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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 carriageway reduced to 2.16 m wide . Now Suzy is around that width so it might mean some holding in of breathe and perhaps pulling the mirrors in and hoping for the best . So far so good just swapping carriageways with regular monotony but eventually the narrow bit arrived . The road swung over, the barriers came in and one lorry had got
stuck . He was trying to extricate himself from an embarrassing situation . We looked at it. Here goes… suck in ……phew she got through . What a relief .
We had chosen another hacienda this time just outside the town of Matera . We are getting to enjoy this type of accommodation. Generally cheaper than ACSI sites which work out at between 16 and 18 euros a night, the haciendas come out at around 8 to 10 euros although sometimes they can work out the same price but without the facilities . Neither last night nor tonights stop had washing machines and we were beginning to need one. This one has toilets and showers although we had to pay extra and both had restaurants on site . Last nights had a shop . Todays site had nothing although it did provide hotel accomodation as well . The bonus it did provide a free shuttle bus to town or to the sassi.
Again another area that we had found a lot about by watching Andrew Graham Dixon who extolled the virtues of seeing the paintings in some of the out of the way churches. Now we knew we
would never find or be able to go into the ones he had seen but the place merited a visit .
When we arrived the place seemed deserted . There were motorhomes all parked up but not a soul about and it took some time for me to find the owner. It always feels strange as you try locked doors, as you peer into empty receptions or shops trying to find someone to book us in. When I did find the owner he took my passport as always and said it was 15 euros plus 1 extra for a shower. He had one place free and we could squeeze in between two Italian motorhomes if we liked. He had a restaurant which was open at 8 and a free shuttle that would take us to the sassi at 1 and bring us back at 4.30 . Sounds good to me.
Suzy was plugged in and overlooked a pretty valley with birds singing and a peace that you cannot buy. We went for the bus which turned up on time and took us the 3 km to the sassi. Matera is a city and province in Basilicata
in the south of Italy and it was the capital of the region 1663 to 1806. The town lies in a small canyon, which has been eroded in the course of years by a small stream the Gravina. It is known as la Città Sotterranea" (the Subterranean City), Matera is well known for its historical center called the Sassi.
Matera has gained international fame for its ancient town, the "Sassi di Matera" (meaning "stones of Matera"). The Sassi originated in a prehistoric troglodyte settlement, and these dwellings are thought to be among the first ever human settlements in what is now Italy. The Sassi are habitations dug into therock itself, which is characteristic of this area. Many of them are really little more than caverns, and in some parts of the Sassi a street lies on top of another group of dwellings. The ancient town grew up on one slope of the rocky ravine created by a river that is now a small stream, and this ravine is known locally as "la Gravina". In the 1950s, the government of Italy used force to relocate most of the population of the Sassi to areas of the developing modern city.
Until the late 1980s the Sassi was considered an area of poverty, since its dwellings were, and in most cases still are, uninhabitable. The present local administration, however, has become more tourism-oriented, and it has promoted the regeneration of the Sassi with the aid of the Italian government, UNESCO, and Hollywood. Today there are many thriving businesses, pubs, and hotels there.
The sassi was Italys dirty secret . Up to the 1950’s the inhabitants lived in caves and the rest of Italy were shocked by what they saw. They couldn’t believe how affluent they were in the North and yet peasants were eeking out a living and were living in squalor . The sassi was abandoned and a new town built. It was only later that the town saw the advantage of the sassi and opened up caves for visitors , opened up bijou bed and breakfasts and started to live in the caves and houses again. It reminded me of Naples in a strange way. Houses built on top of houses. Narrow streets one on top of the other. One mans garden butting on to the neighbours bedroom walls. It is a funny place and like nothing we
have ever seen before. Grey and a dismal place to live without windows . It must have been dire but now it is a world heritage site much protected and loved . Italys dirty secret has become a huge tourist attraction.
There are churches in the sassi built into the rocks primitive things. There are large town squares . But everyone lived in nothing more than a cave.
We sat in the cafes enjoying the spring sunshine. The blossom on the trees are perfect when the wind blows they drop pink petals on the ground. We ate bruschetta with tomatoes and olive oil. We drank Americano coffee . We fell in love with the Sassi. Where Naples failed to inspire us the Sassi had something about it that endeared you to it. We had expected to be shocked. We expected perhaps not to like it. It is strange that sometimes you visit a place with little expectation . The Sassi was just that . We didn’t expect to like it . No we didn’t like it , we absolutely loved it.
Our driver turned up at 4.30 unlike our Modena man this one turned up right spot
right time and drove us home.
When we left in the morning we had Italians to either side of us. The ones to our left had left their shoes out and had pulled their awning out partway. The ones to the other side were just there . When we got back the left hand side was still there still with awning part way out but to our right now were tuggers . Tuggers are caravaners and it doesnt seem to matter what nationality – these were Dutch they bring their caravan on holiday and take over. They seem to want their plot of ground and want half of the next plot to put up awning or park their car.
Our neighbours had parked so close to Suzy you could hardly squeeze a cigarette paper between us. They had even taken up another half a space – ours – to put up their awning so that they could sit out on their chairs. They came to apologise for taking up so much space but seemed to fail to see that all they had to do was take the awning down and move over to give us our space back.
Despite my complaining they just said they wanted the awning up and we could lump it or leave it.
We left them to it and went for a meal at the on site restaurant. Glenn ate his usual plate of assorted meats. I chose red pasta with chick peas and mushrooms in a sort of soup/thick stew. It was tasty and extremely filling. The food of the south is more substantial more pasta in stews and more fish. More of a filling country food.
When we got home the frog chorus started and went on deep into the night. At midnight we heard our Italian neighbours arriving home and putting their awning in. Or so we thought until we woke in the morning and saw they had pulled it out even further and made it almost impossible for us to squeeze out of the spot. We do though , Glenn has become adept at extricating Suzy from tight spaces. We paid up, cursed a lot , put it down to experience and parked it and moved on . Moved on to see the trulli which are famous in the area of Puglia.
Sion thinks they look like
comical little hats.
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
Great find!
This place looks charming, especially since it's surrounded by so much countryside and has exotic cave dwellings. A lot of times, ancient places now in ruins, become the most picturesque for us modern tourists.