Pizza Oven Door

Italy still has a strong tradition of small local craftsmen; not everything is made in big factories. While we were round at Carole and Mino's we spotted a new wrought iron table base. We needed one as well so asked where they bought it. The answer was a local blacksmith. Perhaps he could make a door for our pizza oven as well?

The following Wednesday Mino guided us to a basement workshop down a back street where we met the man and, with Mino's help, discussed our requirements. The *following* afternoon we went back and collected a made-to-order table base and oven door. How is that for service!


Pizza Oven Door

It is a beautifully made door: solid, fits perfectly, opens smoothly, has a little spy hole to check on the inside, chunky rivets and little brass knobs. I am so pleased with it.

Main courtyard before and after

In all the before and after pictures I had managed to miss those of the main courtyard.


Main courtyard before
So here is the very first time we went with the estate agents back in early 2004.


Main courtyard after
And this is how it ended up three and a half years and many euros later.

Early May in Italy 07

Off to Italy *again* at the weekend. This time a free Alitalia flight courtesy of airmiles but the limited number of mile and availability meant we did have to catch an early flight. Up at 4am to catch a 6am flight and we only just caught it. The queues were horrendous and our flight got called forward twice: once at the check-in desks and again for the security screening.

As requested the gardener had started planting up the beds but has yet to start work on the automatic watering system. He has planted up the beds with typical Maquis shrubs plus some roses and iris.


Flower bed with shrubs

The weekend was spent doing a few useful things. Ordered a last couple of bits of furniture: a cupboard for the Lamia living room (storage is scarce) and a side table to put the small hi-fi on. We made another trip to Emmezetta (local hypermarket) and bought a giant parasol and an all-in-one TV and DVD player. We also bought a copy of The Blues Brothers to watch - in Italian of course - but I knew the lines so well that didn't really matter.

I also managed to clean out the pizza oven ready for my first attempt at real pizza cooking when we go out in June.

Note:
Edited post to replace camera photos with quality image from Mary's camera. [Tue 22-May-07]

Opening up the Hovel

We had a couple of enquiries about renting "Trullo Azzurro" which have not, unfortunately, turned into bookings. However it was enough to prompt us to squeeze in an extra trip to Puglia to see how the Hovel-in-the-Hills ™ had survived the winter.

Mary was going to the Madame Butterfly on Friday with her friend Andrea so we had to fly out on Saturday. We could not face Ryanair and anyway they are not so cheap as you get close to the departure date. Instead we flew Alitalia changing in Milan Malpensa (MXP). That meant we arrived in daylight with the shops still open so we could get breakfast stuff and have time to examine the property on arrival.



It had survived the winter very well: last year's plasterwork had obviously finished drying out and the bags and boxes we used for storage had done the trick. The hot water and heating seemed to be working fine but the control box was being a little erratic. We got the underfloor heating working and the place slowly warmed up.

Sunday was a little overcast but Monday was bright and sunny so we could open all the doors and get the bedding aired on the line. We called in Daniele, the architect, and Ignazio, the heating engineer, to look at the boiler controls and discuss a few minor repair items about the place. Then lunch and back to Bari airport for the trip home.

Trulli Before and After (2)

More before and after pictures [click on images for larger version].

Back of the Lamia
 

The Cones from the Lamia Roof
 

Pizza Oven
 

Trulli Before and After (1)

Having, finally, finished the work on the trulli we went through the photo archive and dug out some before pictures so we could show you the difference [click on images for larger version].

Cones viewed from the garden
 

Inside of the Lamia from the door towards kitchen and bathroom
 

Inside of the Lamia looking back towards the door
 

Flying visit to Italy

Monday was yet another flying visit to Italy. One of the disagreeable things about the Ryanair flight is the timings - they clash with meal times. Do we eat early, at 4pm in Stansted, or late, at 10:30pm in Locorotondo? Dining in the air on a Ryanair sandwich doesn't have much appeal.

