Driving through Puglia

Once upon a time, if you traveled in Italy you came across groups of pilgims, or pellegrini. They came from all of Europe toward the Holy Land, or they might have in mind to finish in Rome or one of the saintly sites of the early holy ones.

Nowadays it is much more common to find another kind of pilgrim. This kind of pilgrim seeks food. He seeks new ideas and traditional flavors, he seeks regional masters and seasonal treasures. These pilgrims are doing that too.

We had to wait patiently for all of them to round the traffic circle on their way to something new. How can you tell the old pilgrim from the new one? The old one usually wore a scallop shell as a sign of his pilgrimage. The new pilgrim is often sighted sucking something delicious from a scallop shell.