglia may not be as 'pretty' as other parts of Italy but it has its own ambience. As soon as we see the olive trees we feel 'at home'. It is certainly very Italian and pays no lip service to tourism. It can be a very frustrating place - try eating before 7.30pm and you will go hungry.

Ironically, one of the things that always attracted us to Puglia was the fact that we never saw any other English people. However, its been reassuring to know other English over there and everyone seems like-minded about loving most things Italian.

Hope this offers some explanation - even we cannot really believe we have actually done it!

A brilliant story beautifully written. Know what you mean about the olive tree's, and can't wait to sit on our roof terrece and watch the sun go down over the top of the trees. I know exactly what you mean about eating out early too, but then again on the flip side you can go out very late stay in a resteraunt until the early hours without feeling the preasure of finishing your meal and leaving. Nothing better than to sit and take you time over a bottle of wine (or 2 or 3:rolleyes: )

Couldn't have said it better, thats how we feel about Puglia but guess thats how everyone feels about their own little bit of Italy. Just can't wait to get back out there! :)

Wee, too, have quite a long relationship with Italy. Started coming about 18 years ago. Visited Tuscany a few times, then Venice, Rome etc. We lived in Siena for a year 15 years ago. We`re very fond of Siena and did think about buying there, but it`s very expensive and probably has more foreigners than Italians!! We first came to Puglia on holiday about 4 or 5 years ago and became friends with a local family that we met on the beach (they subsequently came & stayed with us in the UK and we stayed with them on our trullo searches). The next year we changed our minds about buying in Siena and bought our trullo. Then, in Sept 2004, we moved here permanently. We`re still working - Martin is a dentist & I`m a podiatrist (among other things). I hope to start my own practice some time this year when we`ve found an appartment that we can both work in. We`ve now bought a `proper` house to live in which we hope to move into in the next couple of months. I think we probably like Puglia because it`s a friendly, comfortable sort of place to live in. We like the slightly scruffy countryside, the food is wonderful (as is the wine) but I think it`s the people that make it. We feel totally integrated. Of course not everything is perfect but then it wasn`t in the UK either. All in all we`re very glad we came! Anything else?
PS I totally agree about the olive trees - we returned from a trip to the Dolomites yesterday and were very glad to see the olive trees again. It just feels like home!

What the heck is a Trullo? Would somebody explain this one, please.

Our 'road to puglia' has been kind of strange.. It all began when my husband and I met - irish girl meets yorkshire boy on the construction site of an 'irish pub' in Tuscany. Confused yet? While working we met and befriended an elderly italian gentleman called chiro, whose incredible hospitality, incurable romanticism and formidable matchmaking skills led to us falling in love over the lunch table. It took six weeks to get to the marriage proposal and five years later we are happily married, living in ireland with two beautiful children! Unfortunately, just before we had planned a trip to tuscany to introduce chiro to our new daughter, he died.
He had told us so much about italy and the italians, and one place he begged us to go and visit was puglia. Three years later, living in ireland, getting fed up of escalating living costs and dreadful weather, we started thinking about a change of scene and italy was the one place we both agreed we would like to live in for a while. Tuscany is too expensive and full of foreigners and we really didnt know much about anywhere else. Chiro's enthusiasm for puglia made us think maybe.....but this was really just a whim. Then we started looking into it and liked what we learned. Then ryanair started flying there and we really felt that fate was nudging us in this direction. Suddenly we started hearing other people talking about puglia and this encouraged us further. We are looking for a change of lifestyle, some sunshine for a while, good food that doesnt cost the earth and property that doesnt require a terrifying mortgage like here.
Anyway we are just about to close on some land near san vito, for better or worse. We have renovated a house here and when it sells next year we will move to puglia and build there. Its probably mad but what the hell, it will be a great adventure and if we dont like it we can always come back, or go somewhere else.
We spent 20,000 on 9,000sqm of land with lots of lovely olive trees and a tiny trullo and we are going to build a villa. We dont speak italian, but I was surprised at how much i picked up in six weeks in tuscany so im not worried. The kids will learn really quickly, im sure.
So thats our story!

