We spent today in the town of Molfetta, which isn’t known for its cultural or historical significance. It’s about a half hour north of the city of Bari but it had two things going for it: an outlet mall and an amusement park…..next to each other.

I spent a few hours at Puglia Outlet Village, and the kids and Paul enjoyed the rides at Miragica. Miragica is on the scale of Canobie Lake Park, maybe a little smaller. It could use a face lift but did the job for today.

We had burgers and fries for lunch at Old Wild West, shopped for a bit more, the kids did a few more rides, and then we headed back to Alberobello.

A quick pit stop on the highway at a full service gas station is always a must. There’s always a large wine selection, candies and cookies, beach toys, and an espresso bar. Pay at the register and bring your ticket to the counter for a tiny cup of goodness. This gas station also had a selection of taralle, the small cracker biscuits that are from this region. We’ve been snacking on a lot of taralle, and at dinner we often get a basket of bread which also has a dozen or so taralle in it too.

The kids love taralle, and in the past Grandma Mary Ann has found snack size bags of taralle for the kids to bring to school.

Tonight Paul and I are leaving the kids in Alberobello and heading out to dinner to celebrate our 18th anniversary. Don’t know where we are going — Paul has planned a surprise for the night. The kids are super excited to have a night to themselves. They are very comfortable in Alberobello and they are excited to go out for gelato on their own after Miss M cooks them a spaghetti dinner.