My Trip to Puglia, Italy - Part 1
“My recently sponsored trip to Puglia was both humbling and inspiring. What an amazing and creative community”
I’m not going to lie, I was excited and anxious about this journey all at once. My business partner and I, both co-founders of Kalu Interiors, were invited on an incredible, government funded trip to Puglia, Italy. Yep, you read that right. A fully planned Italian design adventure, courtesy of the local government in Puglia. The goal? Explore all the amazing architecture, materials and creative inspiration the region has to offer. And so, we packed our bags, said our goodbyes (along with about a million kisses to my kids) and set off from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) on what we expected to be a quick-ish voyage… that turned into a 9/10 day whirlwind.
Days 1 and 2 were mostly a marathon of airplanes, airplane snacks and just enough airplane sleep to keep us mildly functional. Our route took us from Vancouver to Paris for a 6 hour layover that we managed to turn into a mini sightseeing opportunity. Because why not? If you’re going to be in Paris or even just for a few hours, you might as well throw yourself into a taxi and chase down a fresh croissant. After a quick pit stop, we hopped back in the car, asked them to tour us around a bit and hustled our way back to the airport.
We officially arrived in Puglia late on Day 2. I was about to embark on a design-centric journey with my business partner in tow. Of course, the warm welcome from Vito and Dana made it all the more special. They greeted us with that genuine Italian hospitality, lots of big smiles, enthusiastic exclamations of “Benvenuti!” and the promise that we would eat more pasta than we could ever dream of.
Our first hotel was the Hotel Parco Dei Principi and it was a nice, clean business sort of hotel. However, there was a pretty intense wind storm on our very first night. I made the questionable decision to sit out on the balcony to soak in the moody atmosphere and on my way back in, BAM—the balcony door slammed on my forearm. Did I mention this would be a physically painful trip, too?
So ended Day 2, exhausted and slightly bruised, but still buzzing with excitement. The door incident aside, I quickly passed out. Sure, I already had a throbbing forearm, but I was determined not to let it dampen my spirits. After all, this was Puglia. I was about to taste the best pizza of my life and discover some of the most inspiring interior design elements imaginable.
