A Trulli Great Time around Alberobello

After leaving Matera, we drove toward Alberobello, with a stop in Locorotondo. It was a pleasant drive through farmlands and past many trulli, traditional stone structures that are found throughout Puglia. We parked on the outskirts of the old city of Locorotondo, and walked into the historic center. It's a small area, but is well maintained and was full of Christmas decorations. Unfortunately, almost all of the shops and restaurants were closed, despite a lot of tourists wandering around, because of the holiday (immaculate conception day). This thwarted our plans to eat lunch in the city, but we still enjoyed walking around looking at the architecture and decorations.

Some of the first trulli we saw. These are common across the region.

A plaza in Locorotondo.

The view across the countryside from the edge of Locorotondo's historic center.

Lots of tourists for the holiday, but almost everything was closed.

The city was full of nice decorations.

Locorotondo was a bit cleaner and more maintained than other cities we visited.

After exploring a bit more, we went back to our car for the short drive to Alberobello, just ten minutes down the road. Alberobello is a UNESCO world heritage site, famous for a dense concentration of trulli (singular is "trullo"). The town is full of these adorable stone huts.

We checked in at our hotel, Trulli Holiday, which is really just a series of trulli distributed throughout a neighborhood. The man who checked us in and walked us to our trullo was reading materials on the American civil war, and was excited to ask a few random questions about Atlanta's civil war sites. 

The inside of our trullo.

The splendid view from our room's patio.

David in front of our hotel room.

We had a bit of beautiful sunny (but chilly) weather.

A street near our hotel.

The city is full of adorable nooks and crannies.

Another cute alley lined with trulli.

Our friendly neighborhood cat.

An overview of Alberobello.

Some of the trulli had more complex tops.

The main street was closed off for the holiday. The city was buzzing!

By now we were starving, since we weren't able to have lunch in Locorotondo. We wandered into the center of town and had a 3pm lunch at Largo Trevisani - we were the last customers before they closed in-between lunch and dinner. This turned out to be a delicious lunch, with very good burrata and a fantastic orecchiette dish.

Some amazing burrata.

Orecchiette with chicory.

Tomato and prosciutto on toast.

Yet more orecchiette. Yum!

After our very late lunch, we wandered around Alberobello's historic district for a while. We ducked into the Church of Sant'antonio di Padova, which is also designed to be like a trullo, then did a little shopping along the main tourist drag until dark, when all the trulli were lit up with Christmas displays. Alberobello, overall, was the most Christmassy place on the trip. On the way back towards the hotel, we grabbed some dessert cookies at Le Bonita de Central and popped into the city's main church, The Basilica di Cosma e Damiano. Right near our hotel, there was a small guided path that led to Christmas lights with audio telling a religious story. Each spot along the path had a different set of images and audio. It was a pretty thoughtful display. That evening it began to rain again, so we mostly just hung out in our hotel watching some Italian TV... too bad it's not Eurovision season.

Lots of tourists checking out the architecture.

Even the church is shaped like a trullo.

Inside the church.

Preach, random bush sign!

Paul! What did I tell you about eating random stranger's sandwiches!

A lovely holiday evening in Alberobello.

Lots of overlooks in this small town!

The main basilica is in the newer part of town.

Part of the trulli zone had Christmas story decorations accompanied by audio.

David usually has some of these random Italian cookies around Christmas with his family, so he was happy.

On Thursday morning we had breakfast at Cosi Com'era (included with our hotel stay), took a short morning walk around town, and then got in our rental car to drive to the Grotte de Castellana. When we arrived, it was pouring rain, and we were early for our timed tour, so we popped into a nearby cafe for a croissant and some hot chocolate to kill some time.

The cave tour itself was very interesting and lasted about two hours. There are specific times for tours in English, so make sure to check ahead. This cave system, the longest in Italy, was not explored until the 20th century, despite the opening being large and visible to people since pre-Roman times. Our tour guide explained that this was because people thought it was the door to hell, so no one ever bothered to go in! We were not allowed to take photos in most of the tour, but highlights included the "white cave" and the large number of "eccentric" stalactites that grow in weird directions. It was a very impressive cave and worth a visit if you have even a passing interest. 