We flew out Sunday night and stayed in a Best Western near Bari airport. We went for the hotel option as we didn't fancy making up the bed for one night with no guarantee that the heating was working. It also meant we could eat at a very pleasant restaurant across the road from the hotel without an hour and fifteen minutes drive to Locorotondo.

Daniele, Gardener & Mary discuss planting
[Click on image for larger version]

All in all it was a hectic but productive trip. Basically the place is complete, the final few bits are done like the handrail to the roof and a security bar across the bedroom window. That meant we could settle up apart from a small retention in case the boiler breaks down yet again.

 • Up bright and early to drive to Cisternino
 • Met with Pierdonato at the estate agents to discuss key holding, cleaning and "watchman" services
 • Went to bank to get out final payment money for Daniele and change our UK address details
 • Back to Pierdonato to leave a kitty to cover future services
 • Met with Daniele at the property to pay the final tranche of money
 • Were joined by the plant man to discuss planting schemes
 • Went for lunch at a seafood restaurant down on the coast
 • Came back via Emmezeta (supermarket) to buy dehumidifier tablets
 • Installed tablets and plugged in electric dehumidifier to keep the place dry over the winter
 • Final check and lock up for the season
 • Off to the airport for pizza and red wine
 • Arrived at Stansted and fell into the SAS Radisson hotel and bed

On the flight home Mary's token was picked in the prize draw for a free flight. Sounds good but the small print says it can only be taken on alternate Tuesdays with a full moon within the next eight weeks. So she may do a bonus trip to Scotland or we may fit in a unscheduled February trip.

Siblings in Puglia

This weekend the six of us went to the Hovel-in-the-Hills™: Mary&Me, brother Ian&Sarah, sister Jane&Pete.

There was a little trepidation as this was the first time my family have been over to visit after three years of seeing the photographs and hearing the long drawn out saga of the purchase and the building works. You know the sort of thing: I hope they like it, I hope the weather holds, I hope the flights are on time, etc.

As it turned out all went as well as I could hope for. Jane and Sarah gritted their teeth, forsook their cleansing lotions and unguents and went hand luggage only which helped a lot. We flew out Friday night, Ryanair Standsted to Bari, picked up the hire car and went straight to Locorotondo, walked through the town and got to the restaurant Centro Storico about 10:15 pm for a late supper.


Rear view of Trulli

Saturday morning was the usual flurry of workmen. Daniele's collaborator, Stefano, arrived to oversee the locksmith, the heating engineer and the blacksmith. Meanwhile we awaited delivery of the last piece of furniture - a cabinet for the bathroom.


Blacksmith fitting Pizza Oven door

Mary stayed behind while I took the rest over to see Alberobello, a whole town of Trulli. Then back for lunch on our new dining table. After a siesta we took them in to see Cisternino, our other local town, and settled up with the furniture shop. We went back into Cisternino for the evening meal at Osteria Sant'Anna and it lived up to all that we had told them about it.


Jane, Mark, Ian, Sarah, Pete, Mary

Sunday morning exceeded the weather forecast so much that we were able to breakfast al fresco. Then it was a trip to the coast for a tour of the archaeological site at Ignazia followed by lunch in a seafood restaurant overlooking the Adriatic. Finally back to the Hovel to pack up and set off for the airport

The bedroom that fell down

Our bedroom is in the trulli that fell down (see "It fell down..."). Previously the cone was "blind". We took the opportunity to rebuild it with a window, albeit a small one, to be in keeping with the rest of the property. Given that wall is over three foot thick (1.20 meter to be exact) it is more like looking out of a square porthole.


Mark and Mary's bedroom in the Lamia House

The door between it and the front cone is small and arched so Daniele designed a two part door. The panels are glass so our friend Lynn made curtains for us for all of the lamia doors.


Door between back bedroom and front sitting room

Since our last visit some wild beast (well I am assuming a local dog) ran all over the nice, white pizza oven roof with muddy paws, then up the stairs to the roof of the Lamia, peered over one parapet, trotted over to the other side, peered over that, repeated for a third side and then off again.


