Laura, Ostuni, Italy
Travel business professional meets Miss Pina Colada!
Laura is warm, positive, bubbly and lively. No need to take things, or yourself, too seriously. Relax, laugh, enjoy the small wonders of life. Don’t hold back but express yourself! Her motto, “life needs to be taken, not as a mountain, but step by step” , gives a hint about her approach into everyday life and its possible challenges.
Beauty in small details of life, pampering, enjoying life as it is. And the most crucial lesson to all of us: “be the most important person in your life.”
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Meet Laura, 41, originally from Ostuni, Southern Italy. Lived in Milan for 10 years but returned to Ostuni, the “White City”.
Her family consists of lot of women: her mother Giovanna, her aunt Caterina and Laura’s dog Cucciola – female as well.
Laura lives alone since a year.
Laura works for Nicolaus Tour, tour operator and DMC based in Puglia.
Laura and Tiina used to work together: at that time Tiina worked for a tour operator and Laura for DMC which customer that tour operator was. They still meet twice a year for a cup of coffee: always in March in Berlin (at ITB Travel fair) and in November in London (at WTM travel fair)!
EVERYDAY LIFE
The question about the ordinary Tuesday makes Laura to shake her head and she laughs: “There are nothing ordinary about my Tuesday! It is the heaviest day of the week for me, even worse than Monday!”. Weekly work schedule is just like in most of the offices in Italy: from Monday to Friday from 9 to 13, then a lunch break, back to business from 15 to 19. In Laura’s case when working in the never-resting tourism, work hours and schedule variates a lot depending on the season. In normal times it is like this and also Laura is looking forward to have back as soon as possible these never-ending, super-busy days.
Talking generally about routines and everyday life, the worst would be flatness, boredom, to get too much used to something, not getting the vibes from once interesting people and things anymore.
The very best in everyday life, according to Laura, are people and the beauty in a wider sense, often hidden in small, quotidian matters.
What then gives her energy and good vibes? She loves photography, flowers, wines, parfums, travelling, shopping, sharing moments with friends. It is also the sea and the music, all kind of music, that gives her the natural boost. She sums up in most beautiful way: “I always treat myself with respect and reward. I have to, as after all, I am the most important person in my life.”
No wonder she decided to return to Apulia; it is one of the most beautiful, interesting, attractive of all Italian regions. Apulia-region is easy to place on a map – it is the heel of Italy. When visiting Apulia there are numerous musts: White City of Ostuni, located in a top of a hill, and its white walls and its typically white painted architecture, UNESCO-listed Alberobello with is trulli houses, 13th century citadel and castle of Castel del Monte (UNESCO-listed as well), city of Lecce, called “Firenze of the South” thanks to its churches and art, but not to forget beautiful coast line, small villages. Highly recommended to rent a car and drive around in the landscape full of sun, ancient olive trees, picturesque villages, glance of Mediterranean Sea and so much more.
Go and check: Ostuni, especially Laura’s hidden gem “Woman of Ostuni” (pregnant woman, member of approximately 30 000 years old hunter tribe, found buried in the Ostunese hills in 1991)
Other hidden gems by Laura: Locorotondo, Martina Franca, Polignano a mare, Monopoli, Alberobello, Castel del Monte, Lecce
And food & wine then: this region is all about exquisite gastronomy and wine. Apulia is the 2nd largest wine producing regions and famous for its red wines. Food is not too fancy, just delicious. Fresh ingredients – olive oil, tomatoes, chili, fresh mozzarella and burrata – maybe some taralli (i.e. small, crispy bagels) accompanied by a glass of wine.
Apulia’s main and strong grapes: Primitivo di Manduria, Susumaniello, Negramaro and Nero di Troia, just to name few. When in Apulia worth to try also region’s wonderful rosé.
Apulia has an excellent offering of different types of accommodation for holidaymakers: want to spend a night in a trulli house in Alberobello? Doable. Or maybe in one of the old, renovated farmhouses? Tiina left her heart in Borgo Egnazia. Not only Tiina, but also Madonna: she has twice chosen Borgo Egnazia to celebrate her birthday and to dance “pizzica”, a popular folk dance.
