By Guest Blogger - Nonno (Ben's grandfather)
Nonno currently lives in Italy and will be sharing information with all of us!
We are back home in Courmayeur in the Italian Alps, and I want to catch up for you students about other places we visited on our trip to Puglia.
On our visit to Puglia on the boot of Italy, we visited the village of Cisternino (Pronounced
Chisternino in Italian) Cisternino was selected as on of the most beautiful small towns in Italy.
The village is on a hill with pretty views of the valley, called the Itria Valley. (in Italian: Valle d'Itria).
From the city park, you can see many Trulli at the bottom of the valley. Cisternino is only 12 kilomteres from Alberobello, the village of the Trulli we blogged about earlier.
In Italy, they measure distances in kilometers (km) and not in miles. This is called the metric system. How far is one kilometer?
All of the buildings in the village are painted white and can be seen from great distances.
Cisternino has a pretty main square called a piazza with a clock tower.
People live on small alleys with steep steps to their houses.
In the summer, they decorate the houses and steps with many plants.
Cisternino is known for its "fornelli pronti" (butcher's shops with barbecue grills) serving up such dishes as "bombette" (roasted pork meatballs), sausages, steaks and some of them even serve donkey meat.
We ate in one butcher shop with some friends that live in the village.
We went to the counter, pointed out what we wanted; the butcher weighs the meat you want, then cooks it and brings it to the table.
You can only get meat, potatoes and salad. No dessert. :(
But when you finish your dinner you walk down the street for some Gelato!
People in Puglia love pasta. Orecchiete is a favorite pasta. It has its name because it looks like an ear. Some people make Orecchiete the old fashioned way by hand while sitting outside their houses.
In Cisternino, many things are done the old fashioned way like making shoes and repairing them.
Or getting water from a pump!
Can you imagine taking a bath if you had to carry the water up those steep stairs?
What part of Cisternino did you like the best?
How is Cisternino like your community?
How is it different?
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