A Magic Christmas in Puglia

December is at the door and, needless to say it, the first thing that comes to mind when we think of this month is undoubtedly Christmas.

The cities are covered with lights and colors and the sparkling and chilly air in the evening is mitigated by the warmth of a celebration that everyone eagerly awaits.

Maybe you won’t believe it, but in our beloved Puglia, even Christmas time is great for treating yourself to a holiday right here.

Mercatini di Natale in Puglia

The mild climate and the usual warm welcome of the Pugliesi people make the days before the holidays even more magical, mesmerized between the beauty of the Apulian villages lit up for the Holidays and the scent of food that invades the streets.

Here at Christmas time, throughout the region it seems that a single table is set up that goes from north to south of the heel of the boot and invites all travelers and visitors to sit down and celebrate together.

On the table cartellate, pettole, taralli and succulent main course dishes.

Yes, many jokes regarding our endless lunches but, dear travelers, try to sit down once at the table of a Pugliese family at Christmas and you’ll be looking forward to coming back next year.

There are also numerous Christmas events organized in the various cities: the New Year’s Eve in Piazza del Ferrarese in Bari is a must for example.

Those who choose Salento as a destination for the upcoming holidays, can not miss the opportunity to visit the suggestive Living Nativity of Tricase (LE) and the monumental Nativity which every year adorns the Roman Amphitheater in Piazza Sant’Oronzo in Lecce.

On December 24 in Specchia is the day of the Pittula Festival, one of the oldest renewing itself for about thirty years. The pittule are typical frittelle salentine made with flour and oil and sometimes stuffed with tomatoes, turnips or olives.

So we advise you to hurry up, you are still in time to come and experience a Christmas in Puglia.

Down in Salento the elegance of Residenza DePietro will welcome you in Cursi,


 The reassuring Villa Elena‘s tower will welcome you in Galatone


 

The chic Casa degli Affetti will welcome you in Vitigliano


 

And the charm of ancient and modern blend of Palazzo San Giovanni will welcome you in Morciano di Leuca.

 

As always it is not up to us to convince you to choose Puglia for your vacation, we know in your heart, we Puglia is already on your wish list.

And if you really can not make it for this Christmas, there’s a whole New Year, 2019, to make it happen. All you have to do is contact us and, perhaps, this year under the Christmas tree you will find a vacation by BeeYond Travel.

Palazzo San Giovanni a special place in Puglia

Thanksgiving, our favorite Holiday of all. This Holiday is not about the gifts, it is not about the stress, it is not about the rush-rush; no…this Holiday is all about family and friends, something very important and especially in Italy where the gatherings assume a very deep meaning. One conception the world has about Italy is that we eat, eat and eat; but trust us friends, it is not just about the food, it is about the famous “giving” so celebrated on Thanksgiving Day. The giving which can simply be a good laugh, a good advise, an ear to listen, a landing hand, sharing a healthy meal with the family, the friends and all the ones we love. Italy has mastered this so much that still now down south and of course in Puglia, this does not happen just on Thanksgiving Day, it happens every day, naturally! 

On such special day we could not spare you from surprising yet once again with another amazing property: Palazzo San Giovanni in Morciano di Leuca Puglia 

This is the kind of place you can envision yourself along with your family and friends celebrate Holidays and Fun…all year long. This is among the few properties available anytime of the year and we at BeeYond Travel are so proud to offer you such place because we have seen it and we relived the atmosphere of milling the oil in the trappeti, ancient oil mills that surround the building. We have felt the strength of the Lecce stone of the fireplaces that are in the rooms. We perceived the skill of the sculptors who created the star vault of the breakfast room with that same Lecce stone. All this has the infinite power to bring you back in time where you can reconnect with your root, re-energize and be thankful for what we have.

You can see all pictures and details about Palazzo San Giovanni  by clicking this link:  https://goo.gl/5CztmJ

With a humble heart, to our discerning travelers we say Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Traveling.

Taranta Night – Where cultures come together to the rhythm of music

Last Saturday night, August 25th, in the small town of Melpignano, a few kilometers from Lecce, the flame of the taranta was rekindled and its heat managed to unleash and entertain around 200,000 people who poured into Piazza San Giorgio to spend the night to the rhythm of the music.

The magic we are talking about comes from the great event La Notte della Taranta (Taranta Night), now in its 21st edition.

In a single night, Melpignano becomes a crossroads of cultures that meet and intertwine, creating an imperceptible border between peoples apparently distant and yet very close.

And, during the evening, the great artists who performed on stage, such as the Italian-American LP, the rapper Clementino and the concert teacher Andrea Mirò, have repeatedly raised a prayer for communication and integration between different peoples, very current topic in the historical period we are going through.

But what is this infamous taranta that causes thousands of people to unleash and for which world-wide events are planned that move the economy of this territory?

The term taranta recalls the ancient phenomenon of tarantism. According to popular belief, tarantism was a disease caused by the bite of the tarantula (Lycosa tarentula), which manifested itself especially in the summer months (harvest period) and which caused a state of general malaise – abdominal pain, state of catalepsy, sweating, palpitations – in which music, dance, and colors represented the fundamental elements of the therapy that consisted, in fact, in a musical exorcism.

Music is, therefore, the fundamental element of this therapy of other times, we could easily say this was the first form of music therapy.

Today there are no more spiders to be chased away and diseases to be exorcised, but the music has remained.