But not the landscape, UNESCO-listed cultural heritage, food, wine, unique places to stay, can compare to Apulia’s true soul. There is still something even more miraculous about this region; the true gem are the people of Apulia. You’ll be surrounded by the warmth, the genuineness, the friendliness that sparkles and the feeling that you, a stranger, are totally welcomed. Just like Laura.
DREAMS & FEARS, PAST & FUTURE
What are your dreams?
“I dream about to make, like Mr. Fogg, the world tour in 80, or even more, days.”
What is your worst fear?
“To lose my freedom, to not be able to express myself.”
What is the most important advice you have received?
“To follow my dreams.”
What has been the greatest global invention of your time?
“All the devices that allow us to be closer to each other even if we are physically apart.”
Where would you donate your time/money to?
“Children, definitely.”
Has the position of girls/women changed during your lifetime?
“Yes, it has improved, but there is still a lot more we can do.”
If you could, what advice would you give to your 20-year-old self?
“Enjoy your life at most, don’t hold back the important things you want to say and share, do not overthink.”
And what about Christmas and its traditions? In Apulia the tradition is to gather in large families, it’s all about eating for hours and hours and playing “Tombola” (i.e. bingo/lottery-style of board game) and buying loads of gifts. But Laura says that it is not necessarily her cup of tea: her family celebrates Christmas together, but especially during the last years, during the important holidays, she rather focuses on the feelings and people in her life. Often during these celebrations, she misses significant people in her life, her father in particular. She hates to be forced to buy present just because it is Christmas: “I love to do that when it is not forced, for other reasons!”, she concludes.
STORY
“I can say that in my life the travelling is a "fil rouge" and the most authentic connections are linked to travelling. Travelling I have met very important people to me (friends or people I believed could me good partner or just people with whom I shared authentic moment of joy, fun or experience). Travelling I have discovered that all friends are not good to travel with, maybe we share less or different kind of points of interests than we thought;
Travelling I met the best part of myself, my borders and my strength ...especially when I travelled alone.
Travelling I learnt that people could connect to others just smiling or by an eye contact even the first time they meet each other. That, even if you come from different part of the world, the feelings and thoughts could be the same. That, sometimes, when not everybody can speak English or other common language, some alcohol could help. Prosit! “
QUICK ONES
Drink: “Just One!? Red and strong wine: my favorite is an Apulian wine named Donna Lisa, made from Primitivo and Malvasia grapes. But I have to say that at university my nickname was Pina Colada!”. At the university she just loved this drink – fascinating combination of being sweet and cool at the same time!
Favorite food: Rustico leccese: puff pastry filled with cheese, bechamel, pepper and some tomatoes
Delicacy: chocolate soufflé
Spice: Laurel. She loves it for many reasons apart its taste: laurel can be used in several ways (in soups, with typical dried figs and almonds and also for traditional homemade digestive liquor) and – last but not the least - her first name, indeed, comes from laurel!
Feeling: empathy
Music: Loving evergreens like "I Say a Little prayer for you", Aretha Franklin.
Scent: Jasmine. Its flavor is unique (sweet and fascinating) and reminds the first nights of the summer.
Travel destination: Argentina, particularly Patagonia. This was her personal gift for herself on her 40th birthday last year…. a dream that came true.
Book: Siddharta by Herman Hesse
Movie: Nuovo cinema Paradiso. Its theme song can make her cry for minutes.
Favorite public holiday: “Easter or should I say Christmas? “
Artista/band: Coldplay. Although when she was in Philippines, in karaoke-bar, she had a so bad performance of “Yellow”…so bad that she had to stop herself before the end of the song. “Poor Chris.”
Plant: ancient olive tree
Evening routine: listening to some nice music
Favorite piece of clothing: shoes
Animal: penguin
Scenery: nature in all the shapes
Sport: figure skating, not playing...just watching. (edit: a couple of years ago when visiting Helsinki for work, she became an award-winner of Champion of the falling on knees – as the worst bowler!)
Motto: "Allucscinn, prvdinn”. It is her dialect and means " we will think about the solution, when the sun will rise”. It reminds her to take the life, not as a mountain, but step by step.