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Welcome!
Piccolina Adventures wants to share the life, culture and beauty of small-town Italy with you. We bike through some of Italy's most beautiful landscape, stay in nontraditional places like monasteries, farms and family guest houses, and actively explore each region's culture, history, music, art and special places.
Our itineraries are crafted from personal experience and the recommendations of local friends. They are designed to visit each region's particular sites and to connect you with the real people who live there. So we visit places most tourists would never see.
Piccolina (“little one” in Italian) is a small company. We do only a few trips each year, but each one is personal and enriching. Our trips are small, but the adventures are great. Though Piccolina was started by one small girl, she has a heart and energy that spans oceans.
Welcome! We look forward to meeting you!
Puglia's Dazzling Coast - September 4th, 2009,
Known for its lively music, dramatic coastline, and fresh robust cuisine, Puglia, the “heel” of the Italian “boot,” is a land rich with culture and natural beauty.
Its farmers, fishermen, stoneworkers, and housewives will be our hosts. They share their lives and homes with us as we travel.
Highlights of the trip include
* an authentic Pugliese cooking class
* staying in a stone ruin turned guest house
* Touring a family-run olive orchard
* Learn to make ricotta on a small farm
* Seeing the Byzantine mosaics in Otranto
* Taking a boat to some unique sea caves
* The chance to eat, dance and meet with local people
Itinerary
DAY 1-2 LECCE
Arrive in Lecce, the "Florence of the South." The city's fancy baroque facades, carved of local white stone, tell stories of past kings, conquerors, and artisans. We'll begin our discovery of Pugliese cuisine with a welcome dinner at the popular trattoria Lilith. The following day we'll begin riding the winding country roads of the peninsula and stroll on the gorgeous beaches.
DAYS 3- 4: OTRANTO
The coastal road takes us by towns, harbors, lighthouses and sandy beaches which offer plenty of spots to picnic, swim and enjoy refreshing gelato before we hit Otranto. Narrow winding alleys and flights of stairs connect the many streets of this fortressed seaside town. Otranto is particularly known for its colorful Byzantine mosaics and beautiful churches. We visit a nearby masseria, a small family farm. After we help her harvest tomatoes, Maria, the generous & hospitable owner will teach us to prepare an authentic Pugliese meal. We'll stay with her on the farm.
DAYS 5- 6: L'ENTROTERRA
Now we head toward the peninsula's rural interior. An abundance of ripe figs, grapes and prickly pear line these roads, and every now and then we spot a stone farmhouse, a few horses or a herd of sheep. We'll stop at one of these farms, meet Teresa and her daughter Piera, and learn how they make artisan ricotta from fresh milk. We spend the night in Specchia, a small town full of friendly inhabitants, music-filled piazzas and good home cooking.
DAYS 7- 10: LEUCA & GALLIPOLI
We return to the coast, now riding north along the Ionian Sea. In the afternoon, we stop to visit a family on their organic olive orchard. Rosella will explain how her family makes its delicious oil, and after a tour, we'll sit down together for another delicious homecooked meal. The next morning we continue our ride, stopping in fishing towns, old maritime cities, and at the summertime art fair featuring works of local stonecarvers, photographers, jewelers, and painters. We will return to Lecce for a farewell dinner and part ways the next morning.
