Puglia - the Heel of the Boot

Going back to Italy, my favorite country, is always a treat and this time was no exception.  The trip started with a few days in Rome, then it was off to Puglia, Sicily and ending in Calabria.  

Puglia is an area that I'd always wanted to visit and it didn't disappoint.   We spent a couple of days in Sassi di Matera, a wonderful old city of stone & cave homes.  Until the 1950s, Matera was a source of shame for Italy, a place of poverty, malaria and high rates of infant mortality, where people lived in caves without electricity, running water or sewage.  Houses are piled on top of each other so that as you walk the paths you may be crossing over the top of someone's kitchen or bedroom.  Old, now uninhabited caves in the surrounding hills, are visible reminders of days not long past.

Evening view from our hotel balcony.

The local bread.

Visiting trullo houses was my main reason for wanting to visit the Puglia area, and the town of Alberobello was the place to go. These stone houses with their conical roofs have fascinated me for a long time so it was fun to walk through street after street of these whimsical homes and shops. We were even invited inside by one of the lovely locals and found that other than a cone shaped ceiling, they looked remarkably normal. 

We spent a few days in Lecce in the southern Apulia region, a city that I knew nothing about but came to love.  Photo's below are of a Roman theater (still in use today), the Piazza S. Oronzo, and an interior view of the beautiful Baroque Basilica di Santa Croce. 

The pizza was pretty good too!

Next up, it was back to Sicily...