Rich in Memories: Puglia With My Best Friend
Some of my favorite memories from Italy even include the lavanderia (laundry) and cappuccinos at a gas station.
I know. Of all the beautiful places we visited, that might seem like an odd thing to lead with. But when I think about traveling through Puglia with my best friend, Cara, I think about those little moments just as much as the scenery. The conversations. The laughter. The pleasure of being somewhere new with someone who makes even a stop along the way worth remembering.
A few things to know before your first trip to Italy
Before we get to the soul-refreshing part, let's talk about the bathroom. And the pharmacy. Both deserve a place in your Italy preparation.
Your shower may share its water with the rest of the bathroom. Most, if not all, places you’ll stay will have an open shower or a partial glass screen, paired with an enthusiastic oversized showerhead and a handheld wand. The result? Water where you weren't expecting it. Check the setup before turning everything on, aim the wand carefully and keep your clothes away from the splash zone. This varies by property, but it is worth knowing.
A public toilet may be missing its seat. In some public bathrooms, including places such as airports and restaurants, you may find the porcelain bowl with no seat attached. Consider this your advance warning so you aren't standing there wondering whether something has gone terribly wrong.
The paper can be very thin. Some of the toilet paper and tissues remind me of gift-wrapping tissue paper. I keep a small pack of my preferred tissues in my bag, along with hand sanitizer. Follow any posted disposal instructions.
La farmacia may become your favorite stop. Look for the green cross. Italian pharmacies are wonderful places to browse beauty and wellness products and ask a pharmacist for help finding what you need. A few of my favorites:
Compeed blister patches: A favorite for walking-heavy trips. In my experience, the ones I've bought in Italy stay put especially well.
Fexallegra: An allergy medicine I've found helpful and fast-acting for me. The Italian tablets I buy are 120 mg fexofenadine. Ask the pharmacist whether the product is appropriate for you and follow the package instructions. And yes, I am still going to want to pet every cat and dog who crosses my path.
Vichy Dercos Collagen 17 Filler pre-shampoo treatment: One of my hair-care finds. Vichy describes it as a treatment for damaged, fragile hair; the instructions call for five minutes on wet hair before shampoo and conditioner. It's intended for hair repair and breakage.
CeraVe: Yes, we have it at home, too. I still like buying it in Italy as the formula is often slightly different/more positive.
A little preparation leaves more room to enjoy the surprises you actually traveled for.
Also, as you enter into ANY establishment, a restaurant, a shop, a gas station, a pharmacy…always, always, always say, “Buongiorno,” (most of the day), or “Buonasera” (in the evening).
Travel is expensive. There are flights to book, places to stay and all the little expenses that somehow become a rather large expense. But having a best friend you can travel with makes you rich in memories. This trip reminded me how much those memories mean.
Cara and I have been friends since 2017, and we have taken many trips together. We have both been to Italy many times, but neither of us had explored Puglia before. There was something wonderful about returning to a country we already loved and discovering a whole new reason to love it.
We both desperately needed this trip, and somewhere between the drives, the cooking class, the beach (la spiaggia) and the Sarti Spritzes, we found it.
The joy of having the right person beside you
Cara and I love to explore. We love the surprise of traveling, that feeling of heading into a day without knowing exactly what it will bring. We like a lot of the same things, and neither of us has children, which gives us a shared kind of freedom in how we plan our time.
But our greatest travel qualification is probably that we are the perfect combination of weird and funny, and we find laughter and song in just about everything we do.
We make the most of the moments when everything goes smoothly, and we find something to laugh about when it doesn't. That matters when you are spending days together, driving through unfamiliar places and figuring things out as you go.
There is something deeply restful about traveling with a person around whom you can fully be yourself. You can be quiet. You can be ridiculous. You can have a real conversation without needing to explain all the history behind it.
Coffee, cooking and a very good spritz
Puglia gave us so much to enjoy: the scenery along our drives, the slower pace, the people we met and the conversations we had in English and Italian.
And then there was Matera and Sassi, in neighboring Basilicata, which became one of the places we loved most on this trip. There is something about that ancient stone city that makes you want to pause and take it all in. We may have arrived in Italy with plenty of memories from previous visits, but this place reminded us how much there still was to discover.
Like the incredible artists and art store known as Mimesis – Farmacia dell’Arte which is a cultural and experiential art space in the Sassi of Matera, founded by a female collective where art is offered as a creative "cure" for the soul, and it most certainly was. Lucinta Lamacchia and Gabriella Papapietro showed us around their studio and store. Introducing us to their craft and characters. Lucinta’s inspiration and storytelling of figures was beyond words; Cara even cried over one of them.
