Mediterranean - 6 - May 18 2023 Sunny in Bari - beehive houses

 So finally a sunny and dry day!! With projected high of 67 degrees.  Our tour of Alberobello, the Trulli Village was to start at 11:50am, so the morning was ours to figure out Rome excursion, book our next cruise and spend a little time in downtown Bari. The highlight of the day without a doubt was the Tulli Village and homes, so I start with a photo of one of these unique structures. More details to follow later.

Last evening was dinner at Manfredi's at the share table for 6.  We all showed up at 7:30 for the 8:00pm reservation and they seated us early!  John and Monica were from Australia, Bill and Bob were from Fla and Charlotte NC respectively.  Loved hearing their travel stories.  John and Monica had taken many extended trips by house sitting via "Mind my house", one time staying in London for 12 days when  otherwise they wouldn't have been able to afford a long London stay. 

This morning we docked at 8am and by mid morning we were able to make a quick visit to Bari, old section and a little of the new.
 

Bari is a travel center with ferries to Croatia, Montenegro, Greece.

The tour started at 11:50 am and was to end promptly at 5pm, at the All on Board time.  The tour bus ride to Alberbello quickly passed through the city, same as what we saw earlier.  There were three Viking buses traveling caravan style on the same tour.  I really hate that - it creates long lines for things including bathroom stops.  Although today we didn't lose too much time waiting as things were organized nicely.

The scenery changed dramatically outside the city, to flat countryside and fields. The area grows olive trees, cherry (a variety called railway) trees,  grape vines and to a lesser amount almond trees. 

Every now and then we spotted a trulli style building.  

The bus drop off point was about 1/2 mile walk to the Trulli Village, suspense building all the way. There were crowds of toursists along the walk, we hoped it wouldnt be too crowded.

The Trulli roofs are built without mortar making it not a permanent structure.  So the owners were able to avoid paying taxes.  There are over 400 Trulli structures in the village, one section is stores, shops and cafes another is purely residential.   

A pottery store - looks so Italian!

Inside a Trulli house, one half is private (bedroom and bathroom), other half is public, ie. living room and kitchen.  This one is truly a tiny house. We did see bigger houses that were a collection of several connected Trulli structures.

We checked out some of the shops and I enjoyed an espresso and outstanding limon and almond pastry at Martinucci's shop.  Crisp outside crust, with soft cake like inside and filled with lemon curd.  My mouth is watering just reliving the taste experience. The lemon treat  is bottom left in photo below.

Agri business is common in Italy. Farms and vinyards have lovely properties that also serve as a B&B or party or wedding venues.  We stopped at one for local snacks and wines.  I could image a lovely wedding here.  The Italians have long engagements and plan their weddings 3 years ahead.  Per the guide, only about 10% of the couples actually make it 3 years to have their wedding.

Here is the name of the venue - just in case you want to plan a special wedding or other event.

We arrived at the ship a little after 5pm,  all the Viking paraphernalia (tent, red carpet, railings, etc.) were gone.   If you are late returning from an excursion, it helps to be with 100 other passengers returning from a Viking sponsored trip.

Tomorrow is Crotone Italy, where we plan to see the Le Castella & its fort, a 3 hrs tour starting at 9:30 am. Dinner tonight will be at World Cafe.  The  9:15pm show features Arann Smith our Cruise Director singing "Feeling Good" songs of Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Michael Buble. I hope we make it.