ALBEROBELLO AND THE TRULLI

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Today we came into the port of Brindisi. Brindisi is located down at the very heel of Italy. It has always been an important port to both the Greeks and Romans. Today we have a private tour. We met our guide Francesca at the gangway of the ship. We had a driver and a Mercedes van. The drive to Alberobello takes about 1.5 hours. The drive is quite scenic with the countryside being very flat. The soil is fertile so there are many crops grown in this area. As we approach Alberobello we start going up toward the top of a hill.. This is where alberbello is located. The big ridge of hills is formed of limestone.. So all the structures in this area are built of limestone. The houses are also whitewashed so they are very white and bright. We start seeing trulli as we approach Alberobello. The Counts Conversano obliged the local farmers to build these strange houses to avoid a tax burden for themselves. The houses have thick limestone walls, built without mortar. The roof has an inner and outer layer. The inner layer is a thick conical affair but the outer roof is made up of dry grey slabs that are piled on one another. When finished smalll pieces of stone are shoved into any obvious imperfections. The hillside is dotted with these strange houses. Most are not continuously inhabited. Instead they serve as rental units as a part of a hotel or guest houses. The area is full of beautiful pine trees and cherry trees. The cherries were ripening when we arrived. After visiting the town we walked through the farmers market. The fruits and vegetables were beautiful. We tasted almost all of the fruits. There was one fruit that I had never seen before called Nespello. It looked like a small smooth apricot. It had a tart sweet taste. We then stopped at the cheese man's stall and got two beautiful pieces of cheese and a salami. We brought these all back to the ship and will have them tonight with our prosecco. It was a beautiful day.

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