Today, we had a nice slow morning in Alberobello, relaxing in our trullo and walking a bit around the town.

The basilica at the end of our road is named after brothers Saint Cosmos and Saint Damian. They claim to have relics of Saint Damian’s skull. He’s the guy on the right. Their statues don’t look like brothers since they were done by different artists.

The artwork in the basilica was quite interesting — see below.

For lunch we picked up two types of panini from Il Fornello: sausage and bombette (rolled pork fillet with a touch of Parmesan cheese); the owner was named Damiano.

We relaxed in the early afternoon too and then hit the road to explore some neighboring towns.

First stop, Martina Franca – about a 20 minute drive from Alberobello. We drove through and frankly didn’t see much. We were about to leave, but stopped one more time and found a cute, narrow pedestrian area. There were string lights with butterflies and painters palettes strung high above the walkways, and quotes from Picasso all over the city.

We had gelato at Latteria del Ringo. It was excellent, with Paul commenting that his “cinnamon cookie” flavor was one of the best he’s ever had. As we walked more of the little street we came upon the beautiful Basilica of San Martino and its giant, baroque facade. We walked around, popped in and out of stores and enjoyed this very off the beaten path locale.

Back in the car and after ten minutes we arrived at the town of Locorotondo – another cute small town perched high on the hill overlooking the valley. We walked around the centro, poking our heads into stores and churches. Paul bought a bottle of wine that he had researched ahead of the trip.

After a cocktail overlooking the valley, we headed back to Alberobello for 9:30p dinner at Aqua e Sale (bruschetta, pizza for Miss M, orechette bolognese for big D and I, and grilled meats for Paul.)

We strolled after dinner and at 11p stumbled upon a group of ballroom dancers at a small plaza next to the Chiesa di Santa Lucia, overlooking the Rione Monti, the old section of town with the most trulli. They were fun to watch, and a gentleman told me there is a studio where he takes lessons once a week for tango.

We ended the day with gelato at Mille Voglie: dark chocolate for Paul, fior di latte for Big D and milk chocolate for Miss M.