Two fascinating towns in Puglia

Alberobello

Marilena regards the camera seated among the trulli of Alberobella.

This village is famous for its trulli - a trullo is a circular building with a conical roof, all of it made from stone. Although some people had the misfortune to be obliged to live in them, the trulli were generally employed as storage huts. Their shape and design however does make them appear rather special.  Alberobello has an area mostly composed of these trulli buildings. They are lovely to look at but I expect not so fantastic to live in. As we travelled through the region we found them dotted all over the countryside. This reminded me of spotting oast houses in Kent, although the trulli were more numerous.

Lecce

Relaxing in front of one of Lecce's amphitheatres.

On one day we drove to Lecce, an ancient city on the heel of Italy's boot. And what a delightful place it proved to be. The compact old city is packed with monuments, churches and great houses; and all of them built in this gorgeous honey-coloured stone. The streets  were a little wider and the buildings much lower than in Bari, for instance, and this served to create an intimate and more human architecture that I found delightful.

The entrance hall to a block of flats in the old town (there were lots like this).

There were historic treasures at every corner including two Roman amphitheatres and we spent a pleasant morning strolling through this highly baroque cityscape. Importantly, their ice-cream shops were well up to scratch and Marilena and I had our usual double cornet. Lovely.