Paw prints on the Pizza oven roof

Lamia House so nearly finished

We always had it in mind that the Trulli House would be for renting out and the Lamia House would be ours to live in. The Trulli House has been habitable since last Septmber (see "Puglian Diary") but the Lamia House has been lagging behind. Now we are well and truly moved in.

We arrived Saturday and on the Sunday moved our bed from one house to the other and so spent our first night in the "new" house. Over the course of the following two weeks we took delivery of another bed to replace the one we moved, a dining table and chairs, a day bed (with truckle bed beneath) and a blanket box.


[click image for larger version]

The big excitement was the joiners finally fitting the kitchen cupboards they were due to install back in June/July. A few hiccups like the door for the fitted fridge was a single piece but we have a fridge/freezer. An animated discussion between architect and joiner ensued; the door went away and a two separate doors returned.


[click image for larger version]

The hot water system was playing up so our guests had a number of cold showers but by the time we left, and after numerous visits from Ignazio the engineer, we seem to have it fixed. Now we are down to a final snagging list (US: punch list) to make the whole thing complete.

Trullo Azzuro goes public

We decided the property formerly known as Hovel-in-the-Hills™ is finished enough to be fit for renting. So we have signed up with http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/ and gone public. Now would-be holiday makers can read all about it, check availability and prices and request bookings. Roll up, roll up!

Beautifully restored trullo in delightful, secluded valley
[follow this link for full details]

A beautiful trullo, lovingly restored by the owners to a very high standard, employing traditional methods and materials to retain the character of this magical property.

It has 4 large cones constituting a living room with two sofas, 1 double bedroom, 1 twin bedded room, a kitchen / dining room and a smaller cone containing the bathroom.

The property is surrounded by a garden with olive and fig trees, and an enclosed south-facing courtyard paved with traditional old stones (chianchi). The courtyard has sun loungers for relaxing; a barbeque, garden table and chairs for al fresco dining and an external pizza oven for would-be chefs.

It is situated on the west facing slope of a delightfully quiet valley with wonderful views of the surrounding countryside. An ideal place for relaxing away from it all, whilst being ideally located for exploring the sights of Puglia.

Saturday, July 08, 2006: Homeward bound

Saturday dawned brighter so time to take a last few photos to show family and friends. We dropped a set of keys off to Damico's the estate agent through whom we bought the property and who will arrange cleaning, linen and emergency support when we do eventually start letting out. We met Pierdonato, Signor Damico himself, who gave us a very stubbly kiss on both cheeks and enthused about the property, lots of "bella" and, thumping his chest, "cuore" (heart). He thoroughly approves of what we have done and the way we have done it. Very gratifying.

Friday, July 07, 2006: A damp finale

Our last day dampened by rain all afternoon but the ground works continue. Daniele has arranged for a stretch of the neighbouring farmer's wall to be rebuilt and some stones to be munched while the men and machines are here. Part of the trade off for agreeing where the new boundary wall should go. No skin off our nose and an excellent idea to keep on good terms with the neighbours. An unexpected bonus was that they munched part of the strada bianca so it is less jarring on the nerves and the suspension.


Olive tree in top driveway

Externally Donato has moved the olive tree to where it will give shade for at least one parked car. Internally the progress is not quite as promised. The washer-drier has turned up but both it and the oven have yet to be installed. The carpenter is due next week to make the cupboards for under the work surface and to box in the fridge and dishwasher.

There are a few bits of "making good" to be done and the last part of the garden to be covered with topsoil. We will email a snagging list (US: punch list) to Daniele next week ready for our next visit in six weeks time. By then all must be ready or he doesn't get the last tranche of money.

Thursday, July 06, 2006: Garden creation

Today was a day for retreating to the beach while the ground works continue. Out at 10, back at 4 to find great progress. Having removed the larger or reusable stones the team brought in a garden variety rock muncher. Unlike the industrial version (See "Rock Muncher") that does whole fields in a day, this more modest version converted the garden rubble and stone debris into dust and gravel ready for a covering of topsoil.



