Foggia isn't a name which conjures up many images of Italy as we would imagine it to be, and to be honest, I haven't spent a great deal of time in the city itself, but having lived in the province of Foggia now, for a little while, I will take the liberty of moving away from the city, into the surrounding countryside to introduce the unknown delights of a little patch of Italy that is on the cusp of becoming developed.
Foggia and her environs lies in the plains of Northern Puglia, and moving a little further west from the city, you would happen across the Gargano Promontary, or peninsula (it isn't actually a peninsula in strict geographic terms, but it looks a bit like a peninsula. For the less geographically pedantic, it is the little spur of the boot, just above the heel.
It is a little piece of, I am told, Balkan landmass that split off millions of years ago and attached itself to Italy, which is why the geography is so different and unique from the rest of the Adriatic Coast. Of course, it probably made a pretty good choice, in retrospect, so it's a clever bit of rock in with the bargain!
The Gargano is an interesting, oddity of a region. I mean, the people are great and friendly, there is a line of tourist resort towns, from Vieste, which is the largest, through to smaller towns such as Rodi Garganico and Peschici along the northern coast. The beaches are beautiful. The landscape is at the early stages of development but not quite there.. think of, perhaps, how Mallorca might have been 30 years ago. There are some hotels, not too many, the entertainment is not slick, but rather sedate. It certainly isn't a young persons' party zone.. not yet anyhow.. the lure of the euro dollar may provide too great in the future!
There is a little private railways that runs, a little erratically, from San Severo (for connections to Foggia proper) to Vieste, stopping at all the towns along the way. There is also a great bus service that has direct links to Rome (about 4 hours) and up to Milan (about 11 hours), which I've availed myself of, on many an occasion that small-town life gets a bit overpowering!
I don't know the southern Gargano so well, because I've been based in the north, but it is most famous for being the home of the beauified Padre Pio. A Puglian priest whose presence you cannot escape in Italy, but it is particularly noticeable in this area of his birth and where he lived. There are many pilgrimages which pass through the area to San Giovanni Rotondo, and although I haven't been myself yet, it is quite a popular hangout.
The 'interior' region of the promon/peninsula/spur thing, is the great big forest, which is quite spectular, and almost out of place. There are lots of deer wandering around, as well as water buffalo (which are now established as my 'favourite animal', who produce the 'proper' mozzerella!). The Gargano is a national park, and it is more 'cliff and climbing' than some of the italian resorts. There are masses of olive trees and they claim to make the best olive oil in Italy.
As for the people, well, perhaps I've seen a different side, living in a small town and being 'the foreigner', but they have been very welcoming and kind, but, perhaps because the area is a little cut off, sometimes, the attitudes seem a little different from those in northern Europe, even northern Italy.
The food is fish and fish and fish, so probably best to plan ahead if you aren't fond of the stuff.. another local speciality, I found out, is horse-meat (I haven't yet succumbed!).
The resorts are lovely, but I'm not sure if it'd be a good place for kids used to exciting entertainments laid on for them, because you won't get that. You do get, cheap prices, good food, beautiful beaches and peace...and very hot weather.
I could write millions more about everything, but this is just to stir the edges of curiousity about an area that isn't so well known, but perhaps that isn't a bad thing.
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