Blogs from Matera, Basilicata, Italy, Europe

Today is our last day in Matera. Our stay here has been everything we would have wanted. Our apartment is wonderful. When traveling through cities in Europe have you ever wondered what is behind that locked door in an apartment building. The exterior of our apartment looks like any other. Sometimes in need of fresh paint, shutters always closed to protect the inhabitants from the heat of the day or security, footpaths and roads in need of a fresh layer of tar seal. Behind our new door is a wonderful example of what can be done after a visit to Ikea. Our pensioner holiday pad is perfect for our needs. A great place to return to each night. The plan today is to retrace our steps to the Duomo and start our walking tour through the ... read more

What a feeling it is to wake up in Matera and know you have the time to explore this UNESCO Heritage city at leisure. We are here for four nights. Time to relax, explore and experience this city. But first the washing. Up stairs we have a fancy new electronic washing machine. We flick through the controls and discover a twenty minute wash that suits our needs. We press some more buttons, head back downstairs, start breakfast, and before long we hear the beeping sound telling us the first load is finished. In goes the next load. The conditions for clothes drying are brilliant. Soon we have the second load ready for hanging out and some of the first load is ready to bring in. Our roof top clothes line is brilliant. With the chores done ... read more

Dianne had planned this trip meticulously and the last stop was Matera. I had limited knowledge of what went on there. I heard something about the sassi (plural of sasso) being a bunch of caves where people had lived even into the 1960s. But I wasn’t prepared for what we saw. I can’t begin to describe how this ancient town developed. In an article in The New Yorker in 2015, D.T. Max gives a pretty good description of Matera di Sassi. Click here to learn the city’s history. Coincidently, he stayed in the same B&B we did. The city is gradually being gentrified and in another generation the original residents won’t recognise it. Our B&B on Via Fiorentini between Sasso Barisano and Sasso Caveoso is pretty upscale. We discovered one similarity to an old cave dwelling: ... read more

Today was spent walking around this amazing city which has been built progressively over the years from humble cave dwellings in Neolithic times to fortification during the roman era and development since into two separate cities or "sassies" - both constructed with stone. Sassi caveoso consists of dwellings carved out of the mountains and extended beyond the walls, whereas Sassi barisano is mainly external from the mountains with elaborate free standing and multi levelled dwellings. As in most of these old Italian cities there is also a new section that completely lacks the charm of the old. During our walks today we discovered some abandoned cave dwellings and a heritage listed rain water collection, filtering, storage and distribution system second to none, that lies underneath the city. Most importantly today we found two glasses of prosseco, ... read more

We felt rather sad leaving our haven of peace and tranquillity that was Paestum. We never got round to visiting their restaurant as it only opened at lunchtime but we did buy bread from their excellent farm shop. This was a buffalo farm and they made their own mozzarella cheese although we never saw the buffalo. Our destination today across Italy in an eastwards direction into the mountains. The scenery changed as the hills lent them selves to more of an Alpine feel. We are on a path neither of us have trod before. Grass as far as the eye can see and trees with little agriculture and very few animals. The road was in a poor state of repair and we were worried at one point we might get stuck. The sign warned that the ... read more