Clearly, everything the Italophile craves is here in abundance: ancient towns with the tangible past right in your face; ornate churches dreamt up by Europe’s finest architects; the footprints of an endless procession of conquerors and cultures, stamped in stone, gold and marble; seas of olives; olive-green seas; and fish and veggies the envy of most other regions of Italy. Tired of hearing about Tuscany? Come take in the baroque splendor of Lecce, ‘Florence of the South’, and the many lesser (but no less remarkable) Pugliese towns. But it’s perhaps outside of its cities that Puglia shines brightest. For it’s in the countryside – the source of its food, wealth and culture — where you’ll find the region’s soul.