The first was Alberobello, Italy - one of my favorite towns we visited on our trip. The town is built on a hill so the streets are really steep. What makes Alberobello unique are the interesting roofs on the buildings.
I loved walking through this town. It's almost like a mideval fairy tale town. We walked through several stores and shops where I bought some of my favorite souvenirs that I brought home to family and friends. 
People have inhabited the area of Alberobello since the 15th century. These unique buildings are called the Trulli (because of the way the overlapping stone makes the cone shaped roofs) and were declared national monuments. Alberobello was a farming and peasant village that became a royal township to the royal family.
One of the things I loved most about traveling in Europe is that everything is so old and has such a long, interesting history. Emily and I were very fortunate to have Alberto and his friends to take us to such interesting places and really made the most of our week in Lecce. Going around the table, Alberto is sitting on the left, Max in the middle and Stefano on the right. Grazie mille ragazzi!!
The second town we saw that day was Ostuni, Italy. It is also known as "the White City" because the entire city was made from white stone.
Alberto pulled over so I could take this picture and I am so glad he did. It was getting late in the day and the sun reflecting off the white stone made the entire city glow.
Ostuni has been inhabited since the stone age. It has a great history and has been regarded as a jewel of Italy since ancient times. Jewel you say? Of course I loved this city!!
This was a square in the center of the city. There were lots of shops up and down the streets that branched out from here. You can see there are closed umbrellas hanging down. The vendors open these huge umbrellas during the day, then take them down later in the afternoon and evening.
We ate a lot of ice cream on our trip. Then again, there were ice cream shops around every corner. And the Italians definately know their gellato!!
This is mine and Alberto's Democrat / Republican picture.
These next few picures I took walking through some of the streets. I loved how the streets, buildings and walls were all white, with bright splashes of color in a blue door or bright green shudders. It was very striking.
Note the walkway from one street to another. The streets are connected like this in lots of the cities we visited in Italy. I thought it was pretty cool. Once or twice it was a little creepy but of course I'll have stories for that when I get there.
That evening, Emily wasn't feeling well so they took me to dinner to meet some more of their friends a restaurant that is a converted masseria. The term masseria is mainly used in South Italy and refers to a wine producing farm. This masseria we ate at was about an hour away, out in the middle of the country, surrounded by farm land. The restaurant was the converted old farm house. We literally drove down a long, narrow, winding dirt road surrounded by crops to get to this restaurant. The atmosphere was exactly how you would want to experience Italian dining. It was very dimly lit, and very comfortable. My friends helped me order (as always) and I would have to say this was the best meal I had in Italy. The entire experience was unforgettable. Even the drive back to the apartment was great. I rode back with three of the guys so Alberto could drive his friend home, and they listened to Pavarotti and Friends and sang along beautifully at the top of their lungs. Exactly like you think Italian guys would do. It was one of my favorite and most memorable nights.
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