As far as we can tell this topsoil is coming from another project down the lane where they excavated for a huge double cisterna and underground garage; at least half a dozen lorry-loads so far. Spread about by the JCB, the garden is starting to look like a garden not some rock-strewn desert.

Our September visit will include visits to the local garden centre to stock up on hardy, drought resistant, low (nil) maintenance plants. Driving about we have been making a mental note of road side plants that seem to thrive naturally without human intervention of much water. We will certainly be replacing the black fig lost in the making of the drive, planting rosemary, lavender and a lemon tree (for the Gin and Tonic). There will also be a herb patch but beyond that we are still in the early planning stage.

In the evening we went over to Christine and John's for supper and met a crowd of their friends: Paulo, Simone and Patricia, Anne, her son Toby, and Reno, a neighbour. Plus got thoroughly slobbered by their bouncy Labradors, Kahn and Shah. Another post-midnight end to the day.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006: Rubble and extras

Today is the start of clearing and tidying the grounds. The JCB and Bobcat are back and started on moving piles of stone and levelling mounds of earth, also moving and olive tree to where it will shade the drive. They have some work ahead of them as the grounds / garden is a cross between a building site and a quarry.



Amongst the piles of stones is a smaller heap of shaped flagstones. Having finally spent longer than 24 hours there we decided the path round the back needs extending to give us a small patio area. This will get the late afternoon and early evening sun. It will also give us a private area to sit out when the main courtyard is in use by paying guests. Another cost overrun but what the heck!

Looking back over the last 18 months I am very happy with all the "extras" decisions we have made even if they all added to the final bill:
• making the Lamia kitchen smaller so we could gain a second bedroom
• knocking through two doors from the Lamia dining room into the bedrooms
• doing the aesthetic reconstruction on the front cone
• restoring the pizza oven
• creating a second driveway which enabled us to block up the original entrance and have an enclosed courtyard
• paving the *whole* of the courtyard by widening the flower bed (and our budget)
• building a low perimeter wall round the entire plot (there was no demarcation between our land and the farmer's field)


New wall, flower bed and courtyard

Daniele came and presented us with a final schedule of costs that was nearly double the original base estimate, partly because that base was the bare minimum required to make it habitable and partly because of all the extras we opted for. Since this will become our main (or at least equal first) home I am happy to have spent the money. Also, as Daniele points out, to come back later and do more extras would cost much more. There have been economies of scale and logistics doing all the work while the specialist stonemasons, other trades and equipment are already on site.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006: Thunderstorms and pasta

During the night we had a tremendous thunderstorm right over our heads. Not so much rain but deafening thunder of the jolt-you-awake, have-we-been-struck variety. We hadn't but it was enough to trip the main fuse so no water until we switched the pump back on. At which point we discovered the boiler was leaking and had to switch the pump back off again until the plumber could sort it out.

On a previous visit we had agreed to install an extra safety fuse to protect the electricity meter, which is out in the lane, from the effects of lightning strikes. This means when we are plunged into darkness we only have to reset the trip-switch in the house rather than venture out into the elements to reset the main ENEL fuse.

We are surrounded by fields and olive groves of the kind that feature in travel guides describing the Italian countryside. These books focus on the obvious features of any foreign land: the architecture, art and history, the food, culture and language. Howvever they tend to miss out on the little everyday things that also characterise a country like how Italian men drive with one arm dangling out the window. Or how every supermarket, large or small, has a complete aisle dedicated to dried pasta in all its myriad forms.

If you wander round a kitchen showroom or inspect an unoccupied house for sale there is always a packet of pasta on the worktop as 'window dressing'. It is clearly iconic emotional shorthand for home / food / family.

