Friday, July 04, 2025

Borgo DiVino in Tour 2025

Cisternino, Puglia, Italy. Saturday 05-July-2023.

This was our third Borgo DiVino in Tour and it happily coincided with a visit from our friends Tim and Sarah who are staying with us for a week. The same routine as previously: you buy a ticket, get a glass and holder, but this year instead of a bunch of vouchers we were given a QR code. Rather like previous occasions, many of the exhibitors were not bothering to count how many glasses we'd had. Most were happily topping us up without scanning.

We got there around 7:30pm and in typical Italian style where things start late half the stall holders were still setting up. They had a number of posters explaining the wine regions, wine making process, etc. and this useful wine vocabulary.

The game plan was to go round the stallholders trying whites and rosés then do a second circuit sampling the reds. Most of the producers were Puglia based with a couple of outliers, including one from the Veneto. We did not make any notes so these descriptions are done from memory.

Our first stop was at Scarpello based in San Pancrazio Salentino, south of Brindisi where we tasted two delicious rosé, one made from susumaniello and the other from negroamaro.

Next stop was Terra di Maria, a family run winery based south of Foggia where we tried a verdeca and two rosé made from susumaniello and primitivo. A real family business - Maria is the mother after whom the estate is named, her son is the man pouring the wine here. Also helping out were his sister and girlfriend, all featured in their brochure. He explained, and showed us a video, of how they plant legumes between the vines and then leave the roots as green manure.

Cantina di Guagnano is a cooperative based near Lecce. First circuit we tried a lovely sparkling rosé made from negroamaro and later sampled their reds.  

We had a long chat with the whole family and especially the owner’s daughter who is an architect with an interest in Celtic languages. Mary was able to recommend a book "L'Orso Bianco Era Nero" (The white bear was black) and I told her about my father and the Coventry baths.

Angelo Maffione is based north of Bari on the coast. Here we tried two Malvasia: one white, one rosé. Often found as part of a blend, but here made alone. We all preferred the rosé made from malvasia nero.

Cantina Nistri just outside Taranto. A very jolly stall holder, he was happy to have just one QR scan and share his pride in his wines with all four of us.

"40 Are" from Manduria produce a very dark rosé from primitivo which was a bit too pungent for my palete.

We tasted at other stalls including a malvasia bianco from Conti Zecca, a bombino nero rosé from Torre Vento, three refreshing sparkling wines from the Veneto and several more but the memory is hazy. 

Then back to Cantina di Guagnano to taste their reds. We tasted two of their negroamaro and were amazed at the difference. Their standard negroamaro “Naqì” 2023, was good but the single vineyard negroamaro “Magliano” 2022 was superb. Only 6,550 bottles made. Two of which were duly purchased - a bargain at €15 each (discounted for the festival).

Finally back to Scarpello to try their reds, both delicious but Sarah and Mary preferred the negroamaro and Tim and I the primitivo. So we just had to buy a bottle of each!

To entertain the crowds there was a guy playing piano who we had seen a couple of days before outside San Cataldo. It may look like a baby grand but it actually packs down into a large suitcase. Instagram: iosonoaugusto.

After that it was a late supper at Osteria Piatti Chiari in Piazza Pellegrino Rossi.

Our haul from the night: three negroamaro and one primitivo.

Previous Borgo DiVino in Tour visits: [2022], [2023].

Monday, June 30, 2025

Cisternino Power Cut

Cisternino, Puglia, Italy. Tuesday 01-June-2025.

The electricity supply in the old town is delivered by cables running along walls at first floor height and across alleyways. 

The power company is currently renewing the cables in the alleyway behind us and in several surrounding streets. They do give advance warning by sticking notices on everybody’s door in the affected streets about a week before the works.

Bad planning on our part as we forgot the date - I had an Italian lesson booked for that afternoon and Mary started a wash load in the morning (which got stuck in the machine). Beach was planned for the next day. We were at home for the day without power and no aircon on a day due to peak at 32°C.

The fibre-optic broadband cables run along the same brackets as the power cables. Although the works didn’t affect the broadband, without power the modem and Wi-Fi router were out of action so no internet access for the day.Three cheers for mobile data on our phones! Well at least until they ran out of battery!!

This is the view from under our apartment back along Via La Fiera.

The old cables coiled up certainly looked like they were in need of upgrading.

The local Aqua and Sapone Shop (a bit like Superdrug in the UK) hired a mobile generator for the day to keep their lights on.

The power came back on at 4 o’clock as per the notice and back on went the air-conditioning. Normal life resumed.

