Trulli

One of the expected highlights of this trip was a visit to Alberobello to see the Trulli, over 1500 beehive-shaped houses made of limestone, none more than 600 years old. The town is commercialised and busy on a Sunday, with plenty of people to watch.

Earlier, we visited Ostuni, which has a rambling old centre, quieter on a Sunday morning but still with plenty going on.

We also went to Locorotondo, another attractive town on a hill, with views of the surrounding Trulli-dotted countryside. 

Two things of note in Locorotondo today: in several of the streets there were large elderly woman dolls suspended from wires. I now discover that these dolls are known as "Quarandone" and are hung for 40 days up to Easter Sunday when the locals burst or burn them. The dolls symbolise penance and suffering. Destroying them is supposed to demonstrate the victory of life against death, joy against sadness and spring against winter. But why are they all old women do we think?

Near to the hanging dolls there were two contrasting events: one seemed to be a rather jolly charity stall with music and balloons. Just around the corner was a group of rather grim-looking men listening to political speeches. For some reason, they didn't seem to like having their photographs taken. Odd, because politicians usually do.