'Way, way better than we expected.'
Review Submitted: October 2, 2009
Date of Stay: July 2009
After the drive from Amsterdam our pains started to ease the minute we drove up the impressive tree-lined drive to Bella Vista. And three minutes later, when we saw the inviting pool and the spacious grounds basking in the warm evening sun, the cramp in both my legs melted away. It looked as if the biggest worry for the next week would be deciding which of the many hammocks to have a siesta in.
The villa itself is neat and clean and tidy and has every comfort you probably have at home, as well as kitchen utensils you probably didn't even know existed. But apart from sleeping and cooking pasta we spent virtually no time indoors. On our first night Jenny and Pete Hawkins, the owners, fired up the forno and made pizzas. Other nights we barbecued livestock and interesting local produce. We ate every meal outside, and the kids took outdoor living to the extreme by preferring to spend their nights out under the stars, sleeping on futons on the huge roof terrace.During the day everyone sought out their own favourite spots – in hammocks on the top of the hill some distance from the pool, in hammocks at the bottom of the hill nearer the pool, on sun loungers under the large shady tree overlooking the pool, on the volleyball/badminton court next to the pool, on sunbeds around the pool, on airbeds on top the pool, in the pool. The pool is perfect for doing 100 lengths before breakfast (25mins), synchronised airbed surfing, or just as something to focus on while you drink cheap wine and vegetate.
It was tough but we did manage to force ourselves off this Puglian pleasuredome to do some sightseeing. Southern Puglia is famous for its trulli – odd, pixie-hatted dry stone dwellings which the boys from UNESCO have designated a World Heritage Site. The concial turrets of the spectacular trulli town of Alberobello looks like a scrum of nuns, overrun, it has to be said, by a scrum of tourists. One evening we wandered around the mazy lanes of Ostuni old town walking off a few kilos of excess pizza and ice cream. We also made it to the perfectly fine beach at Pilone. The high spot of our excursions was to Matera, which has such an ancient, biblical feel that it regularly acts as a body double for Jerusalem in films. We ate a packed lunch in the shade of Golgotha, as depicted in Mel Gibson's film 'The Passion of the Christ'.
But, as usual, kids are the best critics. We asked them what they thought of Puglia and Bella Vista: 'Way, way better than we expected. Yeh. Cool.'
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