We continue our journey down into southern Italy, we say “goodbye” to the surprisingly beautiful and ancient city of Matera in the region of Basilicata and make our way to Alberobello in Pulgia. I had heard about Alberobello, the small city with the “picture perfect” Trulli houses with conical roofs and wanted to see it for myself.
Ever since our move further south in Italy I have been looking forward to exploring the Southern regions of Italy. I have only been as far south as the Amalfi Coast and now I’m ready to explore further. The perfect opportunity came when a friend invited Jeff to give a talk and to stay with him in Calabria.
It’s mid August and my vegetable garden is rewarding my earlier summer efforts with copious amounts of cucumber, tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, green beans, eggplant, basil and parsley. I asked my neighbor down the hill how her garden was doing and she told me the Cinghiale got her garden! Cinghiale (pronounced: Chen-gall-aye) are wild boars that roam the forests using their snouts to forage for grubs in the soft soil, “The Cinghiale destroyed your garden?!” I gasp while asking increduolously. “The Cinghiale are around here?” “Si”, she responds with eyes wide open “A BIG one with nine babies!” “What?!?” I start thinking about my garden just up the hill from her, I imagine a enormous wild boar with big tusks rummaging through my garden followed by her nine babies. I ask her if the wild boar can be hunted because I also started to imagine a big bowl of steaming pasta in a rich Cinghiale Ragu. “No” she replies, the season for boar is closed but in the fall it will reopen.
