The Most Beautiful Village in Italy - PIETRAPERTOSA!

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The Most Beautiful Village in Italy - PIETRAPERTOSA!

I first researched on some place unique in nature and nothing specific on my mind, what to see, what to experience or what's more: what possibly can Basilicata offer apart from how a typical traveler would expect from the ever endless Italy can be given to a clueless traveler like me.

Here I am, using my most reliable source of search engine - google! Google for pictures. Google for exciting places to see in Southern Italy and I was being strike upon those Italian houses on high elevation along the narrow hill (so I guessed) or mountain (not entirely sure either).

Since I will be on my way to Matera anyway, it is just about half an hour away from Matera, Pietrapertosa looked amazing to me and would be such a wise choice to 'drop by' I am confidence!

Such a mouthful name for a small village!

Great, here we are, my travel mate & myself. As far as my travel mate know, he is following my traveling schedule to the max. I was the brain behind this whole traveling schedule - where to go, how far to get there, how many minutes of traveling. Everything looked so easy.

Little did I know that Italians loved to build houses or should I say conserve their historical village from the early age to the modern generation regardless of how far or how high an existing village located. I am astonished, I am.

Pietrapertosa is interestingly locating at the elevation of 1088m above everything else! It is ringed by the spectacular Lucanian Dolomites. This is my first dolomites experience! I am getting more than what I expected of.

On top of that, I was amazed with such breath-taking views on my way up even though the sharp turnings corner along the driving up gave me such terribly hair raising moments too many times that I am so impressed with my travel mate's driving skill. He stayed so calm all the way (he was driving) while I was holding on so tight to whatever I can hold on to in the passenger seat!

Lonely Planet would says that Pietrapertosa is the highest village in Basilicata and often swathed in cloud. Truly makes people wondering why anyone would build here, in a territory best suited to goats. I strongly agreed! The reason why I said so because while we were up there, we barely see anyone on the streets at all in the afternoon daylight hours! Where have everybody goes? Are those Italians too busy hibernating while catching up with their endless TV channels (apparently Wikipedia says Italy has 567 TV channels!)? If so, why on earth they need to do it here in this very high altitude? How strange is that!

Often time, we drove around without any guide, bumping around from one small street to another. Even the post office is closed on weekday in the afternoon! Of course nothing is opened, don't even need to think about any restaurant or my favorite Pizzaria. Heart-broken, thirsty, hungry, still trying to recover from the hair raising ride up...nothing comparing to that truly one of the kind what Pietrapertosa can offered - this is way too amazing, way too surreal, way too out of this world.

How? Why? Really?

Sitting here now, thinking back, everything still felt like a freezing cold dream on my not-so-thick-winter-jacket (yes, I was ill prepared for that high altitude cold weather) once I had weeks back. When I was up there, I was jumping around to warm my body. Now, my heart is racing just thinking of that beautiful village.

I would love to go back there again but by car? I am thinking twice unless I am a skillful right-hand traffic driver!

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