In this month's newsletter, I recap the highlights of our time in Puglia with a slideshow, while also exploring the second part of the Via Appia - from Naples to Brindisi - which highlights the Pugilan coast.

Our trip began with three nights in Matera, Basilicata, city of the "Sassi" where we stayed in slightly modernized caves. Departing from Basilicata, we headed south to Manduria, known for the production of Primitivo wine, a distant relative of Zinfandel.

We also walked past hundreds and hundreds of ancient olive trees which are found throughout Puglia (pictured above) and drove all the way to the tip of Italy, Santa Maria di Leuca, to see where the Ionian and Adriatic seas meet.

In this month's newsletter, I recap the highlights of our time in Puglia with a slideshow, while also exploring the second part of the Via Appia - from Naples to Brindisi - which highlights the Pugilan coast.


Here's what else you missed:

• Events this Month: Infiorata di Noto
  For the spring feast of Corpus Christi, some Italian cities arrange flower petals on the streets into elaborate caricatures of famous people or works of art. My favorite is in Sicily in Noto.

• Traveler Tip: Renting a Car in Italy?
  I often recommend driving intermarries here in the newsletter, but is it really worth it to rent a car in Italy? Here's what you need to know.

• Things We Love: Santa Maria Novella
  They invented the celebrity perfume. Back in the Renaissance. But no historic farmacia is more relevant and revered today that Florence's famed Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella.