Locortondo, Cisternino….and some more Trullis

October 22nd

It is a sunny day with the promise 0f 20c plus by mid-day, the game plan is to visit Lorotondo, however, after looking at google maps we decide to include Cisternino as well. It has a population of about 12,000 and like its sisters, Cisternino, boasts a small, utterly charming old town center that has remained virtually intact for centuries. Its main economic activities are tourism, the growing of olives and grapes, and dairy farming.

We read that in Cisternino you do not need to go to a restaurant to eat, as the town is famous for its barbecuing butchers! In particular, the local specialty, “bombette”, fresh pork meat rolls usually stuffed with cheese, ham, etc. As we were there in mid-morning we elected to purchase some and have them for dinner tonite at the Trullo…

The streets of Cisternino are home to some buildings of considerable architectural interest, including the 13th-century Norman-Swabian tower, topped with a little statue of San Nicola, the 14th century Church of San Nicola with its 18th-century facade and 6th-century foundations as well as the numerous charming sidestreets and alleys:

We then made our way to Locorotondo, which is situated between Martina Franca and Alberobello in the Valle d’Itria, a green stretch of countryside dotted with the famous whitewashed cone-roofed Trulli houses. Approaching this town its hilltop location provides a splendid introduction:

From the two original gates, one enters a web of streets that wind indolently up to the central piazza. While there are monuments and churches worth visiting, its charm lies in the collective whole rather than in its constituent parts. Interestingly although only 8kms from Alberobello, there are no Trulli here, but plenty of  “cummerse”, narrow rectangular townhouses with pointed gable roofs.

One building caught our eye the Palazzo Morelli, a baroque palace:

There is a nice belvedere where there are views across the valley and afford some nice “drone-like ” views of Trullis below us:

 

Our car is in a parking garage, and getting it out requires paying at a ticket machine (btw there are a  myriad number of ways you can pay for parking, even identical-looking machines have different payment protocols). In this case, I paid using a credit card but no ticket was forthcoming…problem > you need to insert a ticket upon exiting to raise the barrier hmmm, of course, no one is there, I then race over to the entrance to get a fresh ticket …no way, I guess I don’t weigh as much as a car: back to the ticket machine finally see a phone number to call in case of a problem…the dude on the other ends speaks about as much English as I do Italian: I keep telling him (in Italian > sort of) that the machine ate my ticket & money, he insists it is impossible after several back and forths, I check my pocket and lo and behold the ticket is there…..several “scusamis” later I hang up. The protocol is: scan the ticket, pay, get in the car, drive to the barrier, and scan the ticket again…if paid barrier opens, SIMPLE…sometimes one wonders if getting older makes you wiser???

No more drama on the way back…but we do see this neat compound that melds the Trulli old and the new:

Back at our Trullo, we head out for a bit of a walk in the countryside checking some of the Trulli in our neighborhood

A few last pics of our Trullo (it was very cool but also being windowless would not be fun in the longer term)…

Bead curtains seem ubiquitous in this part of the world and give a gentle sense of privacy. They filter light but allow plenty through as well. Apparently, these curtains have their roots back in Asia migrating here in the 1960’s, plus allegedly improving feng shui…

Since most Italian households do not have dishwashers and especially dryers (high cost of energy) they use this contraption which is embedded in the cabinetry above the sink > dishes simply drip/dry, and dripping water is captured in a tray.

In any event, Annie did a great job on the “bobettes” which were delicious making for a great pasta supper