I'm here under false pretences, I suppose! We're not intending to make a permanent move (Philippa & I live and work on the edge of the Cotswolds: we escaped here from London about 12 years ago). But we both love Italy, and thanks to the likes of Ryanair and Easyjet have been able to take rather a lot of short breaks and a few longer holidays in Italy during the past 5 years.

We've been thinking about a small holiday home for some time now, and had always imagined it in Umbria or Marche (the 2 regions we know best). But I've fancied Puglia for some time now, without having had the chance of going there - until last week, when we spent a marvellous 6 days in and around Ostuni... and ended up looking at several properties on the last day.

Puglia seems to be becoming quite a destination for us Brits - Ryanair now flies daily to both Bari & Brindisi - but most of them seem to be looking at trulli. I can see why - they look seductively charming nestling amidst the olive trees (Puglian olives have huge trunks - far older-looking than the typical Umbrian trees). But we're after a small house in town - and have put in a preliminary offer on one of the ones we visited last week!

All a bit scary... and exciting The Gordon Neale (vacationwork) book arrived from Amazon this morning - but I know there are going to be lots of things I'll be asking you folks on the ground over there.

Jonathan

Welcome...this is a great site....really good advise and info..stay with us...we are not in Italy yet and are going to Abruzzo in May 2005.....can't wait...we are Brits too...a lot of the people on this site are American but they have been so helpful and hospitable I feel I can ask them anything....and I can't wait to get out there !

Thanks for the welcome, a&l. I'm new here, but I've been a regular over at Slowtrav for some time now, so know just how helpful and knowledgeable these people are. (Hey, we even had lunch over at Barb & Art's place a couple of months ago - just to drop a couple of famous names around here ).

Good luck with your Abruzzo move!

Jonathan

Jonathan,
Welcome to Puglia! We've been here only three months now, but just love the region--it has so much to offer. We are extremely happy with our choice.

Good luck with your purchase!
kat

Your purchase in Puglia will mean that we'll have someone to visit in a region we're anxious to see! Good luck!

(and btw, we had mac 'n cheese last night and had wonderful thoughts about you and Phillipa!)

quote:

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Originally posted by Barb (and Art):
(and btw, we had mac 'n cheese last night)

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Golly: is the Cheddar still going?!!! Yes, Puglia is marvellous: I'll be doing a report for Slowtrav this weekend. We'll be open to any suggestions for house swaps I really didn't think I'd end up so far away from my beloved Bevagna, but there are a lot of good reasons for a Brit to buy in Puglia...

Jonathan

I haven't really explored Puglia as a possible location ( we are retiring for good to Italy)....can ytou recommend any Estate Agents or web-sites to look at....as we are still waiting to sell our Uk house...I still have time to explore all regions...although we have been to Abruzzo several times and viewed some great property and actually found 2 places we love.....BUT... I am getting a bit concerned about the climate...I watch it every week, and it seems to be very wet...and misty ( the mountains ?) or is this just a bad year in Italy generally ?

quote:

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Originally posted by jonathan_:
Golly: is the Cheddar still going?!!!
Jonathan

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Yes, we froze some of it in September, and since cheese can't be frozen for very long, I got it back out a week or so ago. I've tried to make smaller dishes of it so that we can keep it going as long as possible! I think we have one more dinner left!

a house exchange sounds great...altho we'd be interested in your England house while you're in Puglia...or if you ever want to stay here before you buy something, that would be an option as well. We're not all that far from Bevagna!

Lyn, here's an article which focusses mostly on trulli, but mentions 2 Brit couple, both of whom run Puglia-based property services. The Mears' url is linked at the end of the article (apuliabella.com), the Tootill's site is here.

Isn't everywhere a bit wet & misty at the moment?! Actually, Puglia is normally pretty dry - possibly inconveniently so for keen gardeners. Maybe Kat could advise here - or there might be links on those Brit sites I mentioned.

Jonathan

I am by no means an expert--not even close! I'll try to do a bit of research at the local gardening stores and get back to you.

I assume down here you would be able to actively garden all year. The plant variety would probably depend on where you are in Puglia. I've seen olives, almond, and cherry trees, all kinds of fruit, vegetables and herbs, jasmine, beautiful flowering vines, palms, cactus, poppies, figs...

Some stats from a book on Puglia:
Daily hours of sun (median)
Jan. 4 hrs
Feb. 5 hrs
Mar. 6 hrs
Apr. 7 hrs
May 8 hrs
Jun 9 hrs
Jul. 10 hrs
Aug. 9 hrs
Sep. 8 hrs
Oct. 7 hrs
Nov. 6 hrs
Dec. 4 hrs

monthly rainfall (median)
Jan. 90 mm
Feb. 80 mm
Mar. 65 mm
Apr. 35 mm
May 10 mm
Jun 15 mm
Jul. 7 mm
Aug. 9 mm
Sep. 30 mm
Oct. 75 mm
Nov. 70 mm
Dec. 95 mm

Monthly temperature (median)
Jan. 5 C
Feb. 8 C
Mar. 10 C
Apr. 15 C
May 17 C
Jun 23 C
Jul. 30 C
Aug. 29 C
Sep. 20 C
Oct. 15 C
Nov. 9 C
Dec. 7 C

Hope that helps!
kat

Hi! I'm a new member and my name is barbara. I'm an older American and am just looking into ideas of buying a property in Italy. I'm also looking at the marche area or puglia--are prices usually better here? And where does one start? Should I start communicating with an estate agent? Any advice would be great!

Reviving this old thread, to announce that we finally did it The house in Ostuni is ours: we completed the Final Act at the notaio's earlier this week, handed over the cheques, shook hands - and the long process, begun last october, is nearly complete.

Since that first visit, Philippa & I have managed to make several short trips over there. The house (basically one room per floor on 4 floors and a roof terrace) had been divided into 2 halves, and the owner kindly let us use the vacant bottom half for our visits. Then at the end of April the tenant moved out of the top half, so for our last visit (Mon-Wed this week) we finally had the whole house. 2 breakfasts on the roof terrace, with a view of the centro storico & the sea beyond, were wonderful - it's been sunny on and off here in the UK, but certainly not the sort of temperatures to breakfast outside!

After several years of thinking of ourselves as ardent Umbria/Marchephiles, we're thoroughly enjoying getting to know 'our' new regione. Work committments at home mean that our first long break there won't be until August (yes, I know, it will be HOT!) - but at least we know the house is there, waiting for us!!

Jonathan

CONGRATULATIONS JONATHAN AND PHILIPPA!! When should we schedule the Puglia GTG?

This message is to Barb in San Venanzo, but let me first say 'Congratulations!' to Jon & Phillipa. What a great thing you've accomplished. I'm actually quite jealous and would be so pleased to be where you are! August is just around the corner!

Now, ... Barb. I've been reading your blog and keeping up with it for quite a while now. (with compelling interest I will add) If I were to build a blog profile, it would be pretty similar to yours as we are of the same mind...I'm just a couple of years behind you.... And I know you got ticked when that very rude person/persons posted their very insensitive comments on your site (which was totally out of line.)
I'm beating around the bush...
PLEASE COME BACK ON LINE!!!

....Later made contact with Barb.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Allisa,

Jonathan,
Congratulations!!

kat