from Dublin to........Mirissa, Sri Lanka: Iron Chef Italian, Martina Franca, Italy

Wasn’t supposed to be here. It’s a highest town in the region (Puglia provence), with great views over the valleys. Ended up here due to a lack of signage at Lecce railway station which caused me to miss a train and jump on the wrong one after that. Was supposed to go to Otranto, a beautiful town on the coast further to the south, but ended up here, completely in the opposite direction. Oh well.

Arrived in Martina, just late enough such that the Tourist Office was shut over lunch. It only reopens on a Tuesday and Thursday….thank god it was Thursday as I obviously had nowhere to stay. I looked lost, which I was once I entered the Old Town. The Tourist Office had moved. A gentleman, Antonio, asked if I needed any help. Ended up chatting to him and his African friends, Demoz and Elena, for 2.5hrs. Generous hospitality. His son lived in Canberra for 6 months a few years back. According to him, Australians speak the purest form of English (more so than the English) and it is a good place for people to go and learn.

Found an amazing little apartment through the Tourist Office (thanks Demoz) that had a private rooftop terrace for only €30/n. Bargain. Ended up staying three nights.

In the afternoon as I was walking the Old Town around sunset, it began to rain. It is slippery as hell on those ancient stone pavers which have been smoothed over by centuries of foot traffic. Saw all the major sites (mainly churches) and found a brilliant Salumeria – purchased some bread, salsiccia sausage and gorgonzola dolce. Cheese was brilliant.

Ate at one of the better restaurants in town the first night, Osteria Piazzetta Garibaldi. I was a bit stuffed from my mezze that I’d purchased earlier. Ordered the handmade macaroni with eggplant, mushrooms, tomatoes and salsiccia. Very meaty taste. Those porcinis pack a punch. Complimentary bruschetta to start. 1/4L of the local red home brew – quite good for €2.00. Wonderful, attentive, friendly and generous staff (family owned and run I believe). Pleasure to dine with them. Wish I could have come back to try their many other dishes. Free limoncello as well, but it didn’t really go with the red. Everybody else seemed to get their coffees for free too.

Breakfast was a panini with primo ham and a local cow’s cheese, courtesy of Antonio. “Hello Australia!”. Amazingly simple stuff but so unbelievably good. We had a coffee afterwards and relaxed... Italian style. That day I saw a poster around town advertising a fungi festival for the following two days. I was intrigued. This could be interesting. Decided to stay another night and skip Matera. Whilst walking around afterwards, Antonio got chatting with four Italian tourists….his “thing” is talking to anyone and everyone, strangers or not. Had another coffee with them and two other local guys. Tried a few little sweets, almond biscuits of many flavours and pistachio based biscuits. All good.

Antonio, Demoz and myself reconvened for dinner at a local institution. It was mentioned that its grilled meat was good. I didn’t interpret this to mean that this was the only thing it served, except for baked potatoes as a starter (and a damn fine potato too so don’t feel too left out vegetarians). Ordering was simple, the small plate of meat or the large plate (which comes with cold meats to start with). Went for the 400gm small plate as I’d had some more cheese and salami beforehand.

(This reminds me, I bought a bread roll from an artisanal bakery at the end of Piazza Garibaldi that still uses a wood-fired oven. Brilliant. Semolina roll. The bread there has a special taste to it from the wood. Try it.)

A mixed grill of the Italian Colonel’s chicken, thick bacon-style pork, pork wrapped in prosciutto, some small mixed intestine morsels and a delicious beef. All exceptionally tasty (except perhaps the intestines which were too fatty for my liking). Slightly oversalted but nothing that a mouthful of ale can’t resolve. Back to the café for a primitivo digestive (red wine) and dessert (gelati of course). A typical day in Italy completed successfully.

The following day I was pumped. Fungi festival. Could have been anything. Typical breakfast, an espresso and a cornetti (sweet croissant). I like the crema (more like custard) and marmalade filled ones. Somehow the three of us ended up at the coffee shop on the corner of Piazza Roma….again. It’s a problem for Demoz as he doesn’t drink coffee or red wine – perhaps you chose the wrong country to migrate too??? Anyway, we were discussing what we were all doing for lunch, what we felt like. We settled on pasta rather than paninis. Antonio ducks off to get some red wine to have with lunch (well that’s what I thought) and comes back with a large grocery bag of goodies. He’s cooking lunch at Demoz’s new pad. Awesome! We invite Helen as well. Iron Chef Italian, Maestro Antonio quickly prepares some capocollo (my new favourite cured meat) and smoked cheese, a salad and fettuccini with a tomato sauce. Outstanding. And the vino (which was decent) came in a refillable 1L bottle that you take back to the shop to be topped up from the wine barrel – extremely cheap and makes perfect sense. Antonio and I drank most of it, which was fine by us.

Back to the coffee shop for a café to kick start the body again. We reconvened after 5pm when the fungi festival was due to kick off. It was a rather disappointing effort. Three small marques, one selling mushroom planter boxes (quite cool though – could buy some funky fungi), another displaying many types of mushrooms and some mushroom themed artwork and the last selling general deli goods. Plus a guy making coffees for free – so I had another.

Not much of a festival really. There were a number of restaurants throughout town participating in the event by showcasing mushrooms in certain dishes. I really would have liked to try something, but still full from lunch and nobody else interested in eating (I would have for the sake of eating) we left the “festival” and Antonio proceeded to take myself and Demoz and some other random woman on a historical tour of the Old Town.

Antonio used to be a guide in the city until recently, specialising in the history of the town, the construction of buildings throughout the centuries and the various stones used to build them. He took me to all the same places I had been previously, but highlighted things I’d never noticed or couldn’t have known by just looking at it myself. Fascinating stuff. The city itself has a very interesting and eclectic history which is reflected in the numerous construction and design techniques employed in the Old Town. (If you happen to find yourself in Martina, let me know or look for the guy wearing the brightest shirt in town that seems to constantly be in a conversation with someone. Lovely guy.)

We all ended up back at the café (of course) for a late evening vino and sweets…..well I had vino and the others had the darkest and thickest hot chocolate I’ve ever seen.

Thanks Antonio, Demoz and Helen for a fantastic couple of days!! For a town I ended up in accidentally, it was great.