Monday, July 03, 2006: Our first dinner party

During the day two 'lads' came and grouted all the pathways laid by Billy "No Mates" last week. This past week we have had almost daily visits from Daniele (architect) and Donato (foreman) who is directing the lads. The various bits of wiring, plumbing and plastering continue but not at the same frenetic pace of last Monday.

In the evening we had our very first dinner party in Puglia. Christine, a tutor on Mary's NLP course, lives the far side of Ostuni about 15 m (24 km) away. So we called and invited her and husband John over for supper. John's GPS was able to confirm our exact location as N 40° 45' 912", E 17° 22' 604" and elevation as 480mt above sea level.


[thanks to wikipedia for the picture]

We have a mystery tree in our garden. We could identify all the other trees (olive, green fig, black fig, almond, apple) but not this last tree. I could not believe a farmer would plant anything unless it had some utility value. John was able to identify it for us as a white mulberry. The grub-like fruits are very tasty and would, I imagine, make a delicious crumble or flan.

We served a simple supper of cherry tomato, mozzarella and rocket (US: rucola) followed by grilled chicken (marinated in olive oil, lemon juice and garlic), fried mushrooms and peppers and capers. We chatted away till midnight when our guest left with a return visit arranged for Thursday.

Sunday, July 02, 2006: Small doors

The Trulli are not quite as large as they may appear in the photos. They have been nick-named "Dwarves' Cathedrals". This picture will give you an idea of scale, I am 5' 8½" (174cm).



We have a habit of buying old houses with small doors. The door into the bathroom is 65 in (165 cm) and into the middle Trulli (illustrated) only 59 in (150 cm). A couple of times I have gone to the bathroom for a pee in the middle of the night and staggered back to bed clutching my forehead and muttering, "Ow! Ow! Ow! That hurt!!" I am still learning to duck walk like Groucho Marx.

Avon Cottage holds the record though, the door into the third bedroom is only 44 in (112 cm) high by 22 in (56 cm) wide. This is because the room is converted loft space and the door is squeezed between the oak of the cruck frame and the brick of the chimney. Not surprisingly it is a favourite with visiting children.

In Puglia the door size is as much a function of the local population. Here in Southern Italy, Mary and I tower a full head above half the people at the local market. Mary's height, pale Scottish complexion, freckles, blue eyes and blonde hair attract a number of curious stares. If, as they often do, guess us as German, Mary corrects them in Italian "Sono Scozzese" (I'm Scottish).

Saturday, July 01, 2006: White Roads

Another lazy day of 35 °C (95 °F), blues skies, sunbathing and reading. Retreat indoors for lunch and the hottest part of the day. More relaxing in the afternoon then a cycle into Cisternino, as much for the exercise as any purpose, though we did acquire a couple of water-bottles and bottle holders for the bikes. Mary has signed us up for another charity bike ride the weekend following our return so we need to keep in practice. This will be twice our previous ride, 60 miles from Hampton Court to Hove (http://www.capitaltocoast.org.uk/)



The Hovel is down a dirt track known in Italian as a "Strada Bianca" - literally "White Road" - which well describes this dry and dusty, narrow limestone track. Everything is covered in fine white dust including my best deck shoes. As we were going out for a meal I thought I had better give them a clean. Burgundy shoe polish is not on my normal holiday packing list so I thought I would improvise with the furniture polish - a bit of silicone wax, neutral colour - just the job. Unfortunately I grabbed the "Raid" fly spray and gave my shoes good dousing before I noticed my mistake. So my feet should be free of flies and wasps for a while.

Friday, June 30, 2006: Weights and measures

Friday is market day in Locorotondo so we cycled into town and brought a few items including a couple of coverlets for the twin bedded room and more kitchen utensils. It would appear that few Italian housewives measure out their ingredients as we have been looking for a measuring jug for the last half dozen visits and only just found one. As for measuring spoons, I think we will have to bring a set from the UK.

In the late afternoon we went to the local furniture shop and settled on a different day bed, a table with two three-seater banquettes and two dining chairs. Handed over EUR 50 deposit and agreed to call them when we are back in September to arrange delivery.