[quote=FrancisM]What the heck is a Trullo? Would somebody explain this one, please.[/quote]

Some links for you. :)

[URL="http://www.lifeinitaly.com/tourism/puglia/trulli-1.asp"]http://www.lifeinitaly.com/tourism/puglia/trulli-1.asp[/URL]

Local builder
[URL="http://www.rusticstones.com/EN/trulli_service.htm"]http://www.rusticstones.com/EN/trulli_service.htm[/URL]

This link shows you how they are built
[URL="http://www.stonefoundation.org/stonexus/01_issue/48-trulli.pdf"]http://www.stonefoundation.org/stonexus/01_issue/48-trulli.pdf[/URL]

Just love all these stories.

I suppose `home` is just where you feel comfortable and relaxed enough just to get on & live your life the way you want to. I don`t think it`s necessarily about memories or a similarity to `where you came from`. It`s just about feeling yourself. Does that make any sense?

[quote=The Smiths in Puglia]I suppose `home` is just where you feel comfortable and relaxed enough just to get on & live your life the way you want to. I don`t think it`s necessarily about memories or a similarity to `where you came from`. It`s just about feeling yourself. Does that make any sense?[/quote]

Yes it makes sense, it's exactly how I was going to explain the feeling but you beat me to it. Comfortable, relaxed, maybe content? :) Well thats how we feel when spending time in Puglia.

[QUOTE=FrancisM]What the heck is a Trullo? Would somebody explain this one, please.[/QUOTE]

It's a little house with a pointy bit on top.........

[QUOTE=FrancisM;16758]What the heck is a Trullo? Would somebody explain this one, please.[/QUOTE]

Have a look at our website; [url=http://www.trullilove.co.uk]Trullilove[/url]
Hope this answers your question
Ciao Tony

We are expecting to confront a jungle of weeds covering two acres of ground upon our return visit at the end of June. We used a tractor last year but it was rather ineffective because of the number of trees to do a proper ploughing job.
We read sometime ago here that we could hire a suitable rotovator from Macy and the profit will go to her animal sanctuary, but can't find it now!
Could she reply to tonywins at btinternet.com?
Thanks
Tony

[QUOTE=Tony Winstanley;61640]We are expecting to confront a jungle of weeds covering two acres of ground upon our return visit at the end of June. We used a tractor last year but it was rather ineffective because of the number of trees to do a proper ploughing job.
We read sometime ago here that we could hire a suitable rotovator from Macy and the profit will go to her animal sanctuary, but can't find it now!
Could she reply to tonywins at btinternet.com?
Thanks
Tony[/QUOTE]
It was actually Alex and Lyn who were offering the rotovator. As you have no doubt heard, Lyn is sadly no longer with us. I know someone is seeing Alex later this week, and is going to ask him if he is still going to be hiring out his stuff. I can try to find out later in the week and get back to you.
Margaret

Many thanks Margaret. We did read about Lyn and sent condolences. I look forward to hearing from you.
Failing that I will try a local place in Ceglie, next to the Crai supoermarket.
Tony

Hello Margaret
You have not yet responded about whether Alex is in a position to loan his rotovator.
Tony

I haven't heard from him. I will call the person who was visiting him, and is a close friend of his, to find out for you.

I think at the moment the answer is no I'm afraid. Maybe in the future it may be different, but now for now.

I have seem some Trulli for sale, and found a company that restores them beautifully, but I have also seen some Masserie. They are odd and at first glance don't have the charm of Trulli, but there is one firm that builds new ones to an amazing finish. Perhaps they lack the atmosphere of the old restored ones, but for $500,000 which includes 5 acres of olive trees, it seems reasonable. I'm not much of a one for buying something that hasn't been built, but the idea of restoring something appeals even less.