Golden Day Ninety: Bliss at Torre Maizza, Puglia

As summer is approaching, we move on to Puglia, the region in Italy’s heel, home to some of Italy’s best beaches.

My first visit to Puglia was many years ago, in the month of May, when cherry season was at its peak…

One Golden Day I’ll always treasure was in Savelletri di Fasano, near the forests of Fasano, south of Bari. I stayed with my gal friend Sheila at Torre Maizza, a masseria (former farm estate) from the 16th century, that’s been luxuriously renovated with beautiful guest accommodations, gorgeous grounds, a golf course, delicious restaurants, and a spa.

Taking in all the beauty on the property in the morning was energizing. We considered taking a swim in the infinity pool, but opted instead to take a bike ride and pedal the 10 minute flat road to the private beach, past amazing olive groves.

The Coccaro Beach Club was heavenly…

There was a restaurant there where we enjoyed salt encrusted fish with white wine from the nearby Locorotondo vineyards. (They also serve excellent sushi.)

Back at Torre Maizza, we indulged in afternoon spa treatments. Here Puglia’s olive oil, herbs and vegetables grown on the property are incorporated into their treatments.

Sheila got slathered with a creamy paste of fava beans, then took a steam in the Turkish bath. I got an herbal massage, that of course included olive oil. Then we both went back for non-traditional (for an Italian spa) Kembiki Do facials. This is an ancient Japanese deal where the sweet technicians “reorganize the facial architecture”–as the brochure write-up says. It involved such an intense massage they even put on rubber gloves to stick their fingers in our mouths to rub out marionette lines. It was amazing to see the effect in the mirror afterwards–I should try this at home.

Feeling very pretty, we dined on local specialties that are given a creative spin at the property’s Le Palme restaurant.