June 15 was our last day in Italy, as we began our trek north towards Milan, Switzerland, and then England.

First was to return our rental car to Europcar in Bari, and then take a taxi to Bari Stazione Centrale.

Bari Centrale....

and after coffee and a sandwich at the C-House Bakery & Bar inside the stazione...we board Trenitalia's Frecciarossa to Milan - the Red Arrow.  The Frecciarossa  can travel at up to 300 km/h, ours may not be travelling at quite that speed, but it sure does leave even the fastest Italian drivers far behind....

and seven hours or so later, we are in Milan...

Trenitalia is one of Italy's two major railways, the other being Italo.  We booked all our train trips - Rome to Siracusa; Siracusa to Bari (which was on 3 different trains); Bari to Milan; and Milan to Tirano - directly on their website and all went according to plan.  Definitely a good experience to travel in Italy by train.

We enjoyed our last authentic Italian pizza at Ristorante Pianete Luna, near our hotel.  Though we realized rather late in our trip, that ordering one pizza for the two of us was plenty of food.  We ordered two here, they were excellent, but we couldn't finish them.  Took them back to the hotel with the intention of taking them onboard the train the next day, but then discovered we just had too much to carry.  Next time in Italy - order just one pizza!

After one last caffe italiano at the Caffe Panzera, near Stazione Milano Centrale, where we of course stood at the bar to enjoy our coffee and pastry...

we crossed the street to the stazione - and what a stazione it is!

There we boarded a Trenord Regionale for the 2.5 hour trip to Tirano, 

riding along the shores of Lake Como...

At Tirano, we boarded the Bernina Express, through the Alps, to Chur, where we connected with another train to Zurich...

The change in trains at Tirano is easy and convenient, with the Trenord stazione on the left, and the Bernina Express station on the right.

But we had a couple of hours before embarking, so why not spend the last few hours of our stay in Italy by buying some formaggio, Parmesan of course, to bring home, at the local formaggi.

One of the delights of travel is finding and experiencing something different than at home, and it can come in all kinds of different shapes and sizes...

And then it was time to board the magnificent Bernina Express, with its panoramic windows, and to climb over 2,000 metres above sea level, through 55 tunnels and 196 bridges...

Car #1, we sat by the second window on the left...

Note the small window on the left, it opens!  Same on the other side...so it was great to get videos like this....

even inside one of the 55 tunnels...

This train travels through some towns, right along the streets, next to homes, shops, bicycles, cars...

And climbs  at the Brusio Circular Viaduct...

We were on the northbound train, here the southbound train waits for us to pass by...

The marvelous Swiss alpine valleys...

and Swiss cows, with cowbells...

The famous Landwasser Viaduct....

Alp Grum, near the summit...

well into Switzerland now and heading down to Chur...

Chur (prounounced KUR) train station, to board a different train to Zurich...

So after a spectacular  ride through the Alps, we arrived at Zurich Train Station around 8pm.  We then needed to board a tram to take us to the Ibis Hotel at Zurich Airport.  Tram #10.  This is Zurich Train Station, rather large.....

Wonder where Tram #10 is????

After a lengthy wait at the Tourist information office, we were told to look for the signs for Tram #10.  There it is! in the yellow circle...

a tiny red square with a number 10 on it.  Größeres Schild bitte!

But we do find our tram and make it to our hotel near Zurich airport, and early the next morning we board the tram for a 5 minute ride to the airport and our British Airways flight to Heathrow...

And you know you're in England when...

And we finished off our trip with an enjoyable weekend in Gloucestershire with family, a pub lunch, throwing balls for Jasper to chase, over and over again, and a visit with D'Artagnan. 

 We told our server here at the Neeld Arms near Chippenham, that either the two ladies were sisters, or the two men were brothers, could she pick which one?  She picked the wrong one.  Maybe it was the light from the crooked lamp that fooled her....

the traditional Ploughman's Lunch, with a pint of course...

Jasper, who brings the ball right back to my feet...

D'Arty and me...D'Arty's on the left..

And speaking of left, that's just what we did next... we left England by bus back to Heathrow for our Air Canada flight home.

And now to plan the next Italian adventure....more of Switzerland too....more Puglia, more Milan, maybe more Venice, and maybe throw in some Croatia...

