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Where is Suzy today? She is sitting on a sosta in Alberobello in Puglia the home of the trulli. The sun is shining . Things are back to normal again and life on the road good. Forgotten quickly are the frogs and the neighbours. A bit like having a baby. Painful at the time but soon forgotten.
Why are we in Alberobello? What is the connection with James Bond, 007, Ian Fleming and Truly scrumptious? . If you have not got it then I better put you in the picture . Ian Fleming was the author of James Bond 007 . He also wrote silly stories a cross between a fairy story and a ripping good yarn. Got it yet. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. No we are not going in the hunt for 007 nor to read any fairy tale .
. The film starred Dick Van Duke as Caractacus Potts and Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious. One of the songs from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was one with the title of Truly Scrumpious . A bit syrupy and sickly . What has it got to do with today ? Well we are in search of trulli. Not the
song but the round homes prevalent in the south of Italy particular to this area. Stone built with a conical stone roof that could live quite happily in the Shire and become the home to Bilbo Baggins and a few Hobbits.
The sosta cost us 7 euros for 6 hours. Had we wanted to stay overnight it would have cost us 10 euros. Which made it reasonably good value for the overnight visitor . There was water and electricity included in the price . The countryside around Alberobello is very English in Character, red stone walls similar to Derbyshire stone walling, no graffiti, very little litter, tidy villages and towns. Neat houses and shops.
It is just a short walk from the sosta to the main street where all the trullis can be seen. Round houses of the local stone limestone coloured with white walls and a conical roof made up on concentric rings of stone.
The symbols now visible on a row of trulli in via Monte Pertica (cross, pierced heart, host with rays radiating from it, tree, dove symbolising the Holy Spirit, crescent with a cross) were painted only in the late 20th century and
the early 2000s when the roof cones were redone. They do though enhance the trulli and make them quite distinct from each other.
Some families offer a tour of their homes but we felt that this was a bit intrusive and instead went in to the shops where we were allowed a visit to the panoramic views from the rooftop. The whole of the village has been taken over by tat shops of which many are in the trullis, shops making goods, shops selling goods . We loved the narrow little streets lined with these pretty houses. We were lucky too to be there early before the crowds thronged in . we had the streets and the shops to ourselves. And even the trulli church. In the downtown area where there are no trulli there was a thriving outdoor market which would have looked at home back in England. Stalls selling anything from clothes to metal highly decorated chimney cappings. From foodstuffs to toys . . We sat for a while in a café drinking our coffees and eating chocolate pastry cases full of a thick cream with what looked like marzipan carrot peeligns on top. Gorgeous
. We finished off by buying a few groceries from the local supermercado a small shop with a limited stock . But it would do us until we could find something more substantial .
Verdict on Alberobello – a fantastic little place full of atmosphere, jammed packed with lovely people ever keen to help or show you around their houses. Sadly though at this point we had reached the hump of our trip. Almost three weeks on the road. The weather is still mixed. We have had exceptionally good days where the sun shone on the righteous. We have had wind and some rain. Just about what you would expect for this early in the year. We have travelled a great distance further south in Italy that we have ever travelled before and love the quietness of the rural areas. April/May are good times to come . The flowers are stunning and we would not hesitate to do it again. Suzy although dusty is holding up well and providing a good home to come home to..
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