In our desire to discover more of Italy as possible, we took off again by car, crossing through Napoli to visit the Vesuvio volcano, than towards Apuglia region in search of the Trulli. Napoli and Vesuvio Vulcano were somewhat of a disappointment since there were piles of garbage everywhere. The Vesuvio National Park was also a disappointment for the naturalists in us. A lot of fences everywhere on the way up and when you arrive up, you have to pay a parking fee of 2.5 euro, than 6 euro for a ticket. You can only walk up on a specific trail and leaded by a guide, who does not speak English!!! You cannot stop on the way to admire the flora and fauna, and even more you stumble on the hundreds of tourists. We were disappointed due to all of this so we left, or tried to leave, because all the big busses were blocking the access way, so I had to do a lot of maneuvers, going back and forth until I could exit the madness.

The highways around Napoli are in pretty bad shape and under construction, so even if we thought we would get away faster we still drove with 60 kmph.

Now let me tell you something about driving around Napoli or better said in the Campagnia region…it is CRAZY!!! There is no rule that these drivers respect. Driving on the opposite lane seems normal, passing cars in heavy traffic on the opposite way is also normal. The Italians on the little motorinos are also a danger, so you have to look for those squeezing between cars as well…Nobody pays any yielding to others even if they had a stop/yield sign. They honk for absolutely everything. If someone will tell me ever again that in Romania the traffic and drivers are bad, I will tell them to be ashamed. Today, driving in Bucharest seems heaven to me. I drove in all Europe and United States, and I have never seen anything like driving in Italy.

This being said, as we got further away from Napoli and passed in the Apulia region, the landscape totally changed…the garbage disappeared as well. Wonderful green hills and mountains, fields with grain with thousands of amazing wild yellow tulips which have a wonderful smell.

And what is Apulia? Apulia is a region in southeastern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its southern portion known as Salento, a peninsula, forms a high heel on the “boot” of Italy. This region has a lot to offer to the tourists. From the Gargano National Park, to the wonderful Castel del Monte, to the unique Trulli houses. It has something really picturesque about it.

However, the reason we headed to Apulia was the wonderful trulli, a traditional Apulian stone dwelling with a conical roof. The style of construction is specific to Itria Valley, in the Murge area of the Italian region of Apulia. Many of the trulli can be found in the towns of Alberobello, Locorotondo, Fasano, Cisternino, Martina Franca and Ceglie Messapica. Trulli were generally constructed as dwellings or storehouses. Traditionally they were built without any cement or mortar, thus avoiding taxation. This style of construction is also prevalent in the surrounding countryside where most of the fields are separated by dry-stone walls.

The roofs are constructed in two layers: an inner layer of limestone boulders, capped by a keystone, and an outer layer of limestone slabs ensuring that the structure is watertight. Originally, the conical structure would have been built directly on the ground, but most of the surviving structures are based on perimeter walls. In Alberobello atop a trullo’s cone there is normally a pinnacle, which may be one of many designs, chosen for symbolism. Additionally, the cone itself may have a symbol painted on it. Such symbols may include planetary symbols, the malochio (evil eye), the cross, a heart, a star and crescent, or quite a few others.

The walls are very thick, providing a cool environment in hot weather and insulating against the cold in the winter. The vast majority of trulli have one room under each conical roof: a multi-roomed trullo house has many cones representing a room each. Children would sleep in alcoves made in the wall with curtains hung in front.

There are many theories behind the origin of the design. One of the more popular theories is that due to high taxation on property the people of Puglia created dry wall constructions so that they could be dismantled when inspectors were in the area.

Today the surviving trulli are popular among English and German tourists and are often bought and restored for general use. Trulli are protected under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage law.

Sadly we had to keep on moving so we headed towards Gargano National Park.