Let the planning begin!

 It's very early morning at Trullo Abate and the clear skies will bring another warm sunny day for us as we head to the weekly farmers' market in Ostuni and then on to the UNESCO site at Trulli-land, also known as Alberobello.

Our updated trullo retains much of the original structure, including the massive stone walls, that keeps the interior cool...

and is located on a large parcel of land amid olive and almond trees.  It was very quiet and very private, exactly what we wanted.

Trullo Abate straight ahead...

Our first stop in Ostuni was of course for coffee, at AlterGusto, our new local...two croissants, two americanos, and this time, two small glasses of water...

Time to find a parking spot at the market...in Italy it seems, laws such as no parking on a crosswalk appear to be only a suggestion...

The Ostuni market was terrific, so much available for sale.  Clothing of all types in many different colours...

one Euro for a pair of jeans!

yes, clothing of all types...

and some eye-catching displays!

Green beans anyone?

and June is cherry season in Puglia...

we bought our cherries here, from a creative vendor...but we didn't buy the ones on his ears...

And the best part of an open air market, the hustle & bustle and active selling...watch your volume...

Then we drove to Alberobello.  Driving in Italy can be an experience, there does seem to be a lot of impatient drivers who tailgate and pass at any opportunity - or even a perceived opportunity.  We often just pulled aside when we could to let them pass.  Another good reason to use back roads where there are far fewer other vehicles.  The need for Italian speed is not limited to automobiles, Ferrari, and Monza,  there is a strong passion for cycling there too.  Race teams in training are a common sight...

Alberobello is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its large number of trullo homes.  

We purposely arrived late in the day to avoid the busloads of tourists that descend on Alberobello every day.  But in spite of that, and that these are actual homes, we still felt like it was all a bit contrived - a Disney-like atmosphere to it all.  Trulli-Land.  We stayed for a couple of hours, walked around, had dinner.  And definitely worth a visit.  But there were other Italian locales that we much preferred - Venice of course during our visit in 2019, Ortigia in Sicily, Ostuni, Locorotundo which we visited the next day, and definitely the amazing Matera which we visited later on our trip.

And there are trullo homes all over Puglia

We very much enjoyed Locorotundo - "The Round City"....

So we walked around...

and around....

and around...

and round...

some more....

The Round City also seemed to us as the City of Arches....

someone's home sweet home...

since there's no place like gnome...

time to stop at the bar...

the coffee bar that is...

for our usual....water served this time too...

time to explore some more...a pottery shop..

the tiny Cappella Madonna del Soccorso..

and the even tinier Chiesa di San Nicola di Myra....

with its trullo-inspired cone ceiling...

and a hand-painted nativity scene at the base of the altar...

Chiesa Madonna della Greca

with a crucifix chandelier...

Shall we climb?

Nah, let's go for a gelato!

Limone for signore, and pis-tak-kio (as is pronounced in Italian) for signora, this time served with a delicate waffle biscuit...

Ciao Locorotundo, grazie mille for a great visit!

The drive back to our trullo takes us through some magnificent olive groves, and we begin to appreciate just how many olives the world eats, there are so many olive trees everywhere....

just two more sunsets to enjoy at our trullo....

Yet another sunny day in Puglia...

perfect day to head to the beach, Ham Beach, Punta Prosciutto...

It was on this drive that we discovered just how many olive trees there are in Puglia...we went through a few miles of nothing but well-tended olive groves on both sides of a very quiet road, with only the birds, and the breeze that seems to whisper.....olives....

In fact, there are over 50 million olive trees in Puglia alone, that's at least 10 million more trees than we have people in Canada!

After the solitude and quiet of the olive groves, we entered Francovilla Fontana, a small city on the way to the Ionian Sea coast...

and came across this intersection....I carefully nosed our Panda forward and suddenly there was a car coming in from the right, whoa!  We parked and had to see this for ourselves.  We expected something like this in Rome, on a grander scale perhaps.  A five-street intersection, with no traffic controls, no stop signs, no yield signs, certainly no traffic lights.....just barely controlled chaos.   We loved it and spent a few minutes just watching and laughing...

watch your volume, it's loud...

