It’s our last full day in the region of Puglia, and of this latest Italian adventure.

We began with breakfast of croissants from Dentoni, melon, figs from Fabrizio’s family’s farm, and cappuccinos. Big D also had a bowl of cereal and toast with jam. Fabrizio’s mother gave us a container of figs for the beach and we gifted her one of the huge Amalfi lemons Antonella gave us earlier in the trip. We enjoyed the other Amalfi lemon from Antonella when we were in Alberobello.

We spent the day at the i Carabei beach club again, dancing in the water with the instructors and 100+ other Italians, participating in games on the beach, and relaxing in the sun. Fabrizio and his girlfriend were also at the beach, so we discussed their dreams for a holiday in the U.S..

Our final dinner of the trip was at Bakè, where the speciality is spaghetti alla scolie (spaghetti with mussels, octopus, calamari, langostines, sepia and shrimp) prepared in a big pan. Miss M enjoyed the mussels and shrimp, even the pasta in the fishy sauce. Big D had spaghetti with butter.

We did a final passagiata over to Dentoni for gelato (Nutella freddo, caffe, fiore di latte, hazelnut, dark chocolate) and picked up some croissants to have on our early morning flight. We then went to a festival happening in the plaza two blocks from our B&B with local vendors selling meats, cheeses, lotions, honey, jams and taralle. There was live jazz and people strolling about with glasses of wine and beer.

I’ll now pass the pen to Paul to wrap up this blogpost:

We’ve mentioned our host here, Fabrizio. He is only the final example of how incredibly diverse and unconventional the Italian people are. I arrived reading a book called “The Italians” by John Hooper. Karen is reading it now. One of the themes of the book is that things do not always appear as they seem in Italy. The idea of a certain Italian look, or attire, or music, isn’t necessarily what you might think before you come here. We have experienced so many examples from the beach music going from Italian pop to Led Zeppelin to American pop to Elvis and The Beach Boys. The Blues Brothers is the all-time favorite movie of Carlo Spada from Pico. Long trunks or banana hammock, fully tatted or impeccably dressed, loud and boisterous or serene and pensive, Italians come in all shapes and sizes (see pic of Fabrizio), just like the rest of us. What makes them special might be their unique zest for life and all it offers. It was a joy to experience it again.