Luca
Small Towns, Minor Islands & the South
I’m from Bari, raised between the alleys of the old town and the limestone rocks of the Adriatic. While everyone else queues up at the same three viewpoints for the exact same photo, I usually hop on a slow regional train, an early-morning ferry, or a rented scooter to see what’s happening two towns over. I’m drawn to inland southern villages out of season, September patron-saint festivals lit up with wooden arches across the piazza, stretches of free rock without rows of paid beach umbrellas, and conversations at the bar counter with the people who actually live there in January.
