Sightseeing in Ostuni and Alberobello (Puglia)

Today was a sight-seeing day for us.  We headed out with two destinations in mind.  The town of Ostuni, located to the west of where we are staying (Locorotondo) was about a 45 minute drive.  We located the historic centre of the town and wandered in.  There is not much spectacular about Ostuni relative to other places we have been.  It is certainly not whitewashed and pristine like many other towns we have passed through in Puglia.  What we will remember is the old feel of the place.  This, again, is relative to other Italian stops we have made.  The town seemed old and a bit run down and there were few tourists in sight.  It did have a spectacular view from the top over the Adriatic Sea to the west.  We enjoyed a smoothie, wandered around and headed back to the car.  The streets were narrow and we used the statue below as our guiding point to find the car.

Alberobello, on the other hand, was beyond our expectations.  We have read about the trulli (pl) with great interest.  It turns out that the origin of these stone, conical structures dates back to the 14th century.  My understanding is that the peasants were ordered to construct shelters that could be dismantled when it was time for the taxes to be paid.  "The trullo’s dry-wall construction, without mortar, was imposed on new settlers so that they could dismantle their shelters in a hurry: an efficient means to evade taxes on new settlements under the Kingdom of Naples, and certainly a good way to deter unruly lords. Yet most historians agree that this building technique came about due to the area’s geographical conditions, abundant with the limestone we now see in these constructions. "  

The town of Alberobello is beautiful!  With around 1000 trulli still in existence it was easy to imagine life in the Middle Ages in thee streets here.  Most of the trulli are tourist stores, many sporting the same goods. We did enjoy our first taste of Limoncello here.  The store owner provided us with tastes of three different versions and we went away with a small limoncello and a larger Almondcello.  Guess what our after dinner drink today will be.

Lunch today consisted of a Rustico which we had not tried before.  Puff pastry filled with melted mozzarella, ham and tomatoes and it was GOOD!!  Then onto more exploring.  This place was spotless and the shop owners were friendly and helpful.  We really enjoyed our time in Alberobello and highly recommend it if you are heading to the southwest part of Italy.

It's another hot day here so it was back to the trullo and into the pool followed by an afternoon siesta!  We are making the most of our pool time before the rains come tomorrow.

Ciao!