More Road Tripping Around Puglia

Continuing our rental car road trip around Puglia, after lunch in Putignano we didn't have any concrete plans. Checking the weather and some driving times, we decided to head northeast to the Adriatic coast. It was about a 35 minute drive to our first stop, the Museo Nazionale Archeologico di Egnazia. This is a surprisingly large museum, but is not very popular (at least not on the day we visited) - we were the only patrons. The museum had a nice introductory video that was only in Italian. No problem with modern technology - David stood by the speaker and had his phone live translate into English! We spent some time exploring exhibits about the ancient city of Egnazia, which was occupied from the 16th century BCE until around the 13th century CE. Outside the museum was the necropolis, where visitors are able to enter a few tombs. There's also archeological remains of the city itself nearby, but it was closed to visitors on the day we visited.

Leaving the museum we made a quick stop at the coast to take in some views of the sea. This area has a number of beaches and small resorts that are probably popular in summer, but in winter it was very quiet. We enjoyed watching the surf on the rocks for a while, then went to our car to drive back to Alberobello. On the way back we got stopped at some train tracks for about 20 minutes while a couple of passenger trains passed. Luckily there was a local waiting there in her car too, otherwise we might have turned around and tried to find another crossing since we weren't sure how long it would be closed.

Scenic drive through old stone walls and groves of trees.

Coming over the top of a hill we got a panoramic view of the Adriatic Sea.

David translating the video on his phone.

Remnants of a mosaic.

The museum was really well organized and looked like it was recently updated.

Overview of the necropolis.

Inside a tomb, with some wall decorations still visible.

Walking down into the tomb.

A lot of the area looked like this - pleasant farms with twisted olive trees.

David on the coast.

There's our car! Not much traffic around these parts.

Another bucolic view. Love those walls and olive trees.

Back in Alberobello we walked around a bit - it was much quieter than the previous day, since it wasn't a holiday. The town is quite charming at night with all of the lovely Christmas lights. We had dinner at Casa Nova, which was in the barrel-vaulted basement of an old building. It's definitely a touristy spot, but the food was good and the space was unique. We ordered a regional sampler plate to get a taste of some local foods.

The streets were much less busy than during the holiday.

A nutcracker in the rain.

David enjoying the atmosphere.

Did we mention Alberobello at Christmas is adorable?

The regional sampler plate. Can you guess all of the foods?

More orecchiette and some olive gnocchi.

Could you imagine an American restaurant bringing out a giant knife on a board?

The next morning, we left Alberobello in our rental car heading back to Bari to catch a train to Rome. On the way, we stopped in the city of Conversano, about a 30 minute drive away. We didn't spend too much time here, but it was a cute little town. We wandered around the historic center, which was pretty quiet since it was still morning. Christmas decorations were being set up around town. We walked by the city's castle, saw the inside of the 11th century cathedral, and the Monastery of San Benedetto. Exploring these little towns in Puglia with hardly anyone else around was really interesting.

Coca-cola Santa and beer reindeer.

The imposing castle on the edge of the old city.

Just a cat hiding in a castle wall.

A Christmas market - we wish we were here at night when it's open.

Yay, Christmas tree.

An impressive side door of the cathedral.

Conversano's cathedral on a quiet morning.

The inside of the cathedral.

Some old art in the cathedral.

A pretty fork in the road.

The monastery's bell tower and dome have colored tiles on top.

The inside of the monastery is small but impressive.

The morning light in the interior of the monastery's chapel.

Bye bye, Conversano!

After visiting Conversano, we drove to the Bari airport and dropped off our rental car, officially ending the "road trip" portion of our vacation. Bari has a nice train from the airport into town, so we took that straight to the main train station to await our train back to Rome.

We present proof that not all meals in Italy are great - train station pizza! Actually it was OK.

Another rainy train ride.

Next up - one more full day in Rome before we fly home.