After the tour, we drove to the nearby city of Putignano to check out the historic center and hopefully find some lunch. We walked around for a little bit, taking in the architecture and atmosphere. It was interesting, but it was much less developed than Locortondo or Alberobello. It was interesting to see the differences between these historic cities that dot the Puglian countryside. In Putignano almost nothing was open in the center, but we found some take-away pizza and focaccia which we ate, sadly, in the car.

A morning rainbow from our patio! Don't be deceived, it is going to rain a LOT today.

A cute little dog-sized trullo!

Gotta have a cappuccino at breakfast.

Daytime overview of the main trulli area.

*excited Christmas sounds*

A quiet morning in Alberobello.

Maybe there's a pot of gold in the cathedral?

Epic cave parking lot olive tree, obscured by rain..

Heading down into the cave.

It's a long way down!

The main opening from the cave into the world above. Also the only waterfall in Puglia.

Gateway to hell? Checks out I guess.

Stalactites hold tight to the ceiling and stalagmites might touch the ceiling

Putignano...no lunch to be found, again. 😢

A quiet but cute square in Putignano.

This isn't creepy at all...

Car pizza....I am smiling, but inside I am sadness.

After lunch we made a bit of an impromptu road trip around more of Puglia... but we'll save that for a separate post.

David Turns 40 in a Cave in Matera

After our first night in Bari, we woke up fairly early and picked up a rental car. While we usually use public transportation and trains while traveling internationally, in some cases, especially in more rural areas, a rental car can open up some interesting travel opportunities.  The idea of a southern Italy road trip was intriguing to us. We picked up our Toyota, and were thrown into the fray immediately when our GPS took us right through the center of the city of Bitonto, rather than routing around it. We survived the congestion and narrow streets, and the rest of the trip was mostly smooth sailing. Paul quickly learned the rules and procedures of driving - people don't use turn signals, and the speed limits are a mere suggestion. Otherwise, it was pretty easy to get around by car and we never had much of a problem with parking or traffic.

Our first destination was Castel del Monte, a UNESCO world heritage site. This would have been extremely difficult to visit without a car. It's in a rural area with an infrequent bus. Under normal circumstances (e.g., pre-pandemic during the summer season) there's a large parking lot at the bottom of the hill the castle sits on, and you take a shuttle or walk up. On our visit, the place was deserted, and you could drive your car right up near the castle. There was only one other car there on this blustery winter day, but there was a tour guide waiting around outside. We went ahead and hired her, partially because we didn't know much about the castle and thought a guided tour would be interesting, and partially because we felt bad that she was standing around in the cold! Castle del Monte is a very odd and unique castle, built from 1240-1250 by King Frederick II, who was holy Roman emperor at the time. The exact purpose of the "castle" is unknown, it could have served as a hunting lodge and spa. The structure itself is remarkably well preserved for being almost 800 years old, but almost all of the interior decoration has been stripped away over the centuries. We saw remnants of an ancient piping system, indoor bathrooms, sculptural elements, and "mortadella" marble.

David with the castle.

The central courtyard of the castle.

Staircase between levels. Most of the marble decoration is long gone.

360 degree views from the castle out towards the Adriatic.

Looking up from the courtyard.

Maria pointing things out while trying to not be blown over by the freezing wind!

Leaving the castle we began a leisurely drive toward Matera. Although it was overcast, we had nice views of farms, abandoned buildings, and small towns. There was hardly any traffic and it was nice to see such a remote corner of Italy. We took a route past the historic town of Gravina in Puglia, briefly stopping at a viewpoint on the edge of a ravine across from the town. The most recent James Bond movie was filmed here, including a major action scene on the ancient bridge across the ravine.

This was our trusty ride for the trip.

A railroad bridge across the farmlands.

Empty back roads!

Stunning vista of Gravina in Puglia.

