Monday, March 27, 2017

ROAD TRIP SOUTH, ITALIAN STYLE



ROAD TRIP SOUTH, ITALIAN STYLE.......Part 1


We were on another wine tasting road trip with our friends 
Paul ( a wine importer) and Betty. This time we headed south. On our first day our destination was 
 Roseto, a seaside town in Abruzzo and  as we later found out it was formerly known as Rosebergo...but that
 is a story for Paul to tell.




We checked into a lovely seaside boutique hotel, Mane, and were very happy to find there was Risorante Manetta on the premises since, as everyone knows, road trips can make a person hungry! After a long and superb lunch of local seafood, James and I tagged along with Paul and Betty to taste
 a few wines at the Orlandi Contucci Ponno vineyard.

After tasting a few newly bottled wines and getting more educated on the qualities  of wine and growing of grapes. The question put forth on Montepulciano d'Abruzzo grapes versus the wines of the Tuscan city of Montepulciano. Two different grapes, with the Abruzzo grape being the Montepulciano grape. Who knew?

 Back at the hotel, we took a much needed walk on the beach promenade  to offset our lengthy car ride and luxurious tasting  of wines from the  Abruzzo region. We all agreed on pizza for dinner before returning to the hotel 
for a good night's sleep...




....The next destination was Puglia and a town called Alberobello.




You have to admit these small dwelling  called Truilli, are cute, as they recall storybook
tales.
It was in the 17th Century that these trulli were first built
in accordance to a decree  and to avoid paying taxes, it stated all dwellings must be built from the local limestone
without the use of mortar.




The flat sone stone, conical shaped roofs are left without the white-wash that coats the
body of the building. Some have symbols painted onto the roofs, for religious or mystical
purposes.





The 'Rione Monti' area is the most visited and touristy district with vendors selling
an array of cheesy trinkets and souvenirs, which takes away from what would be a much more
interesting visit without all this distraction.






These dwellings are unique and the countryside surrounding the town is a beautiful pastoral landscape with well crafted dry stone walls surrounding houses, olive orchards  and trullis. 

This area is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and worthy of a visit.






Our visit here was rather short, since our real destination was Matera in Basilicata.
We all get back into the Guilietta .........
.........On to Matera.











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