And it has become a real symbol of  Puglia. Thousands of people come from far away to live a crazy and unforgettable night.

Next year this event will be repeated. We have our villas ready to welcome you so you can experience this special, sometimes mystical experience. We are tirelessly working to increase our portfolio and add amazing properties. More properties will come soon.

Continue to follow this blog and the poetry of our Puglia will always be at your fingertips.

Partying Snails – The Sagra of the Munnicchedda in Cannole (LE)

Last week, we listed all the August events in Salento, we left you with a bit of mystery about one of the most important summer holidays in the hinterland of Lecce.

We are talking about an event of great resonance (the small village in question can accommodate up to 70,000 people), which starts from a tiny being, but extremely cute: the Munnichedda?

Right, maybe the slang name does not tell you anything … Okay, how about snails?

Yes, that’s right, in Cannole (LE) between August 10th and 13th is the Munnicchedda Festival, the snail festival.

Maybe for someone, the idea of ​​eating small crawling animals is not very exciting, yet the snail, the one from Cannole has a truly unique and inviting flavor.

The dishes based on this delicious gastropod were already known in pre-Christian times. Hesiod called the snails “portacasa (house-carrier)”, perfect name if we think that these animals actually carry their shell everywhere.

There are about 4000 species in the world of snails, not all edible. In Italy, there are about 400 species, of which only 15 can be eaten. The best known in the gastronomic field is perhaps the French escargot, a large snail seasoned, cooked and sold in the finest restaurants across the Alps.

The Cannole snail is much smaller, it has a delicate and tasty meat. According to folk medicine, it is believed the consumption of snails has powerful digestive benefits: it is believed “the more you eat, the more you digest,”.

To find out if all this is true, just go to Cannole next weekend. You will not only find the snails: there are many events that animate the town. Concerts, Dj Set, gastronomic tastings of typical Salento dishes and a lot of pizzica, to go wild until dawn.

As always, the ideal is to stay near Cannole, in one of our luxury villas, from where you can leave in the evening to the Munnicchedda Festival and experience a real summer weekend in Puglia.

All this must be done slowly, like snails. The festivals are the strength of that slow tourism that we often talk about in our blog and in which we firmly believe.

Let’s take life as snails do. But perhaps you do not need to take the house behind: here in Salento, BeeYond Travel’s villas are waiting for you.

August in Salento: guide to the most beautiful events in the province of Lecce

Even the much desired August has arrived. It’s that time of year when you can unplug and give yourself a well-earned rest after a year’s work.

We at Beeyond Travel recommend our beloved Salento as a holiday destination. Not only because in our luxury villas you can regenerate and recharge your batteries for the next year, but also because in August Salento comes alive with many important events. Events such as the Night of the Taranta in Melpignano and small events and festivals that light up even the smallest towns of vitality.

You cannot get bored, neither during the day nor during the night. And, since the events are really endless, we have selected some for our special guests. We have chosen those that best represent our idea of authentic experience and listed them below.

Sagra of the Cucuzzata in Vitigliano – August 8th

Feast of Our Lady of the Snow in Copertino and Neviano – August 5th: the patronal festivals are the mirror of the tradition of the town that hosts them. The devotion to Santa Maria della Neve is very much felt in Salento. In fact, she is the protector of several villages in the hinterland of Lecce. As in the case of Copertino and Neviano.

Sagra della Puccia in Supersano – August 5th: it is the festival dedicated to the typical Lecce sandwich. A goodness to absolutely taste.

Sagra de li Diavulicchi in Morciano di Leuca – August 8th: for those who want to add a spicy note to their holiday.

The Nights of the Myth in Caprarica – August 10th: a real-time travel in the Messapi times, in a wonderful natural scenery.

Feast of the Munnicchedda in Cannole – August 10th: We leave this one pending. Read the blog next week and you’ll understand why.

The white night at Specchia – August 12th: the village so loved by foreign tourists keeps the lights on even at night.

Feasts of the Assumption and San Rocco in Trepuzzi, Tricase, Ruffano, Castrignano del Capo – August 15th/16th: the two days of Ferragosto are packed with patronal festivals and events. We at Beeyond have chosen these feasts because the villages listed are worthy of being visited even from a historical – architectural point of view. So, why not take advantage of a nice patronal feast?

Watermelon Festival in Nardò and Botrugno – August 17th: it is the summer fruit for excellence. Nice idea to dedicate a festival to it.

Sagra delle Trozzelle Vaste a Poggiardo – August 21st: for the lovers of antiques and terracotta this is the perfect festival. During the Trozzelle Fair, there will be an exhibition of TERRACOTTA and ANTIQUARIATO, and many food stands are set up: with a tasting of grilled meat and good wine from Salento.

Festa di Sant’Oronzo in Lecce – August 24th: We believe we will have to dedicate a special post to this important patronal festival. So, you do not have any excuses not to follow the BeeYond Travel blog. Meanwhile, start to save the date on your To Do List.

The Green night in Andrano – August 31st: during the green night you can walk and stop to taste dishes made with hemp, ancient cereals & local biodiversity of Salento cultivated at km 0.

Of course the best way to experience this rich calendar of events is by staying in one of our luxurious villas so here is the link to all our properties  and if this year the plans don’t allow you to visit this wonderful part of the world, book for next year, our properties go fast so reserve yours now.

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