We left Naples and headed east across Italy and a little south to the Puglia region of the country. We arrived in Alberobello Tuesday afternoon and checked in to our adorable Trullo. The historical part of Alberobello contains hundreds of these structures. When we walked into the main Piazza of the town, it was as if we were walking into a fairytale land. It could easily be something straight out of a an old Disney movie. The Trulli are like nothing I have seen before.
This was our Trullo. It was surpising large inside! 
The alley of our Trullo. Ours was tucked into the left corner.
We found a place on the main piazza for a quick bite of lunch. They had a variety of sandwiches but I opted for the Il Pasqualino, which one can only get in Alberobello. It consists of salami, provolone, pickled vegetables, capers and tuna. Yes, it doesn’t sound like the most popular menu item but if this is THE only place I can get it, I am going to try it. It was really good! The sandwich is named after the man who created it Pasquale Dell'Erba.
After lunch, we made our way to the Territory Museum of History. The museum itself was housed in a Trullo. We discovered that originally, these structures were built for farm animals and farm equipment. But when the officials started making their rounds to collect taxes, the locals decided they would inhabit the structures in an effort to trick the officials. It worked because they never suspected that people would actually live in the Trulli. And hence, taxes were avoided! If they could only see the place now! It is an official UNESCO World Heritage Site and honestly, they are some of the most charming little buildings I have ever seen.
We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening exploring the shops and streets of the historic part of Alberobello. And we visited a Trulli church.
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| Chiesa Sant'Antonio de Padova - the trulli church |
The Trulli are completely made out of stone - walls, roofs, and even stones inside the walls. It wasn’t until much later that they started adding the mortar and stucco material to walls of the Trulli both inside and out. The ornamental structure on the top of the Trulli are varied quite a bit and were identifiable markers.
There are still people today skilled in the craft of building these structures. They are basically dry stacked stone of a specific type that has a texture that prevents them from slipping and creates friction so thy stay in place. They aren’t building new ones in the historic area, but you do also see them dotting the landscape of the outskirts.
Several Trulli have large white symbols painted on their roofs. These symbols were added during the time of Mussolini. He was coming to the region and the residents added the symbols as an attempt to create an air of sorcery or evil to discourage Mussolini’s visit! The symbols remain today.
Some, of course, are now Airbnb’s or VRBO’s but many are still inhabited by locals. Many are also shops and stores - and even churches, museums and restaurants. In fact, we had dinner that night in the historic area of Trulli. We had a fabulous cheese platter with jams and bread. And I had a wonderful pasta dish with a pistachio cream sauce with cheese. Chris and I took a night stroll later to view the town after dark. So pretty!
The next morning, I enjoyed a pastry in the private courtyard of our Trullo (Trullo is singular and Trulli is plural). We then headed toward Monopoli which is about 20 minutes away and is a coastal town in this region on the Adriatic Sea. The weather was beautiful and we wanted to spend some time in the sun.
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| Monopoli, Italy |
We ended up at a free beach in Polignano a Mere. The water was absolutely gorgeous. So, so clear and so so blue! Also, so, so cold!! We enjoyed a couple of hours by the sea and then we had a boat tour scheduled to take us along the Polignano coast. This coastal area is popular for its many caves that cut into the cliffs of the coast. If you are standing on the land of the coast, you would never know the caves are there because you wouldn’t be able to see them.
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| Ruins of old buildings were among the rocks on the coast. |
The view from the boat was wonderful. Our guide gave us little bits of information about each cave and the area in general. We had the boat all to ourselves except for the guide and the skipper. They even stopped the boat for a bit for any of us that wanted to take a dip in the Adriatic Sea. It was a beautiful couple of hours!
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| An entire area of buildings built on cliffs with caves at the bottom. |
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| The area is famous for the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. It happens on the edge of this cliff and buildings. Those watching flock to the beach in the background. |
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| The color was amazing. The purplish color of the rocks is created because of minerals in the water. |
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| A cliffside restaurant - it's view is gorgeous but according to our guide, the food isn't so great. |
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| Not a single color edit to this water! |
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| Many of the caves were so large that we were able to go inside them with the boat. |
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| View from inside the cave |
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| Legend has it that this rock island was used many, many years ago as a place to send lepers. It bears a cross on the right side. |
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| I just kept wondering how they expect these caves not to collapse under the weight of the stuctures. |
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| Up close view of how the buildings are simply incorporated into the cliffs. |
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| The water was so incredibly clear that even when the girls were treading water, we could easily see their feet down in the water. |
We made our way back to Alberobello and cleaned up for dinner. We had high hopes for a popular chicken place that specialized in rotisserie chickens and sandwiches and dishes made from the rotisserie chicken. However, when we got there, it “was not possible” to get anything on the menu that we wanted because every rotisserie chicken had been pre-sold. I guess it was way more popular than we anticipated! We found another place nearby and also opted for some gelato as well afterward!
The next morning, my guy and I got up early in order to view the town sans tourist! It was very worth it! The streets were almost empty except for a few locals. We met a very nice Italian couple with a giant boxer named Brando, after Marlin Brando. The man told us they had never been to the US but he wanted to go to New York for their honeymoon, but his wife wanted to go to Greece. They went to Greece. He was actually very grateful because if they had gone to NYC, they would have been there during 9/11! I tried hard to get a photo of Brando, but he was very camera shy! I also did a little postcard shopping and in the process, rescued an adorable fluffy little puppy named Pepe’! He had escaped his owner’s store with leash in tow!
We packed up our belongings, said goodbye to our little Trullo and made our way out of Alberobello. If you are ever in this region of Italy, I highly recommend a stop to this area! I think the Puglia region is one of the lesser known areas but it is definitely worth a visit!
