We first went to Alberobello to have a look at the Trullo village and see the delights we had read about for ourselves. It didn't disappoint! We parked up (2€ an hour!!!) and meandered our way through the cobbled streets up and down the hills between the Trullos. The town is divided into two trullo districts, Monti and Aia Piccola. We were pretty clueless at first, but soon saw signposts and followed them up to the top of the hill where we found the lovely Trullo church.
We also saw posters advertising the Alberobello light festival, which coincidentally was that night! Without making any promises to Jasper and Maya, we thought about returning, and then after supper with nothing to lose, we ventured out into the cold night air, the first time that Ed had driven a left handed car AND in the dark!!! This time we parked on a little side street for free, and then wrapped up warm in our full winter gear. We headed off to Via Monte, the Main Street that we had found in the morning where a transformation had taken place. The road was closed off, and some Christmas lights were lit in the newer part of the town, but the Trullos were mainly in darkness. We gathered around a live band who were playing jolly Christmas music, and we started to enjoy tunes such as "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Santa Claus is coming to Town". At 8pm, or thereabouts, a man on top of a ladder was urged to press the switch, and suddenly lots of lights illuminated the Trullos and their conical rooves. The band made it's way up Via Monte and we duly followed. The walls of the buildings, usually white, were a deep blue colour and stars appeared to be falling down like rain on the sides. A light show it was, and it was very effective! Walls of other buildings were also lit, and so red walls with small white stars falling down, blue walls with large stars, red walls, blue cobbles, and of course the band made it a magical night to remember.
When we told our neighbours Sue and Klaus where we had been they informed us that the best day to visit Alberobello was Thursday morning as it was market day. So we decided to go again on the following Thursday. We had no idea that there would be such a great market! The night before I had run out of embroidery thread whilst sewing my Cath Kidston tree decorations. I casually took the DMC branded thread numbers with me, just in case, and when we saw the market I doubted that we would find any stall suitable. There were stall selling shoes, boots, slippers, bags, carpets, rugs, cushions, tablecloths, sheets, bed linen, towels, coffee makers, pots, pans, kitchen utensils, scarfs, clothes, and more shoes! Then the next section was at least 20 different fruit and veg stalls, all selling similar products including one or two types of fruit and veg that we've never seen before, and which still remain unknown to us! We wandered through the stalls and bought a large carrier bag of fruits and a sack of potatoes for 5€. An absolute bargain!
Coffee was calling us, so we found a lovely coffee shop, then visited the Trullos on Via Monte again before finding a pizza restaurant that was actually serving pizzas. A lot of the restaurants don't serve pizzas at lunchtime (which in Italy is strictly 1pm) as the ovens simply haven't had time to warm enough. The one we found was open AND had a great selection of red and white pizzas to choose from. We were also served complimentary bruschetta and olives, so top marks to the waitress! On the way to the restaurant I had spotted a busy looking stall with all sorts of homewares on display. And as we got closer, Maya noticed some trays of threads! I casually handed over the DMC numbers to the stall holder, who then started to chat away in Italian. Presumably he was telling me that the numbers didn't mean anything to him. He urged me to look in the trays and so I asked for rosso/red, marrone/brown, and crema/cream. Imagine my delight when we got home and somehow I'd successfully matched by sight the three colours!!!
The fourth time we visited Alberobello was with Ed's mum. We had told her all about it, and Jasper and Maya buzzed with enthusiasm about the Trullos and the traditional hand made clay whistles that are on sale there. We'd previously met a lovely craftsman who told us all about the tradition, and we'd been in a shop with over 9,000 different whistles on sale. They really do like their whistles in Puglia!!! Apparently they are given as a good luck charm, so we'd bought some for our nieces for Christmas gifts, and Maya was keen to show her Granny where the shop was. So off we went, on a Monday afternoon. Mary was thrilled and enjoyed the tourist route through the old town.
Today, Christmas Eve, we've been to Alberobello again for probably our last time! We wanted to buy some olive oil, and also a jug for serving red wine, something that we have noted as customary in this region. So we set off, not expecting to see anything other than Trullos and pretty Christmas lights. Once again, the little town did not disappoint. We looked in several shops and eventually found a lovely family run business. We chose a lovely olive oil decanter full of locally produced oil, a wine jug, and also a small dish that we will use for olives. The family were extremely kind and allowed us a visit to the roof top so that we could see the "panoramica" of Alberobello.
And then, their little girl, about the same age as Jasper took a real shine to Maya and started talking in English to her. She asked what Maya's name was, and then told us hers. She then gave Maya and Jasper an Alberobello Trullo magnet each, and a pencil topped with a Trullo whilst announcing "Buon Natale". Whilst she may have delved into todays profits, she certainly made a memorable impression on all of us and gave us a lasting impression of what has become one of our favourite places. Grazie Annalicia! Buon Natale!
Clare
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