On p-day this week we took a little trip out to Castel del Monte about an hour west of us. The castel (Italian spelling) is a beautiful octagonal castle built in the 1240s. Everywhere we look here seems like a reminder that our own country is so young in comparison! Castel del Monte is incredibly well preserved. As we walked thorough it I could imagine it being lived in. I do have to say that was absolutely freezing inside (even though it wasn't a terribly cold day). A reminder that I do appreciate indoor heating! One of the unique features of this castel is that had indoor plumbing. The builder of the castel took the idea from Arabic castles and apparently was ahead of his time!
After we toured the Castel we drove into the town of Andria. We happened to hit the town during pranzo and it was more or less a ghost town. Pranzo is interesting, in the big cities or tourist areas you don't see it as much, but the entire town closes up and takes a break. Everything closes, including all the restaurants. So, generally between 1:30pm - 4:00pm there are no stores or restaurants open. We wandered around Andria for about 45 minutes and only saw one or two people.
We are putting lots of kilometers on our little car. We also did the drive to Taranto (about 80 mins south of us) twice this week. The drive to Taranto is fun because we go past miles and miles of Olive trees. Apparently there is a castle in Taranto as well. We'll have to check that out after District Conference next week.
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