Life in the heel of the boot
It started in Las Vegas over a Fourth of July holiday weekend. My
wife and I sat at a restaurant, shared a bottle of chilled white wine, and
talked about the next chapter of our lives: retirement. The subject of the conversation was where we
would live during our leisure years. I had actually been thinking about that
quite a bit and took the leap.
“What about Italy?” I asked.
“I would love to move to Italy,” Jessica responded, with more
enthusiasm than I expected.
Two months later we bought our house in Puglia, the heel of the
boot that is the Italian peninsula.
Why Puglia? Two reasons: Quality of Life and Cost of Living.
A major contributor to that quality of life is the food and drink
that abound in the area. Puglia is one of the most productive agricultural
regions in Italy with 40% of the country’s olive oil and much of its wine
originating in the area. It is estimated that there are 60 million olive trees
in Puglia, one for every man, woman and child in Italy. And, where there are no
olive trees growing, it seems that vines have been planted. The white wine of
Locorotondo is developing quite a reputation and the big reds from the central
part of Puglia—negroamaros, primitivos and salice salentinos—already have
strong followings among oenophiles.
The Pugliese diet takes full advantage of the seas that surround
the mini-peninsula, with the Adriatic on the east and the Ionian on the west. Mussels,
squid and octopus, fresh from the water, are on the menu in every household,
along with orecchiette (“little ears”), the pasta of Puglia. And, with a year-round growing season, fresh
vegetables are always available. I
recall our first trip to Puglia when, as we drove along the autostrade from
Rome, we noticed a beautiful, anise fragrance that came and then disappeared. A
bit later, we sensed it again and, again, it faded away. On the third occasion,
we figured it out. Every time we got a whiff of the liquorice scent we had been
passing a produce truck. It seemed that the fennel was in season and the
harvest was in full-swing. In Puglia, something is always in season.
The weather in Puglia reflects its relationship with the
Mediterranean Sea. Winters are cool, but rarely cold. Summers can be brutally
hot with temperatures surging into the 40s. The rains start in October and fall
until March, but the summers are typically dry. For locals, this is quite
convenient since spending time at one of the many beaches in the region is a favourite
pastime.
As for the cost of living in the heel of the boot, we found that
housing and food
are much less expensive than they are in our part of the US. Electricity, gas
for cooking and heating and gasoline are higher, but these expenses can be
managed. In all, we can live in Puglia for much less than we could in the
States.
Not all is roses, however. Our home is in a village just outside
the town of Cisternino and, typical of the South, no one in our village speaks
a word
of English. Our Italian is elementary, to say the least, and one flirts with
danger in a language where “penne” means pens and “pene” is a naughty body
part; where “anno” means year and “ano” is a naughty body part; and, where
“fico” means fig and “fica” is a naughty body part. So far, though, we have been able to survive
the challenges and we look forward to many more to come.
Life in the heel of the boot is, indeed, la dolce vita and, every
morning that we awaken and see this old olive tree just outside of our kitchen
door, we are reminded of how dolce it is.
About
the author
Scott Bergstein is a writer and former real estate developer who,
among other activities, maintains a blog that can be found at www.souloftheheel.com.
Follow him @Pugliabound
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