Saturday, June 21, 2025

Il Belcanto Italiano 2025

Masseria Torre Maizza, Puglia, Italy. Monday 23-June-2025.

For the third year running we went for an evening of operatic arias with friends in the luxurious setting of Masseria Torre Maizza. The tickets included a glass of sparkling wine and nibbles.

This year the singers were definitely acting out the scenes as well as singing. Previously they had simply stood and sung, this year we got the full hand jive version. We speculated that the tenor was new and maybe not had time to memorise the libretto as he was consulting with his tablet most of the time. The baritone had a powerful, clear voice and a good Italian accent. When the soprano hit the big notes she really filled the space.

The nibbles were tasty but small. The wine was delicious, but as a designated driver I had to limit myself to one glass. You can stay in the Masseria itself for €1379 per night but that does include breakfast. I should hope so too!

We were treated to a mixture of solos, duets in various combinations and a trio. 

The singers are all from the Accademia del Belcanto "Rodolfo Celletti" in Martina Franca which aims to coach promising youngsters. We had an international cast (from L to R: Irish, Greek, French, Italian).

The full programme:

  • Gioachino Rossini da Il barbiere di Siviglia:
    "Ecco ridente in cielo"
    Joaquin Cangemi, tenore 
  • Vincenzo Bellini da I puritani:
    "Ah! Per sempre io ti perdei"
    Konstantinos Stafylides, baritono 
  • Gaetano Donizetti da Lucrezia Borgia:
    "Com'è bello, quale incanto"
    Gesua Gallifoco, soprano 
  • Gioachino Rossini da Il barbiere di Siviglia:
    "All'idea di quel metallo"
    Joaquín Cangemi, tenore Konstantinos Stafylides, baritono 
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart da Don Giovanni:
    "Fuggi, crudele, fuggi..."
    Gesua Gallifoco, soprano Joaquín Cangemi, tenore 
  • Gaetano Donizetti da Don Pasquale:
    "Bella siccome un angelo"
    Konstantinos Stafylides, baritono 
  • "Quel guardo il cavaliere"
    Gesua Gallifoco, soprano 
  • "Pronta io son!"
    Gesua Gallifoco, soprano Konstantinos Stafylides, baritono 
  • Gaetano Donizetti da L'elisir d'amore:
    "Una furtiva lagrima"
    Joaquin Cangemi, tenore 
  • Frasier Hickland, pianoforte.

Then down to the coast for a late supper at Osteria del Porto, Savelletri.

Previous visits: [2023][2024].

Sunday, June 15, 2025

UK Road Trip, June 2025

All over the place, UK. Saturday/Monday 7/16-June-2025.

It all started with Elles Bailey, our favourite blues/Americana singer, being chosen as a support act for Rag’n’Bone Man. We were really pleased for her as this will give her fantastic exposure to an audience who will not previously have had the opportunity to hear her music. 

We thought this was too good to miss especially as we also like Rag'n'Bone Man so we decided on a trip back to the UK. We booked tickets for the first of the series of concerts: Friday night at the Guildhall Square, Southampton. And obviously fit in a cheeky Southampton parkrun the following morning.

We booked our flights for a week away with the plan of doing a small road trip along the south coast to visit our friends Bob and Lynne in Ringwood where we used to live, my second cousin in Bournemouth and possibly our friends on the Isle of Wight. But then it all went a bit haywire.

Firstly, Mary realised that she had left her purse with credit cards and driving licence in Penrith. Then our hi-fi in Italy blew up (well just never powered up when we plugged it in). So we bought ourselves a replacement to be delivered to Penrith with the plan of bringing the dead one back for repair and swap out for the new one. 

Also, due to a calendar mix up, we had to vacate our Italian home a day early to make way for some Home Exchange guests. We decided to bring our flight forward and take a longer road trip. 

The trip to Penrith was to be a quick out and back on the train to pick up the stuff but when we looked at car hire for the rest of the trip it was outrageously expensive. Six weeks' long stay car park at Heathrow was one third the price of 10 days car hire. So we decided to catch the train up to Penrith to collect our own car, use it for the road trip, drop it off at Heathrow (where we will be returning in August) and get the bus down to Gatwick for our return flight. 

Day 1, Saturday 7th - Cisternino to Gatwick:

As always Saturday morning starts with parkrun which we were able to do at Salento as we had a late afternoon flight. Despite the heat, I managed a respectable time of 29:14 and a number 3 finisher position.

This was high position made possible by the fact that we had no tourists to boost the numbers; it was just some of the regulars. It also meant that the token sorter did not have too onerous a task!

