Albergo Godenizzo

This is now the third time I have enjoyed the extraordinary atmosphere of Godenizzo. If you want to get fanciful about it, or romantic -- as I clearly want to do -- and if you hope to explore notions of inner and outer beauty -- in other words, Italianate style in all its wonderful rococco permutations -- this is the place for you: beautiful people; wonderful cuisine; picaresque setting; gorgeous cliffs and majestic beaches. Sunsets both east and west add a cosmic dimension; the aesthetic senses are further enhanced by unusual local touches. Peschici, nearby, is an old-world 'city' where ample shops can provide you with everything, from fresh produce to native American Indian hand-crafted jewelry, secured annually by its proprietor on trips out west. You can self-style your meals or, more wisely, ask for the house favourites. (Ask for scrambled eggs cooked in local olive oil for breakfast.) Four generations of family can be observed nightly and a very international clientele warm to the place. To my Italian-American mind, what is most reasurring is that Godenizzo is a place that preserves traditional values at the most accomodating rates (to descend from the sublime to the everyday). Therefore -- I hope to say convincingly -- you will not improve on what Elena, Mattea, Pascale, and 'Momma' have to offer anywhere in Puglia , and if you, as I, believe 'each life is unique, never ordinary', no where else on earth. It really is 'heaven on earth'; and naturally gives rise to hyperbole. (Quite obviously!) As a product of three cultures, I'd like to think I can vouch for Leibniz's remark, that this is the 'best of all possible worlds'. One can't say enough about the place; I suspect I have. All I can say, then, is. . . 'Try it; you will like it' says the American ad of years ago. It might even make you 'jump for joy'. Selah, Charles Carlo Conti, B.S., B.D., Th.M., D. Div. (Princeton); D.Phil. (Oxon)