413 relocating to puglia

Hello there,
We are a family of four, (two children aged four and one) who are hoping to sell up in Ireland and move to puglia. We know relatively little about the area although we have spent time in tuscany and would welcome any feedback on what its like economically, socially, schools etc,...basically any insights would be great. Info about the arts and renovating/building especially welcome as those are our passions (apart from good food and wine of course).
cindy

Category
Introduce Yourself - Piacere Conoscerti

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 05/13/2005 - 17:38

hi Cindy,

We went to Ostuni (Puglia) in March and fell in love with it automatically. My husband (neal) (I'm Paula by the way) loves Malta and it's architecture and couldn't believe its simularity. We were in the process of buying an appartment in Portugal until he stumbled upon a web site called buyahouse-italy.com and couldn't believe the property prices. For the deposit on the appartment we could buy a villa and land and with flights at £25 return we were sold. (we've just booked again for June with Ryanair and paid £17 return plus taxes, £284 for 6 seats, unbelievable!!!!)

We booked a week in March for Neal, myself and two of our four children and found somewhere straight away. Neal is a builder by trade and are seriously thinking of moving over within two years. My parents are of ill health at the moment (although not serious) so we will wait a little while until my dad retires and they can get to Puglia in their motorhome whenever they like.

Like you we are going to have to look at the education side of things as our children are 9,7,2 and 1. (the 2 year old already knows her colours)

We were impressed at the lack of pubs (although we like a drink ourselves), yobs on street corners etc. We were impressed at the Italian laid back way of life and still laugh at the way we soon sussed out the way of crossing the road in the town. Just put your foot out and go. We waited ages at a zebra crossing and realised they are not treated the same as home and waited and waited. We watched one guy just stop his car in the middle of the road, get out to go into a newsagents and the traffic just stopped and waited until he got back in his car.

Keep in touch and let us know where you find a place. Ours in just off the main road to Caravigno and San Vito dei Normanni.

Good Luck

Paula

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 01/03/2006 - 18:27

Hi Paula,
A very late reply... I am only getting the hang of this forum now!! We are about to close on a piece of land just outside San Vito - 9,000sqm with a small trullo and lots of lovely olive trees. We are getting closer, but we still have to sell our house here which may take two months or a year, who knows. I do get nervous about it sometimes, especially from a crime and safety point of view. Also, whats this about toxic waste?? We are not expecting paradise, just a change of scene and a little adventure. Also I have always wanted to be able to argue in italian.
My husband Tony is also a builder. There seem to be a few of them heading out there! I hope your parents health is better. Have you looked into the school system at all?
Happy new year and keep in touch.
Cindy

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 01/03/2006 - 18:41

Welcome Cindy,
We are completing on our Trullo end of Jan although this has taken a long time and a few headaches we don't have any regrets. At the mo only a holiday home but who knows about the future.

You will find loads of info on the forum once you've found your way round it. The search link at the top right is a bit of a pain but you will find what your looking for with trial and error.
See you out there sometime
Di and Dave

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 07/10/2006 - 05:40

Hi, I've just found this web site and it's so interesting. Me, my husband Chris and my son Josh have bought a delapidated trulli near Castellana Grotte. We bought it a year ago, camped out in it last August and are going out there again this August to camp. It was such fun, but 10 days without any electric, running water and toilet was enough. We hope to have it renovated when we have some money, don't know when that will be though. I'd love to hear from anyone in the area who might have some handy information or tips.