Today we headed for Trulli country on our way to Matera.
This involved retracing our route from three days earlier, up the west coast
almost as far as Bari. At xxxx we ascended the escarpment and
headed inland. Almost immediately we could see what it was about: houses with
one or more conical roof structures made of layered stone. It is quite unique.
We headed to Alberobello, where this
is the greatest concentration of these buildings, because a whole town had been
built in that way.
On the way in we had turned in at a fortuitously-located mini-mall for a pit stop, but as there was a grocery store, we loaded
up with the makings for a picnic lunch. This we consumed in downtown Alberobello because Anita’s memory of
her cycling tour there last year was so fantastic she managed to pilot us to
lovely shady spot next to a small fish pond. We parked in a 30-minute zone with
a little trepidation, but as it was Saturday afternoon, no-one was going to be
bothered checking. We parked next to a shiny Porsche, with a young bloke
hanging about around it, busy on his phone. He eventually drove off and we saw him
several more times over the next couple of hours, always in a different spot.
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| Olive tree from the hills of Jerusalem, given to the community of Alberobello for the hospitality given by its citizens during the persecutions |
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| Examples of the markings on the Trulli |
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| Duomo in Alberobello |
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| Duomo door panel |
It was a short walk to a vantage point
overlooking the Trullis. We walked through this area marvelling at all the
houses. Many of them were shops selling tourist trinkets. We succumbed and
bought a fridge magnet (yes!) to add to our collection. Very tasteful of course
J. Because the man in the shop was so friendly and not pushy, we
popped in again later to sample and buy some of the locally produced Limoncello and Mandorlo (almonds). His
only sales pitch was that the stuff you buy in supermarkets was only good for
washing the floor. How could we resist.
Our cars were still there, mercifully
unticketed, so we set off for Matera. We managed to find what might have been
the “Secret road of the Trulli” – it had many good buildings and was a delight
to traverse. The road was narrow and winding, and mostly had high stone fences
very close to the road on both sides. Despite this it was a great experience.
Near Matera we had a fuel and pit stop and
split up to go to our separate accomodations. We found the vicinity of ours
quite easily but the street ended in an underground car park. A short reconnoitre
on foot soon located the B&B. Our host Danilo guided us into the car park
where we left our car. We worked up a head of steam lugging the baggage up to
strett level and then to the first floor of the B&B. The room is quite
pleasant although the street below is filled with the sounds of children
playing. It’s Saturday night so we probably shouldn’t plan on going to bed
early.
We had pre-dinner drinks of our own
provenance on our roof terrace and then dinner at a trattoria recommended by
our host. The first course, antipasto, was rather larger than we expected but
it was great. The second course, fettucini, was not to my liking so I had to
leave it – this has never happened to me before. An
unusual feature feature for a restaurant was the TV that was showing TV and
YouTube videos. Unfortunately it was positioned so that I could watch it. The
videos were somewhat reminiscent of the 60’s film Mondo Cane. Perhaps as punishment for not
finishing the pasta, it took forever to get the bill. I was on the verge of
misbehaving when thankfully it did finally appear.
We then took a quick stroll around the
central market, which was just finishing up. The square was full of people and
children of all ages. This so is unusual, if not non-existent in our society,
that it is heartening to see such social cohesion. Post dinner drinks of limoncello on the terrace afterward.
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