Italy
Zona P.I.P.

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    • Day 191

      Whitewashing history

      May 6, 2019 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

      That is until the northern Europeans came looking for authentic, quaint, holiday houses to do up. "So, iconic. One has to help preserve the cultural heritage after all - in law they re classed as National Monuments - and when the locals just let them tumble down ... ... ... ..."
      Many were bought and tarted up during the housing boom years, which has resulted in huge price rises. Unfortunately the foreigners no longer have the cash to buy them, and many who might are put off both by the draconian "rebuild it as it was originally" planning regulations and by the canny peasant's out-of-date perception of the value of rubble. Still, they will be around for a while as modern building regs require them to be earthquake proof, unlike the originals.
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    • Day 192

      Masseria Giulio

      May 7, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

      My hosts Ian and Lucy, together with Milli (13) and Freya (10) run this Masseria or guesthouse in Puglia where I have been workawaying for the past month. Lucy rushes back and forth between here and Brindisi in order to supplement the income during the off-season by teaching English.
      Wine, women and 5 star accommodation - with room service- create the gold standard for a workaway experience. And I got to spend all day in the pool!
      Mind you, it would have been more relaxing if the pool was full of water and we did not have to clean, wire brush, make good small holes and paint it in quick time for the summer bookings.
      The only other jobs I had time to do were to demolish and rebuild a small wall around the pool pumps, (so contractors could position their machinery to remove 130m of artesian bore piping that had a small hole in the bottom section,) and assemble a dozen pieces of flatpack garden furniture.
      The 15 year old bottle of Laphroig, for my personal consumption since nobody else drinks it, was the finishing touch to the best workaway experience to date.
      To see more photos:
      http://masseriagiulio.com/the-apartments.html
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    • Day 192

      MasseriaGiulio

      May 7, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

      Joe Masseria was the New York boss of the Genovese gang, who famously retired from the family firm at the unspoken behest of Lucky Luciano; (the report at least echoed round the world.)
      The Masseria I have been in is just an old country farmhouse in Puglia with no hint of a racket going on - its as quiet as Joe's grave.
      The property was falling down when Ian & Lucy found it and put it back together 7 years ago. Registered as an Historic Property, which triggers a whole set of difficult planning laws,I had imagined shady deals worthy of Mafia boss being done to satisfy or circumvent them. In fact by chance, the place lies in two different planning jurisdictions: as only one had it listed on its Historic Register, permission to rebuild the uninhabitable house was sought and obtained from the other one.
      after the event, the bypassed official was invited to inspect the work, and he proved sympathetic and content to see that which was fading away renovated.
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