Puglia- The Heel of the Boot, Part 1

Spring Break finally arrived and we were off to explore the Puglia region of Italy. This region encompasses the “heel” of the boot that is Italy.

Image available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_wine 

I’ve wanted to come here since watching a House Hunters International episode prior to moving overseas. A woman was looking to buy a trullo, a small traditional house with a conical shaped roof. I was mesmerized by this seemingly quaint region and the unique living spaces. These homes were built without any mortar between stones originally and is believed that this design was used often because they could be easily deconstructed when local tax assessors were in the area.

Flying into Bari, we rented a car for the week so that we could travel on our schedule and not have to calculate every move based on regional train schedules. Plus, not every small town in this region has a train station, so a car seemed like the best option. The nice lady at the rental car counter told us delightfully, “I have a bigger, upgraded car for you!” I’m surprised she couldn’t hear us groan, as this statement only meant that I would have an even more difficult time parking the car. Parallel parking is not my best skill with an automatic and a huge space, so attempting this in Italy, in a stick shift, in a parking space the size of an insect...well, let’s just say that’s not happening. 

our cute Fiat 500L

It started raining as soon as we were walking out to the rental car. We Google Mapped our way to the trullo we rented and got settled. We spent the rainy, windy first day grocery shopping and not much else, anticipating better weather the next day. 

Trullo delle Rose- a cute little place outside of Alberobello

On Saturday, we headed to Matera, crossing into the Basilicata region. Matera is home to cliffside dwellings and churches, just like we found in Kapadokya, Turkey a few months ago. It seems to be a theme of our travel this year. This small town is also where parts of Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ was filmed. Now maybe I’ll take the time to watch the movie. 

Matera was stunning. It helped that the weather had improved. We wandered and visited some rupestrian churches with frescoes that were completed hundreds of years prior. 

With a few hours of light remaining, we headed back to Alberobello to see the trulli up close. 

More to come about the remainder of our week in this southern region of Italy.

Details for those interested in visiting this region:
Trullo delle Rose
Ristorante Fidelio (Alberobello)
Favola in Tavola (Alberobello)
Panecotto (Matera)

The remainder of my Puglia pictures are available on my Flickr page.