We Truly Love a Trullie

So here we are on a visit to Alberobello, in Puglia, on a must see part of our euro tour. Imagine Clovelly cottages with pointed hats and I think you will get the drift. Also you could say something similar for the little streets of Mykonos or Santorini all have a uniqueness about them. Then of course you could start to think Hobbits and there would be a similarity.

You start to see a change in sky line on the way to the town where farms have many of the turrets indicating many rooms , off of a central large room.

Below is what reminded me of being in Clovelly in a lot younger days --

 

 

So now for the bit of Trulli history -- like a lot of things , they say the word Trulli comes from the Greek word Trullo, which means round conical dwelling and the construction probably goes back about 5,000 years to tribes from the middle east coming over and building these hovels in this shape and also building similar as burial sites.

The roof is a dry wall construction and is in 2 layers to that it sheds water off the roof keeping it cool in the heat and warm in the winter.

The signs that are painted onto the roofs of some of the dwellings are from ancient signs to ward off evil spirits.

 

 

So having found the town and somewhere to park, we took a leisurely walk around the streets of the old town and its unique houses.

 The picture above shows an example of what a truli house might look like inside.

Also I could never resist capturing a fine bit of architecture --- a façade of a particularly fine looking church and the beginning of the streets with the Trulli house , shops and restuarants.

 Also cant resist a selfie

The shops were unique, and in some cases cavernous and got a nice person to take a picture of Lynda and me

Still had time to see an opportunity for a doer  upper even here below

Ok, so these locals are very focused on the fact that they are going to do good tourist business here, so they do keep it very smart , clean with lots of well attended flowers-- think we know one or two folk  who might to be strolling around and looking at the flowers.

 

So this is the other main church in this town at the top of the hill and also has the conical domes on its roof -- oh and for coincidences the church is called Santa Antonio or Saint Antonio) - well we all knew that they were saints anyway.

They also do some great ceramics in the village and we believe that this is a fare reflection of Lynda Frankie and Me.

So finishing our visit to this part of Italy we went to a place called Messafra, which is a castled town on a hill that dates back to around 950 AD.

 
 


Also went through Taranto which is the town where we are staying or just outside -- which also has castles one of which is named the Castello Aragonese ( very Spanish is Arogonese).

Not great shots but we were getting forced up and down a number of very precarious streets at the time so apologies.

And then back for a cooling swim --

That's the boss with the pool to herself.

That's it Brindisi tomorrow and Kardia on Sunday evening, Yiassou and a big smile from Frankie he has been Amazing but he is pleased to be going home.

The Amalfi Experience

Just like in the movies but with a distinct lack of control -- Buses, cars, motor bikes and scooters and great big lorries. Oh yes , and we didn't have a soft top sports car with Lynda with a chiffon scarf blowing out behind her as we drive -- mind you after the story she told me of an actress Isadora Duncan who had the same and the scarf caught in the wheel and proceeded to strangle her - maybe not eh!

So the drive itself started in Pompei  and headed towards Sorrento, to start the drive along the Amalfi Coast. Now , there was a turn off that stopped us having to go to into Sorrento but when we ended up being directed by the Alexa in the sat nav to turn into a street that would be hard pressed to take a Vespa scooter about 3 times , that machine was getting close to taking flying lessons as she has ever come.

One of the tiny streets that we were sent up and you know what -- eventually we end up coming out onto a main road that goes to where we wan to go, but it des come perilously close to taking the side out of Frankie and that aint good.

We also continue this little side line of ours that is looking for the ultimate Doer Upper -- and whether we would ever consider doing such a thing now, it is fact that there are stunning properties that would most definitely convert into a B&B or similar. Oh and always time for some local side of the road fruit-- all over Europe we get great opportunity to eat well at a better price.

Always to odd castle or castle look alike villa to catch the eye.

Above has to be the ultimate challenge for the DIY experts -- Rodney , how about this one.

Challenging streets, especially if a coach is hiding around the corner to come at you

I still cant work out as to why people would want to live on a 2 in 1 slope , that demands mountain goat skills every day just to go to get your copy of the Sun newspaper -- nor of course why you would want to to reside in a hotel that is eked out of a mountain cliff and demands that you not only have to walk down some perilously steep steps , but also navigate across a road full of lunatics, before descending down another 500 steps to get to the tiniest strip of beach ever seen and not always sandy. 

 Also a word of advice -- let the buses go - trust me , having one of those for 10 kilometres about 400mm -- do you like that I am metrically converted -- from your jacksey, aint no fun and not good for Frankies palputations

We saw lots of boats, some a bit more special than others like the futuristic on with the 3 masts below.

Another thing for us was the ability of the local folk along this coastline to terrace the face of the hills to such an extent that they can be self sustaining with fruit , veg and salad.

Love the place below, ripe for refurb and a great example of a place half in the cliffs and half out.

Ok , so people might think that I exaggerate a bit but take my word that after a day on the tiny beach fighting for everything with another 100 bathers all day, you have to circumnavigate your way all the way back up to the hotel again -- daily.

Still looking for that fixer upper

Still find time to find a castle or two.

So having ridden the Amalfi coast road below is a professional shot of what we could not capture as there were so few places to pull over to get the shot. It is totally stunning, one that we are glad that we have done but will not be looking to do it again any time soon.

So for a final wrap up was the uneventful drive from here over to Taranto for a chill out and sight seeing of nearby attractions , more of which are yet to come.

Someone beat us to it with this one, but good to see someone cares.

Quite amazing to see these towns/villages perched on top of a hill like this -- and they are everywhere.

So that's it from the Amalfi -- arrivederci Amalfi.

We will definitely be having some of that tomorrow/ today.

 

Last leg tomorrow with ferryboat back to Greece-- cant wait.

 

Yiassus.