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Well, not exactly, but that's what they look like (Especially with me standing in front). Trulli!!! This one is mine.
From Lisbon, I flew to Italy to meet up with my friends and head to the heel of Italy's boot for a week. The flight turned out to be quite eventful - a woman was complaining of chest pains (had a heart attack before). She couldn't breathe without the oxygen tank, and just looked horrible. So, after flying for about an hour we had to head back to Lisbon, where she refused to get off the plane!!! Of course, the pilot wouldn't take off with her still on board...took about 15 minutes of coaxing by the doctors to get her on the ambulance. In the meantime, there was this guy who was taking photos/videos of the whole incident! Can you believe it?! HOW RUDE!!!

Anyways, I had a few hours to kill in Milan before meeting up with my travel mates. I've been to Italy several times, but never to Milan. Decided it was about time I saw the Duomo. I didn't have a guide book or map, but luckily I found the right metro which dropped me off right in front. Yey! (Maybe I even looked like a local, since a few tourists came up to me and asked if they were headed in the right direction.) Can I just say that the Duomo is amazing!!! There really is no way to accurately describe it in words. I suggest that you go yourself and take a look :) Unfortunately, they were building a concert stage right in front of the building, so I couldn't get a good exterior view. And this was followed by fig and yogurt gelato. Yuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmy.

To be honest, I had no responsibilities during this leg of my trip. Basically, I go where my friends go. It was nice to have a break from all the planning, but the downside is that I don't exactly remember where I went....(especially since I'm about a month behind on my updates. Sorry!)

I do recall the trulli in Abertobello, though. I've always wanted to see these cute little houses. It turns out that the majority of the trulli are concentrated in Abertobello (think trulli park), but you can see some in the surrounding areas too. Some are converted into hotels, but most are still being used as residential homes. Wish I had the chance to go into one of them... There's even a church with trulli roofing in the area.

There's also the town of Matera, known for their "sassi" or cave dwellings. Once you walk into the town, you get a sense of its ancientness. I don't know what it is...maybe the overall color and structure. I loved the old churches and monasteries with their wall paintings. Aside from the sights, one of the highlights here was the food. I got a whole plate of boiled chicory!!! It may not sound too appetizing, but it was great - you get the slight bitterness of chicory, plus the olive oil flavoring. My friend, on the other hand, had probably the most disgusting food you can get in Italy - soggy bread salad. Given that Matera was a poor community, stale bread was their staple diet. I think they used it as something like pasta. Personally, I'd rather just eat stale bread in its hard form, rather than soaking it.

Where else....oh yeah. Southern Italy is full of tiny white-washed towns. The whole entire place has a lazy feel during the day. Seriously, everything closes from noon until 6pm. Too hot. You don't see people out until the evening, when they go out for dinner and drinks. I want that kind of lifestyle!

Pasta (those ear-shaped ones are chewy and delicious), coffee (double espresso), gelato (yogurt flavor. I've tried many others, but I've decided that I only like yogurt), and figs (dried figs, some with almond inside! but I think the figs from Morocco are better) became my daily ritual : )

Oh, and another important event - I tried my hands at driving manual. The inn we were staying at had a huge parking lot so it was a perfect opportunity! It was so hard to get the car moving. I must've stalled at least 20 consecutive times... Let me just say that I don't think I will ever own a manual car. I can't even really understand why they need to exist in the first place. Automatic gets the job done, no?!