After parkrun, we came back for a quick shower and final cleaning and tidying before our HomeExchange guests arrived later that day.

We parked up at Bari long stay and had an uneventful flight to Gatwick. We knew that the flight would land too late to catch a train up to Penrith so we had booked ourselves into the Gatwick Hilton. A snack and a couple of glasses of wine in the bar ensured a good night’s sleep.

Day 2, Sunday 8th - Gatwick to Penrith.

We had an uneventful train ride up to Victoria, across London arriving at Euston in time to buy some lunch for the journey.

At Penrith, it was a drop off the bags and a quick change at home in time to go out with friends Andrew and Sarah. By a stroke of luck our favourite local band, Bare Wires, was playing at the Boot and Shoe at nearby Greystoke and it gave us a chance to hear their excellent new singer.

This was followed by supper at Grants of Castlegate. That was, of course, followed by the ill advised nightcap in Fell Bar ensuring another night of deep sleep.

Day 3, Monday 9th - Penrith:

Mary had some errands to squeeze in (stereo repair, opticians) and a physio appointment while I was mostly pottering about including a trip to the recycling to clear out all the rubbish before our Penrith Home Exchange guests arrived.

Day 4, Tuesday 10th - Penrith to Cranham:

After a trip to the chiropodist for Mary, we set off from Penrith. We took the opportunity of this road trip to break our journey south at Cranham, just outside Cheltenham, and spend the night with our friends John and Andrea as we haven’t seen them for ages.

We spent a very pleasant evening with them including a pub supper at The Butchers Arms in nearby Sheepscombe. As we left the building we were treated to an exhibition of traditional English Morris dancing.

Day 5, Wednesday 11th - Cranham to Ringwood:

As per our original itinerary, a visit to our friends Bob and Lynn in Ringwood, which is where we lived for 13 years in Ibsley, a small village couple of miles north on the A338. 

Having some time to spare we decided to make a slight detour via Stonehenge on the way. The first time I went to Stonehenge was over half a century ago! Back then it was basically an open field and you could wander in and around the stones and sit on them with no restrictions. Now it is much better managed. There is an excellent visitor centre some distance from the site with a shuttle bus to take you to the stones.

They have an audio guide app which provides useful little snippets of info at various points. And even better we are English Heritage members and got in for free!

Lynn cooked a delicious venison stew and we had a good old natter catching up.

Day 6, Thursday 12th - Ringwood:

After a relaxing morning waiting for the rain showers to pass we had a delightful walk round Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve.

Walking around the lake, we stopped at various hides and were fortunate to catch multiple sightings of kingfishers which was a real treat. 

Unfortunately, they move too fast to get a decent picture so here is a more sedate photo of a swan and cygnets.

We passed a whole clutch of Scarlet tiger moths which had just hatched out. They were very lively and, like the Kingfisher, impossible to photo. I did manage a screen grab from a video clip but even so the black and white parts of the wings were a blur.

That evening we dined with two other friends in Antepli Turkish restaurant. I am getting to really appreciate Turkish restaurants having had some excellent meals over the last couple of years. Lamb is one of my favourite meats and they do it very well. Most lamb served in Italian restaurants just does not seem to be the same quality.

Day 7, Friday 13th - Southampton:

Finally, the gig that prompted this whole road trip. We had an early supper of Thai style tapas at Mango Above Bar and went in early to see if there was any seating we could grab. Any perches were already occupied but we did find a bit of fence to sit against.

The first support act was Glasgow singer, Kerr Mercer. Not a band as such just him and a fellow guitarist. He sang a number of excellent self-penned compositions and got a good reception from the crowd. He also did good banter with the crowd including "If you can't understand what I'm saying ask for a translator".

Elles was second support act immediately before Rag’n’Bone Man. She mostly sang songs from her latest album “Beneath the Neon Glow”. She was on great form and put on a rocking show that really caught the audience's attention. I am sure she will have acquired a bunch of new fans as a result.

Rag’N’Bone Man rounded off the evening singing songs from both of his albums plus one new composition. I was fully expecting the encore to be “Human” but he actually chose that as the last song of the main set at which point we started threading our way through the crowd while he did two encores.

A great concert with three excellent acts.

Day 8, Saturday 14th - Bournemouth via Ripley:

Southampton 14/06/2025 29:03 [614 / 1126]

Saturday was another packed day. First of all we did Southampton parkrun which was my hundredth tourist location. I emailed the Run Director a couple of days prior and got a shout out and a round of applause.

