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The south-west tip of Italy, often called "the heel of Italy" or Puglia has recently become more accessible to visitors due to the introduction of direct flights from London to Brindisi and Bari. We flew on Ryan Air from Stansted to Brindisi, arriving in the evening and picked up a hire car at the airport. Transit Management had pre-booked the Hotel del Levante on the coast at Torre Canne while our travelling companions had chosen the sister hotel the Sierra Silvana at Selva di Fasana some 11 miles inland. |
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The area is famous for its unique and intriguing "trulli houses", whitewashed conical-roofed buildings of unknown origin. |
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Most trulli are found in rural areas but the town of Alberobello, where we spent our first day, has over one thousand in its old quarter providing a mysterious fairy-tale scene. |
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Many of the houses have now been converted into shops and restaurants where hand-made pasta and local produce is always on the menu.
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It was market day in Alberobello. As well as this open area, the covered market had stalls with cheeses, herbs, olives, fish and a variety of strange vegetables. |
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A few miles from Alberobello we discovered the Grottos of Castellana. I have seen quite a few caves, but the display of stalagmites and stacactites here were quite fabulous. The guide spoke only Italian but a brochure in English was available. |
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