This part of Italy (the heel) is really a peninsula on a peninsula so there are miles and miles of coastline.  A lot of it is rocky but on the southwestern side - where Punto Prosciutto is located - there are some nice sandy beaches as well.  With some wonderful shades of blue and green water.

There is the "Lido" side - the beaches are public with private businesses renting chairs and umbrellas on the beach and providing services and facilities like restaurants and showers.  And loud music.  And generally rather busy on warm sunny days...ugh...

or, without the Lidos, empty and quiet and much more our kind of beach time....

In the distance is the town of Torre Colimena....

named after its tower...a large number of these coastal towers were built in the 1500s as a defense system against invasion from pirates.  Torre Colimena is different from many of the others due to its additional features and that it has been well-preserved....

Back towards the town, the local fish shop sits on a beautful marina...

and Ristorante da Caterina looks like a good spot to stop for lunch...

and it was!  One of the best meals we had in Italy actually.  Mussels, shrimp, scallops, and octopus in a fresh tomato sauce with spaghetti....very Apulian and very good....

One unfortunate custom in Italy is bottled water that is served in every restaurant.  Only 2 euros or so, choice of naturale or frizzante even,  so that's not the issue, just all that plastic or glass that could be avoided if tap water was served instead.  But it's always a very pleasant surprise to find such good food in such an expected location, it was a memorable meal.

Then it was back to Trullo Abate, for our last night there before, on June 14, heading to Matera, another UNESCO Heritage site.  And made famous by the latest James Bond movie last year.

Our last Trullo sunset...

Arrivederci Trullo Abate, it really was a wonderful place to stay...

It was on this drive that we enjoyed the best pistachio croissants of our whole tri, in tiny San Paolo...

We discovered it after making a wrong turn and about to turn around, we saw San Paolo Bar and decided to stop....in spite of its rather non-descript appearance...

and there they are, fresh croissants full of delicious pistachio cream, two americanos, and two small glasses of water.....delizioso!

And taking the back roads sometimes led to some narrow roads, but that's no problem for our Fiat Panda...

Not olives this time, or grapes.....massive windmills....

and then...amazing Matera, built into the side of an enormous ravine, originally the homes were simple caves....

as seen on the other side of the ravine...

and if this photo looks familiar to any James Bond fans..Matera and nearby Gravina were the locations for the opening scenes of "No Time To Die"....

photo courtesy Youtube....

On the inhabited side, the caves are now modern homes and hotels...

Including our room for the night at Hotel Caveoso...our room was the one with the double doors on the left....

Room #6.....

and this was our view!  The amazing Chiesa Santa Maria de Idris, built in the 15th century right into this huge rock overlooking Matera.  

and at night....

What a view to wake up to the next morning, with an espresso of course..

or from the Piazza down below...

Actually, amazing from anywhere...

The interior of some of the original cave homes have been retained.....

and reminiscent of the trullo homes we saw in Puglia....(Matera is in Basilicata)....

and the Caveoso Hotel retains some of the original interiors as well...the breakfast area....

our room....

We enjoyed a few hours exploring Matera....

The ultra-modern railway station, in such sharp contrast to its surroundings....and the joy of trying to figure out how to use its Italian-only parking meters, there were several of us trying to pay for parking with no luck.  We chatted with a couple from Denmark and that happened to be the day that Canada and Denmark had announced an agreement to share a small island in the Arctic.  We agreed that we wished the rest of the world could solve their territorial claims without violence.  Fortunately a friendly local came over to help us sort out the parking machines...

then here, where we uncharacteristically fell into what we later considered to be a tourist trap....the Palombaro Lungo...an underground reservoir for drinking water, built in the 16th century, and re-discovered in 1991.  Just a series of dark stairways and walkways over colourfully-lit water.   It was a nice break from the hot sun but that was about it for us...

And as the day turned into night,  Matera continued to impress....

We enjoyed an excellent dinner that evening at Ristorante Francesca, near our hotel...

and walked around a bit more....in awe at the marvel that is Matera....we spent only one night and really wished we had stayed at least one more night to enjoy it.

The next day we drove back to Bari, to return our rental car and board a train to Milan, where we spent our last night in Italy before embarking on a spectacular train ride through the Alps into Switzerland.

That will be our next installment.