Then it was back to the apartment for a shower and check out by 11 which worked well as we had a 70th birthday party in Ripley to attend. Jane was a contemporary of my sister's from their very first day in primary school so we have known her for 65 years! There were a number of old acquaintances there so it was great to have a catch up for a couple of hours.

Then it was a drive down the A3 to spend a couple of days with my second cousin Effie.

Day 9, Sunday 15th - Bournemouth:

As Effie no longer has a car, we take the opportunity when we visit of going on an outing. This time we decided on a trip to Kingston Lacy. It was our first visit and Effie had previously visited the gardens but never been inside the house itself. It was a beautiful sunny day for the trip and our NT membership cards got us in for free. We spent the morning exploring the gardens including a Japanese tea garden.

After lunch in the cafe we did a tour of the house which was fascinating. 

Kingston Lacy has a dynamic history. Over centuries the Bankes family built, altered, embellished and rebuilt their house. Their wealth came from extensive estates and profitable marriages, including inherited wealth from Caribbean plantations supported by the Atlantic slave trade.

William John Bankes created the house we know today between 1834 and his death in 1855. Forced into exile for homosexuality, at that time punishable by death, he lived in Venice and remotely remodelled the house, creating lavishly decorated interiors such as the spectacular Spanish Room. Displaying remarkable paintings by renowned artists like Rubens, Van Dyck, Titian and Brueghel, the house is a miniature ‘national gallery’ for the South West, and includes Bankes' collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts, the largest private collection in the UK. [National Trust :: Kingston Lacy]

That evening we dined in a local Italian restaurant, which might seem like coals to Newcastle, but it was a very different style to the Italian food we get in Puglia.

Day 10, Monday 16th - Bournemouth to Cisternino:

Because of the logistics of flying in and out of different airports we drove from Bournemouth up to Heathrow and dropped off the car at purple parking long stay. That way, our car is in the right place when we fly back to Heathrow in August to avoid the Pugliese heat. We then got the bus round the M25 to Gatwick. From there it was the usual flight back to Italy, pick up our car from Bari long stay car park and drive home in time for a late night snack, a couple of glasses of Verdeca and bed.

Sunday, June 01, 2025

City Break - Copenhagen

Copenhagen, Denmark. Wednesday/Sunday 28-May/01-June-2025.

Every parkrun country has two special days when they can put on extra parkruns not on a Saturday. For all countries one is January 1st and the other is specific to the country. Sometimes, because of which day of the week the special day falls you can get two parkruns for the price of one weekend away.

It is down to individual parkrun teams as to whether they put on the special event. In the UK and Italy the special day is Christmas Day and we have done a number of chilly Christmas Day parkruns. In the Nordic countries their special day is Ascension day which is a Thursday in May.

We decided to visit Copenhagen for the special day double. We had hoped to do two countries because Malmo in Sweden is just an hour away on the train and we could tick off two countries as well. Unfortunately, Malmo parkrun was cancelled on both Ascension day and the normal Saturday. We suspect it might be because they get completely overwhelmed by tourists doing the two country double.

There are no direct flights from southern Italy to Copenhagen so we had to book ourselves four Ryanair flights changing at Bologna on the way up and Milan Bergamo on the way back. Given that RyanAir now charge for normal carry on luggage that would have meant eight lots of carry on baggage charge so we went for the free option of a small under seat bag each. 

This required some very careful packing and travelling in our running shoes!

Wednesday 28-May.

Looking at the public transport options in Copenhagen, we wisely opted for a 96 hour Metro pass which covers all forms of transport in the central zone. First use was to get us from the airport to our Home Exchange accommodation.

I was most impressed by the fact that, being driverless, the Metro has panoramic windows at the front of the train so you can get a front row view of the tunnel. It reminded Mary of the Joni Mitchell lyrics: "I refused to ride on all those double-decker buses, all because there was no driver on the top."

Walking from the Metro to the apartment we passed a number of restaurants including Platito Hispanic / Filipino Bistro and Tapas which sounded intriguing. We went there for supper and had a very enjoyable ceviche and an assortment platter followed by a nightcap in Vinfar wine bar opposite. Also very pleasant so we booked for the following evening.

Our hosts’ WiFi. I had to google Weyland-Yutani. It’s from the Alien movie franchise. Their neighbours obviously share their sense of humour.

Thursday 29-May.

Copenhagen has four parkruns three of which were holding the special event. Our choice for the Thursday was down to two finalists with Amager Fælled initially the favourite. We were still deciding over breakfast but what swung it was the availability of toilets so we made a last minute switch to Fælledparken, north of Copenhagen centre. Three laps round a lovely flat park with geese and goslings for company in one place. 

