Look at the map. Today we have to drive to Reggio Calabria to catch a 2:30pm ferry to Messina. The travel agent has said 4- 5 hours. I ask at the front desk and he says,"Oh, 4 hours tops!" Ok, we leave the masseria at 8am figuring we've got plenty of time. An hour and a half into the drive and I'm starting with the aggita. I'm looking at the map and thinking, well, I can't say what I was thinking, but it wasn't good. Chris must be feeling the ...

Next we head down to Lecce. Actually the next masseria was next to Maglie but Lecce is easier to find on a map. We decide to take the shore road down so we poke along, stopping to picnic on more bread and oil at the shore. If you've even been to Old Orchard Beach in Maine in April/May, you can picture the coast here; a little past its prime but waiting for high season to come again. Did I mention that this was Sunday? Like in the US, Sunday means football and...

We land in Bari and I feel like I've been through a time warp. This place was exactly as it should have been in the 60’s. I mean, I expected to see Sophia Loren walking down the stairs from the plane to the terminal. We got the rental car without issue and headed out to Noci. Being the OCD traveler I am, I had previously googled the masseria so I had cheat notes to follow. Damn good thing! Little hint for navigating in Italy: you need to know where you ...

Maybe I'm simple. (NO COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY!) I don’t go into things with a lot of preconceptions or prejudice. At least, I try not to. I don’t know what I expected from Venice but it was awesome. To start, after a relaxing 20 minute ride, the water taxi ride dropped us right in front of the hotel. The hotel we stayed at was easy walking distance to everything but removed enough to not be crowded. St Mark’s was three water blocks...