 There is a photo of me at the age of about four, while I hug my mother tightly around the neck while standing on the hood of a white Fiat 127. My expression is amused as is my mother's but the energy I put into the hug together with the facial expression is something that has always loved. I’m very fond of that photo that had the iconic white trulli with the black cylindrical roof as a background, that photo was taken in the eighties by my father while we were in Alberobello. When we were little he often took us to this unique city, a detail that I already perceived then so much so that when my father promised to take us back, I celebrated. Without a doubt there was something about the city that captured me since I was a child, it was not only the fact of seeing it different but this characteristic transmitted something positive to me, probably I saw it more as a city for children. I have always considered Alberobello a place of mine and a personal discovery and even though I went there many times until adolescence, then this habit disappeared for various reasons. In 2021, together with my sister, we decided to accompany my parents to San Giovanni Rotondo but I set as a condition that on the way back home we would stop for a couple of days in Alberobello. The proposal was accepted with enthusiasm by everyone so I could finally return to a place that was much more than a place of my childhood. Driving through the Apulian roads, I perceived why I had always been fascinated by that land. Those landscapes of rocky and dry land reminded me of moments from Sergio Leone's western films that I loved so much. As a child, passing through those landscapes in a certain sense for me was like entering the settings of western films and this satisfied me. Driving along the roads as an adult, it helped me to enhance this sensation by also noticing other things. Even if the territory was more or less the same, arriving near Alberobello, the panorama took on an even more personal and identifying shape. In fact, close to the road, the first trulli began to appear, some small, others a little larger and positioned further inland. The trulli marked the land, it was like entering a kingdom where those particular houses with a unique and harmonious design were the rulers of the place. In a certain sense for me the trulli were like Dorothy's yellow brick road in the world of Oz, something that represented the passage into a different dimension. The unique scenery of the trulli accompanied us to our hotel where we arrived around 6 PM. The hotel was in a very large private area, far from other homes but at the same time not far from the center. After resting a bit we went out and with a ten minute walk, we literally immersed ourselves in the white of a unique urban planning in the world dominated by these cylindrical homes. Even though many years had passed, I immediately recognized Largo Martellotta, the large square and the most central place in the city where my father had taken the photo I was talking about. The difference I immediately noticed was that except for the main road, all the area was closed to cars and this gave the place a completely new connotation where the space was totally enjoyed by people. The positive thing about this aspect was that the atmosphere in Alberobello was very serene and jovial, the people, whether locals or tourists, were all serene and cheerful with the presence of many young families. Alberobello was probably like a big natural Disneyland, where parents took their children to play in a fairytale setting completely different from any other city. Right near where my father had taken the famous photo of us, they had installed a heart-shaped bench and in turns, my family and I, took a series of photos celebrating our return to a place that had above all personal meanings as well as being beautiful in itself. The exploration of Alberobello began with the climb towards Via Monte San Michele which was one of the two streets that starting from Largo Martellotta forked at the sides. This street that was not excessively steep was flanked by trulli that the shopkeepers had transformed into real works of design. Almost all the trulli housed shops and the structures had been decorated in a simple way but with personality. There were many plants and flowers of all colors but also accessories such as old bicycles used as flowerpots but above all the most beautiful and choreographic thing were the vine trees. In fact, many trulli had these trees at the sides that had grown in such a way as to become a real frame. Behind it there was certainly a very refined work focused on passion even before actual utility. The shops inside the trulli were works of art in themselves, just for the originality and beauty of how they had been set up. All this in an ultra clean and elegant context where even the people perceiving this order and cleanliness, respected the place by keeping it clean. I really appreciated Via Monte San Michele and even though it was full of people it was a street that could still be enjoyed and this in my opinion also because of its style; a sort of elegant and original ramp that went up with its sinuous curves like those of a snake. Every now and then my sister and I, would take some side streets so that we could take photos with the trulli but without being disturbed by the presence of other people. It was enough to walk for a few minutes in one of these side streets to find ourselves alone with the trulli, which those far from the main street, had more of a residential function than shops.    Largo Martellotta   Via Monte San Michele        Via Monte San Michele took us right in front of the Parish of Sant’Antonio, a building I didn’t know and that struck me immediately. In fact, this church in style reminded me a lot of the Spanish missions like those you can see in Mexico or Southern California. Unfortunately, I only saw one of these types of structures in person and it was the Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Fortunately, films have documented this type of church sufficiently and it is now part of everyone’s collective imagination. Clearly, the Parish of Sant’Antonio was inspired by the Spanish missions with its arched windows, rounded motifs and the contrast of the white of the facade with the black of the roof. However, this was identifying of the place as it was made in the same way as the roofs of the trulli; with the black stone set in such a way as to form a dome. When we returned to Largo Martellotta around dinner time, the place was even more crowded and the restaurants with people sitting outside starting to dine, gave an even more harmonious tone than when we arrived. That scenario was serene and inviting and obviously we found a place and we stopped to have dinner too with a glimpse of the trulli. These at night were illuminated in various colors, they were not particular scenographic effects but simple lights that nevertheless gave an effect of depth that was difficult to perceive in the dark. We ate a pizza immersed in a beautiful, impressive context and surrounded by a serenity that as if by magic people exchanged in a silent way. In Alberobello in fact there was an aura of positivity that people absorbed and transmitted to others, it was a sort of magical place, different from the reality we are used to living. If the crowded scene had been the one when we arrived, the morning before leaving, Alberobello was the exact opposite. Probably because it was Sunday morning but both Largo Martellotta and Via Monte San Michele were completely deserted. However, the scene, although surreal, was still unique, or rather perhaps even more exclusive. We took advantage of that calm and silence to wander around the shops and buy souvenirs without disturbance and with the help of my sister I managed to reproduce a new photo with my mother while I hugged her around the neck. That morning the visit ended inside a shop which had a terrace from where it was possible to admire all the trulli that from there seemed like a wave of black domes made of stone. After leaving that shop, we returned to the hotel and got ready to continue the journey towards Polignano a Mare, the last destinations of our tour through Apulia. The return to Alberobello, although brief, was lived intensely and above all with tranquility and lightheartedness. I found a place even more beautiful and better than I remembered and the fact of having been able to experience it with the same people with whom I saw it for the first time was probably the most important thing and the added value. In fact, any place, beyond its particular aesthetics and uniqueness, is also a place whose beauty is associated above all with the people with whom we saw it for the first time and the memories linked to them.  Parish of Sant’Antonio           A.M.
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