Fælledparken 29/05/2025 27:42 [152 / 307].

Such is the parkrun family that we talked to one couple who, seeing Mary's Salento t-shirt, gleefully told us that they would be there in July.

Going for coffee and second breakfast afterwards we met up with fellow parkrunners. We were introduced to a young man in his 20s (we guess) who had just done his first ever parkrun after only 3 hours sleep - we suspect that beer may have been involved. Despite that he declared himself hooked and would definitely continue parkrunning.

After a shower and salad lunch back at home, we decided to walk around and acquaint ourselves with the city. We saw lots of variety in architectural styles which we think makes any city a more interesting place.

Apparently the red brick buildings are in the National Romantic style which was a Nordic architectural style, part of the National Romantic movement during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is often considered to be a form of Art Nouveau.

All that walking is thirsty stuff so we found ourself a bar and had a couple of interesting and tasty beers: Mikkeller IPA and Rød Tuborg.

That evening we went back to Vinfar, this time for a meal: hake and mackerel stack.

Friday 30-May.

Having a full day free between the two parkruns we booked ourselves on a couple of excursions.

The first was a bicycle tour from Tropical Bikes lasting three hours led by Morena, a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide who, despite not being a native Dane, had all the facts at her fingertips and could answer all the group's questions with ease.

The tour took us round most of the major sites of interest. One item of note was the impressive number of libraries in Copenhagen. We had a coffee break halfway round at Nyhavn.

The Royal Library Garden was an impressive building with lovely grounds in front and a majestic heron. Plenty of goldfish still in the pond so he/she won't go hungry.

When you go to Copenhagen, the Little Mermaid statue is an obligatory stop on the tourist route.

Food was very Nordic: marinated herring for lunch at Dina Bar / Cafe.

In the afternoon we booked a very different sort of tour, a Politically Incorrect Beer Walk. Our guide led us on a walk around Copenhagen pulling a wheeled cooler full of beers stopping at intervals to produce the next beer, tell us about the location and its connection to the history of beer.

Included in the tour was Copenhagen’s original red light district which predated that in Amsterdam. Our guide claimed that was where Amsterdam got the idea.

There is a small refund on tin cans so the etiquette is that you leave your cans littering the street and homeless people wander around collecting them and cashing them in. Some rubbish bins even had special beer can shelves to make it easier for them.

That evening we had not booked any restaurants and decided to wander about and take potluck. We peered in at Pastabro but it appeared to be a very basic takeaway so we decided to pass. Walking on we arrived at Cibo an Italian café where we had a simple pasta dish. While eating we heard the couple at next table over who were wearing running shoes say the magic word "parkrun" so we struck up a conversation to discuss parkrun tourism and which venues we were both planning for the weekend.

Saturday 31-May.

Amager Strandpark 31/05/2025 29:04 [187 / 379]

We had always planned to go on Saturday to the parkrun closest to the apartment. Amager strandpark parkrun is on the beach - a two-lapper going over two bridges with a turn round on a pier.

After the necessary shower, we wandered into town for brunch at Wulff & Konstali and a little more exploration. Mary particularly enjoyed the canal view!

Someone had tipped us the wink that the City Pass ticket covered not only the underground and buses but also the water buses. Having walked, cycled and done two parkruns already we decided to take a free river cruise up and down the river, albeit without a running commentary.

The route of the water bus is a simple circuit it goes to a south terminus, turns around goes up to a north terminus and back again.

One of the buildings that was more impressive from the river is the Black Diamond, a modern waterfront extension to the Royal Danish Library's old building. Its quasi-official nickname is a reference to its polished black granite cladding and irregular angles. The building is clad in black granite of a type known as Absolute Black, which was mined in Zimbabwe and then cut and polished in Italy. The black cladding amounts to 2,500 square metres and each stone weighs 75 kg.

That evening we dined at Pirlo a restaurant recommended by our host. Mary booked it immediately following the recommendation and only afterwards looked it up to discover it was Italian, as if we don’t eat enough Italian food already! Nevertheless, it was a very classy joint linked to Vinfar next door and we had an excellent meal albeit very expensive.

Sunday 01-June.

The flight times for the return journey was such that we had a five hour layover at Milan Bergamo. That meant we had ample time to explore. We took the funicular up to the Cittá Alta for lunch and a wander around a typical Italian hilltop town.

Then back to the airport for the final leg back to Brindisi, pick up our car from the long stay and drive home.