Two great guys from Brindisi, Francesco Lillo and Fabrizio Di Rienzo, had an 'inspiration' during a summer dinner a few years ago: let's make a local liqueur from artichokes here in Brindisi ! 

Brindisi is a good place to spend time and toast with loved ones and friends over a nice drink. You might think that's where the name comes from, since 'fare un brindisi' means to make a toast in Italian. But that is not where the name of the city comes from, nor from the epic song piece 'Brindisi' from Puccini's opera La Traviata, that clearly has something to do with drinking and toasting. No, it's not like this. But where should we look then ...

In the autumn of 1943, as the Allied forces advanced from the south of Italy and the Germans tightened their grip on the north, Italy was a fractured country. This made Rome no longer safe. Therefore  the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III, along with Prime Minister Pietro Badoglio, looked for a secure place to establish a temporary seat of government.

If you visit Puglia or the Salento region in Puglia, you may somehow arrive in Brindisi. Either at the convenient airport, seaport or central train station. It is a great idea to make Brindisi your base or include it in your holiday route. You might do the same if you enter from Bari airport.

The famous Brindisi saying from the Salento dialect is: “Salentu, lu sule, lu mare, lu ientu”. That means: Salento, the sun, the sea, the wind. To optimally enjoy a day at the beach, choosing the sea based on the current wind direction is an important, much-discussed factor among locals, especially around days off and the summer holidays. Because that simply determines whether the sea is calm and crystal clear, or whether there are waves and drifting sand.