We continued on to Matera, parking our car in a deck in the new part of town and taking the shuttle van to our hotel. For David's 40th birthday we sprung for a very unique and high-end hotel, Hotel Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita. This hotel is an albergo diffuso, so rather than one big hotel building the rooms are spread across a neighborhood. In this case, each room is a cave. Each room has been tastefully modernized. The bathroom of our cave was where the animals used to sleep! We definitely recommend this hotel as a really unique splurge.

We had a quick lunch at a counter-service place called I Due Sassi, and then walked around exploring Matera. The city does have some attractions, but the most interesting thing is just walking around and exploring the winding streets and amazing views. Unfortunately, it was a cold and rainy day, but we made the most of it, ducking in to a few churches, the Museo Nazionale de Matera, and underground cisterns.

Our cave hotel room.

The candlelit bathroom, complete with ancient cistern.

They key to our room was legit!

Entrance to one of the hotel rooms.

View over the ravine.

Matera's ancient streets are fun to wander.

Quick focaccia/pizza for lunch.

The chiesa and convento san Francisco d'assisi.

Interesting skull carvings on a door.

Exhibit in the museum of ancient housing styles.

Matera has a few cute little squares.

Great views around every corner.

Looking over at another sassi.

Brief rainbow appearance.

Did we mention it was rainy and cold? :)

An ancient underground aqueduct.

A huge cistern in the basement of St. John's church.

Next, we visited the two big churches in Matera, starting with San Pietro Caveoso, also known as Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church. This church on the edge of the ravine was originally built in 1218, and has been continuously expanded and updated over the centuries. It's thus a mix of time periods, with a 17th century façade, 16th century polyptych, and 18th century main altar. We passed through a Christmas market that was being set up but wasn't yet ready, and then walked the short distance to the main cathedral, a 13th century building perched on the highest point of Matera. This was another treasure trove of religious art, including Byzantine style frescoes from the year 1270. We did a little bit of tourist shopping, and then a very chilly walk back to our hotel room (accidentally taking a longer path).

The church of San Pietro Caveoso sits majestically on the precipice of the ravine.

Views for days!

The painted ceiling of the church.

We weren't complaining about the sunset views either.

Some more recent art - statues overlooking the ravine.

Art in the cathedral, preserved beneath the floor.

The interior of the cathedral.

A square between the modern and old parts of Matera.

Another little church.

Starting to get dark.

Matera at night.

For David's birthday dinner, we went to Tierra, a restaurant deep in the basement of a building on the edge of the sassi area. Shout-out to Kyung-Hwa for treating us to David's birthday dinner! Highlights were an egg dish with chicory and fried onions, carmalized bread with salted olive oil ice cream and warm chocolate panatone.

Down some stairs toward the restaurant.

A delicious poached egg dish with chicory and onions.

Paul enjoying his egg!

Pork Italian-style "bao."

Pasta time! This one was uniquely flavored with grape must.

Amazing desert of caramelized bread, olive oil ice cream, and orange zest.

Quiet streets of Matera on a winter night.

Christmas tree on the square.

Matera is certainly atmospheric.

Our candlelit room.

The next day we had breakfast in our hotel and went for a morning walk around an older part of the sassi area we hadn't walked through yet. We then checked out and drove our rental car to a viewpoint on the other side of the ravine, for a panoramic view of Matera.

A friendly cat outside our room.

This was the main area of our hotel, overlooking the ravine.

Another cat!

This is a cat loaf.

Does he look 40 now? Careful how you answer...

Matera is "Gorge-ous." ;)

A little veggie stall on the street.

This little rooster is Matera's mascot.

Overlooking the sassi.

View of Matera from the other side of the ravine.

 

Paul chilling across the gorge from Matera.

All roads lead to the cathedral!

Matera is definitely on the rise. It was the European Capital of Culture in 2019, and it seems many restaurants and shops are opening. It's still a bit off-the-beaten path though, and we highly suggest visiting! Our next stop, and home for the next two nights, was the adorable town of Alberobello.