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Nigel Wilson embarks on one of Italy’s most stunning journeys, allowing himself to get ever-so-slightly lost on the way
Every good trip should start with a detour. On landing at Bari’s recently extended and just a tad futuristic airport, we moved off in the opposite direction of our final destination, Rome, and headed south. Several miles of rolling countryside and a double espresso later, we arrived at Il Convento Di Santa Maria Di Costantinopoli in Diso (tel: +39 7736 362328). Situated just a mile from the sea, this 15th-century converted convent, run by Scottish Lord McAlpine and his charming wife Athena, is the perfect place to unwind.
We whiled away the morning enjoying their extensive primitive-art collection, and experiencing textile envy as we were guided around their world-famous archive of ethnic fabrics, several of which had recently been auctioned at Sotheby’s for a small fortune. With its captivating organic food and a central courtyard strewn with scatter cushions, it’s quite hard to break out of the convent’s spell, but after a long and lazy lunch we went in search of what Salento has to offer.
Hailed by all the style-press as the new Tuscany, in the summer, Salento really has more in common with St. Tropez than Saint Gimignano. The turquoise seas are the cleanest anywhere in mainland Europe so we wasted no time enjoying the water at Litos – a private beach club located outside of Gallipoli. The Talented Mr. Ripley would have been left in the shadow by the heady mix of Italian aristocracy and Eurotrash, with white Gucci flipflops and brightly coloured Prada beach bags littering its decks like seagulls in search of food.
Next we headed inland to Ostuni. Known as the White City, Ostuni was one of the first parts of southern Italy to be discovered by colonising US and British tourists. It tiers down the mountainside and is incredibly clean – Salento’s own Stepford. That said, it is also exquisitely beautiful, playing home to an eclectic mix of designer boutiques, delightful trattorias and cosmopolitan bars.
The altitude increased our appetites which were appeased in Osteria Piazetta Cattedrale (tel: +39 0831 335026). Built into a cave, the restaurant serves typical Puglian dishes specialising in the ear-shaped pasta and fresh seafood. Afterwards, the sweltering summer evening called for a Mojito or three at nearby Ricardo’s bar, where beats more associated with the Balearic islands eased us gently into bed. If you are heading to Ostuni, there really is only one place to stay: La Sommita (tel: +39 0831 305925). Situated, perhaps not surprisingly, at the town’s highest point, it has panoramic views down to the sea and offers spa treatments and a laid-back atmosphere, within a converted 16th-century farmhouse.
We couldn’t forget where we were as we were woken the next day by a cockerel and the baying of a donkey. We headed further north to Naples.
The next three hours were blissful. No traffic, air-conditioning and Dean Martin’s back catalogue lent the Puglian country an air of majesty. Known as ‘the table of Italy’, not one acre of land is left uncultivated here. The main crop here is olives, offering a vista of ancient, screwed-up trunks, vibrant greens and intricate long-thrown shadows. If you are in no hurry, it’s best to stay clear of the region’s superstradas, typified by speeding sports cars, Italian tempers and the occasional incongruous pushbike. The coastal road from Ostuni to Naples is spectacular and underused.
Naples is like no other Italian town. Like all great ports, it hums with the ever-present air of possibility and has an edge to it. We began our day by strolling down the Spaccanapoli (literally ‘split Naples’), the popular name for the long straight street that cuts through the heart of the centro storico. Here, neoclassical facades wage war with their baroque neighbours and the shops team with brightly coloured objects.
Our first cultural port of call was The Museo e Galleria Nazionale Di Capodimonte (Via Miano 2, tel: +39 081 749 9111). A veritable art-fest, Capodimonte is worth a visit not only for its spectacular Titians and Caravaggios, but also for the setting: a divinely decadent villa in a leafy park, high above the chaotic centre. We had a picnic in its grounds and took the short drive to nearby Pompeii.
While sites of natural disasters are not guaranteed to provide the most enjoyable day out, Pompeii’s scale and restoration make it Italy’s most unmissable archaeological site. Be sure to pack your walking boots as unlike other digs, Pompeii really is vast – a complete city and way of life hidden from time. It’s perhaps the domestic scenes which are the most disturbing: where everyday life was robbed of its vitality and turned into a museum piece.
With the moving visit to Pompeii behind us, we returned to Naples in search of the perfect pizza. This is not hard to find since Naples gave birth to this Italian staple and pizzerias are everywhere. At Antica Pizzeria Port ‘Alba (Via Porta’alba 18, tel: +39081459713), we enjoyed a fantastic Diavola: thin crusted, light and with a fiery afterburn. That night we stayed at boutique hotel Costantinopoli 104 (Via Santa Maria di Costantinopoli 104, tel: +39 0815571035). A 19th-century villa in the centre of town, it provides exquisite service and also houses an adorable hidden swimming pool within its walls.
The penultimate day of our travels began with a dip in the hotel’s pool. Refreshed, we set off for the short drive to Rome. The joyous Amalfi coast served as our travelling companion for the first half of the journey, but the final hour of our trip had us begging for mercy as Rome’s overloaded roads seemed to bevel under the weight of the traffic. Driving in Rome is not for the fainthearted and it was with great relief we arrived at our final resting place, The Lord Byron Hotel (Via Giuseppe De Notaris, 5, tel. + 39 06 3220 404).
One of the Leading Hotels of the World, The Lord Byron is situated on the periphery of the Villa Borghese. As such it provides a calm retreat from the storm of inner-city Rome while being only ten minutes from the Coliseum. We left our bags in the art-deco paradise of our room, grabbed a cab and headed straight to Via Condotti, home to Prada, Gucci, and Dior flagship stores. Several purchases later, it was time to see some sights.
In Rome you just have to amble around to discover ancient Roman or Renaissance masterpieces, but as our hotel was situated next door to Villa Borghese, it seemed the logical place to explore. Overflowing with Berninis, Borrominis and Carravaggios, it really is an attack on the senses. The grounds are also spectacular, so we hired a tandem to take in its rolling hills and choreographed gardens. This exertion left us famished, so we donned our best attire and spent our final evening in the hotel’s restaurant. We enjoyed a feast of contemporary Italian cuisine washed down with a well-bodied bottle of Chianti from the extensive wine list.
And, so to bed. Our road trip completed, we settled beneath our Egyptian cotton sheets and dreamt of what had gone before.
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