One of our italian employees took some of us on a hike to the Caves of Grottaglie. He was very knowledgable about the history. His wife's grand mother lived in the caves during WWII when the Germans were bombing the airfield near Grottaglie. The name Grottaglie means "many ravines". Many caves built in the limestone date back to the dark ages. The caves were used during invasions and as late as WWII. Wooden walls and doors would have been constructed in fro...

Castle Del Monte is a 13th-century southeast Italy, constructed during the 1240s by the Emperor Fredrick II. I had to see this place it is an octagon shaped. It looks modern, and is built on a hill in the middle of grape and olive orchard country. As you drive to it you can see it from miles away perched upon a hill overlooking the whole valley, with sweeping 360 degree views. The castle has no furnishing but it is still worth the drive to see this ...

Putignano, Italy, has a 630 year old carnival parade, (similar to our madigras) It happens 4 weekends in a row. The floats are 2.5 to 3 storys tall and beautifuly done. It was a very cold day but well worth the trip. We found a little restaraunt go get out of the cold, and a great carafe of local wine, maybe the best so far.

The Relais Histò San Pietro sul Mar Piccolo is the hotel I'm staying at. Looking out over the picturesque bay of the Mar Piccolo or little sea, the hotel is surrounded by over 70 acres of olive trees. Goat herders are often in the fields or crossing the roads on the way to the Histo. The Relais Histò San Pietro sul Mar Piccolo Hotel is set in a medieval farm estate, a masseria, which has been completely renovated. The masseria was first recorded in 1392 as belo...

Trulli's are unique stone structures found in southern italy. Most are in or near olive orchards. There are larger more elaborate trulli's in the mountains. The ones like this one in the picture, so the story goes were built in this manner so when the tax collector came, the home could be quickly and easily deconstructed so the taxes were not so high.