Ugo and Maria's place is so incredibly special, as it was built by hand by Ugo, using the traditions and stone of the area which he told us he learned from his father (who of course, learned from his own father, and so on). He and Maria could not be kinder or more generous, from the thoughtful, amazing setup in their antiques-filled, cool, airy space, to the offering of sharing their own tomatoes and basil from their gorgeously rugged, flower filled gardens. They have pomegranate and olive trees, rosemary trees (! not small bushes), citrus and succulents, all happily growing together. They left us a bottle of their olive oil from their own trees, and a local, delicious red wine. The beds are comfortable and the space is quiet and private. The little picnic area outside (opposite side from their area) is magical--breezy, white-painted and vine-covered. There is a lot of love in their household and it shows everywhere. Their grown kids do a lot of the translating and are lovely. We were lucky enough to meet their daughter Anna, who was home from London and did a lot of translating for us (thank you Anna!) and Matteo, who lives elsewhere but stopped by while we were there. When I wasn't sure where to get local produce, cheeses and bread, Ugo and Maria insisted on taking me themselves to the Tricase center to get things from where the locals shop. The local bread (duro--what we'd refer to as made with durum flour, they translate to "hard" bread, which sounds unappealing but is delicious), frise (must try--soaked dry bread, which we ate with the tomatoes and basil and olive oil from Ugo and Maria) and local ricotta, fruit from the area (figs, peaches)...all perfect. The town of Tricase is about 3 minutes away by car and is a beautiful, lively town, full of local life and energy but not touristy at all. The house is a perfect base for exploring the whole area--close enough south to easily reach both the rocky grottoes of the Adriatic, and the soft sandy beaches of the Ionian. Thank you Ugo, Maria, Anna and Matteo!