Day 18
Day 18 - Castellana and Alberobello
It was a busy day! We made two stops.....one at the Grotte di Castellana which is a 2 km stretch of underground caves (and I mean really big caves!!)...... and two at a small town called Aberobello.
The Caves were incredible...we walked into the first cavern (the biggest of the cave system) and were thoroughly impressed! Sadly, we were only permitted to take pictures in this first cave, so the photos below are limited :) It was a great underground hike and took a couple of hours.... no complaints though since the temperature inside the caves was about 18 degrees C (the "coolest" excursion we have had so far in Italy!).
After finishing underground, we set Gert 2.0 for the city centre of Aberobello. This town is know for its very unique housing structures called TRULLI. These truly (haha) are made of limestone (no mortar) and are cylindrical in shape with conical roofs. Very different, and makes you go hmmmm. Why would anyone build their homes in the shape of a cylinder? So I looked it up! Apparently in the early 1300's the settlers in this region built these temporary shelters so that they could be easily dismantled (and of course limestone was abundant and was the material of choice). And yes, as we have begun to realize is the case in all of Italy, the original dwellings are still intact, and lived in! We love that everywhere we go, the old buildings and structures are still standing and being used.... in my mind, this really helps preserve the Italian culture and makes our adventures into every town feel like a mini time warp (we love it!).
A busy day, which finished poolside back at the resort.....
Love to All!
Cool and the Gang
Italian Word of the Day: camminare which means walk.....which is what we have been doing a lot of !!
It was a busy day! We made two stops.....one at the Grotte di Castellana which is a 2 km stretch of underground caves (and I mean really big caves!!)...... and two at a small town called Aberobello.
The Caves were incredible...we walked into the first cavern (the biggest of the cave system) and were thoroughly impressed! Sadly, we were only permitted to take pictures in this first cave, so the photos below are limited :) It was a great underground hike and took a couple of hours.... no complaints though since the temperature inside the caves was about 18 degrees C (the "coolest" excursion we have had so far in Italy!).
After finishing underground, we set Gert 2.0 for the city centre of Aberobello. This town is know for its very unique housing structures called TRULLI. These truly (haha) are made of limestone (no mortar) and are cylindrical in shape with conical roofs. Very different, and makes you go hmmmm. Why would anyone build their homes in the shape of a cylinder? So I looked it up! Apparently in the early 1300's the settlers in this region built these temporary shelters so that they could be easily dismantled (and of course limestone was abundant and was the material of choice). And yes, as we have begun to realize is the case in all of Italy, the original dwellings are still intact, and lived in! We love that everywhere we go, the old buildings and structures are still standing and being used.... in my mind, this really helps preserve the Italian culture and makes our adventures into every town feel like a mini time warp (we love it!).
A busy day, which finished poolside back at the resort.....
Love to All!
Cool and the Gang
Italian Word of the Day: camminare which means walk.....which is what we have been doing a lot of !!