I highly recommend stopping in and buying a beautiful, fun, memory or two, or in my case three. Follow them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mimesis.farmacia.arte/.
Another memory we will have forever is our cooking class just outside of Ostuni. Agnese and her mother at their country house was the most perfect setting for our afternoon.
We were involved in every step, making fried sage fresh from their garden, white and green cappellacci filled with ricotta and spinach, and tiramisu for dessert. Making the pasta was especially fun: preparing the dough, stretching it, cutting it and folding each piece ourselves.
Two tips I’m taking home: using sparkling water in the frying batter and coloring pasta naturally with ingredients like spinach or beets versus the American way of artificial dyes.
Sitting down together to enjoy what we had made, sharing stories and getting to know our hosts was such a lovely part of the experience. And meeting the family cat, Emilio, at the end was the perfect finishing touch for me, the cat lover!
Book the Ostuni : family cooking class in our country house on Viator here: https://www.viator.com/tours/Ostuni/Cooking-Class-in-Ostuni/d60485-5490566P1
Also, hello, Sarti Spritz. We love you.
That’s right, Aperol Spritz is out and Sarti Spritz is in. I lost count at how many we might have consumed, but thanks to a family member of Cara’s we were gifted Sarti to take away.
A beautiful place certainly helps make a wonderful vacation. But the company shapes how you remember it. Cara and I could look at the same thing, catch each other's expression and find ourselves laughing. Those moments are among my favorite souvenirs.
Planning your own Puglia trip
Our itinerary was built around Matera, Monopoli, Ostuni and Lecce, with smaller towns and coastal stops along the way. Matera is in neighboring Basilicata and was one of the places we loved most. Alberobello, which is often recommended to see the Trulli homes was a bit overrated and a bit too people-y for us.
Travel tips I'd build into the plan
Sort out parking before arriving. Historic centers can have restricted traffic zones called ZTLs. A hotel address or a navigation route does not automatically give you permission to enter. Ask your accommodation where to park and whether authorized access needs to be arranged.
Book accommodation for the way you want to spend your days. A town stay makes walking to shops, coffee and dinner easier. A countryside stay offers a different pace. Confirm parking, air conditioning, steps, luggage access and the actual bed configuration, especially when traveling with a friend.
Leave space around the experiences. Our cooking class was a highlight. I would book a few activities you're excited about and leave room for wandering, conversations and unexpected stops. A packed itinerary can quietly take away the breathing room you came for.
Ask beach clubs specific questions. Are the loungers on the sand? Are towels included? What does the price cover? Will the club be operating on your dates? The photographs may look wonderful, but those details determine whether it is the beach day you pictured.
Treat the car-to-train transition as its own plan. Our itinerary included a train from Lecce to Rome after the road trip. Confirm the rental car return location, opening hours, transport to the station and a realistic buffer. An early train can make returning the car the previous day a better option, depending on the rental arrangements.
Budget for the small things, too. Parking, fuel, transfers and experiences add up. Agree with your friend on where you want to splurge and where you want to keep things simple. Some of my favorite memories cost very little, including that gas station coffee.
Make room for shopping and strolling. For me, these deserve actual time in the itinerary. Check shop opening hours, leave space in your luggage and give yourself permission to spend an afternoon exploring without a long list of sights to finish.
Room to breathe
Before we left, we both needed some space from our everyday lives. Puglia gave us the chance to slow down enough to enjoy where we were and who we were with.
There was serenity in the scenery and the pace. There was relief in the laughter. And there was comfort in sharing it all with someone who knows me so well.
I came home grateful for that feeling. Grateful that we had made the time, taken the trip and given ourselves room to breathe.
It is easy to put travel off. There is always an expense to consider, something on the calendar or a reason to wait. I understand that. But I also know how precious it is to have a friend you love exploring the world with, and the opportunity to do it together.
This trip gave us memories we will return to in conversations for years. A face, a phrase or the mention of a certain cocktail will take us right back.
Cara, thank you for being my soul mate. Thank you for the laughter, the conversations and for making all those little moments something I want to remember forever.
We have taken so many wonderful trips together. Puglia just might be my favorite, but I know we still have more memories to make.
Consider this “Part Uno,” because there is so much more to share, including what I bought along our trip through the Puglia region.
