My first week in Italy, It started with a 2 hour delay. I made my connecting flight in Rome but my luggage didnt. :( The good thing was i got to fly business class for the frist time in my life. It was nice and they fed you more. I learned that you get "tired butt" in coach or Business class you you fly that long. (would have been better on a Boeing Jet) :). I rented a car and drove to my hotel, no problem. Pretty good for first time driving in itay. (i did have to ask the car guy how to put it in reverse. Tricky little b*****) Stick shift, first time in years. I am driving a ford! :0! Next day i got a call my luggage was at the airport. A new boeing employee needed to be picked up so i was chosen to get him and my luggage. I had to drive back to airport in the dark and return him to the office. Success! My hotel is very nice, Histo, there are pictures in my photos. Breakfast and dinner. everything is good. I chose beef ravioli, i was a piece of beef in a sauce under the ravioli. They dont put meat in there ravioli in Italy. Someone should the Chef! Salads are great, lots a fresh fruit for breakfast. Work long hours as expected. Half day saturday. then went to explore Grottaglie, and the ceramic district. parked at the bottom and walked my way up. went thru serveral shops and found the Pizza Fast place we went to at lunch one day. that was my goal for lunch. The ceramics: Lots and lot of shops. I uploaded a picture of some of the ceramics i passed sitting on the sidewalks to dry. The small fennels are minatures of one of the popular items here. They are shaped kind of like a pineapple and they represent hospitality just like the pineapple in Charleston SC. Most of the balconies here have one on each side. They very in Shape, size and color. Sunday, we to supermarket for stuff. It was a cloudy and windy day, not good for picture taking. I then drove around to see if i could find stuff. One to the guys Martina Franca, said it was in the hills and beautiful. It was a long drive through curvey roads. Wouldnt want to drive in the dark home everynight on those roads. Much greener and pretty, stone walls everywhere surrounding the streets and fields. The region has unusual cone shaped roofs, many homes and roofs are whitewashed making the standout. They are called trulli and are not found any where else in the world. In the lower areas by they are smaller and in the orchards. They are not white, but in the hill country they are part to the housing structures. Amazing to look at. Legend has it the original small stone structures were build ages ago to live in and avoid Kings taxes because they were too small to be considered homes. I plan to go to lunch one weekend when it is sunny to take pictures. So that was week one. 51 one more to go.