First Weekend Adventure: Ugento & Torre di San Giovanni

Today was a fun-filled adventure to say the least! This will be a long post, but I promise it is worth the read!

     We started off our day around nine in the morning when we went to the marcato di frutta (fruit market - food market). This posed to be more difficult than we thought, but we were able to get lost in Ugento! We came to a market that was composed of clothes, shoes, different housing goods, and beautiful flowers. We realized that saying "Dov'e' il marcato?" brought us to this huge market, rather than the food one.

Italian Phrase of the Day: Dov'e' (il marcato)_______? Means where (is the market)?

I was finally able to buy a water bottle though which was a great find! We ended up finding the food market, just a little ways from the other one. We walked into the pescheria (fish shop/area) and walked into Chef Odette and Dominico (he worked with Chef Odette in NYC and is now the purchaser of all the ingredients daily for class). They brought us to a very nice cafe' to get an espresso, which was one unlike any other. It was nice to see what the locals would do, not necessarily the tourists like ourselves. We walked through the market and tried chicory, a form of dandelion green. The center can be eaten raw, but the leaves and the stocks must be blanched before eating. The flavor was bitter, similar to radicchio, but was more of a long lasting flavor rather than the "punch" I get from radicchio. Dominico told us that they use this to cook with pasta; cook in water for a few minutes then add the spaghetti right in the same pot and cook until the pasta is done. Then, remove, plate, and put a little olive oil on top

The adventure continued with a trip to get pane (bread), mozzarella, olives, and prosciutto. This was an amazing experience and truly epitomized the essence of falling in love with the culture. We also met a woman who we asked directions to for the grocery store. She insisted on giving us a ride, something I would have never considered, but when in Italy!! (Don't worry Mom, I was Logan & Louis) 

We came back to the Masseria and had an incredible spread shared among the four of us. It was absolutely delicious. The locality of the food was unlike anything else. 

 After an hour or so of resting, we biked 6 miles to the coast of Tore di San Giovanni. Yes, then six miles back! The gelato place, Martinucci, was absolutely incredible and the view was breathtaking. It was a long trek back uphill to get home! 

We met a cute older couple who brought us to their house and showed us a beautiful view from their porch. Everyone around here is so open to teaching us about their culture and lives. They were extremely nice and we hope to see them again soon!

All and all, this was a great way to kick off our adventures here in Italy. Tomorrow is homework and rest, then class for the week. Next weekend: Lecce! 

With Love,

Baylee