Caveoso Matera

... inside the two or three room caves that served as their homes. The sanitary conditions were abysmal, and the infant mortality rate exceeded 50%.

Then, in the late 1950s, the government of Italy got involved and began to move (sometimes by force) all residents out of the Sassi and into new government apartments built in a “new” section of town. By 1963, the Sassi was deserted and had become a true ghost town. Then, in the 1980s, the government ...

... well preserved, and the Sassi ('stones') districts are now undergoing stylish renovations and are now host to bars, restaurants, and chic boutique hotels.

Our hotel, the 5* Palazzo Gattini, was stunning, and combined old world luxury with every modern comfort. The view from the terrace and the balconies to the ancient caves was magical and entrancing. Wandering through the Sassi ...

This is where Pietro, an old Italian guy, jumped into Bruce and navigated us to the trulli. He saved us from a traffic jam in the narrow streets of Puglia.

Pete was also called Pietro while in Italy. :-)

Trullo comes from the Greek word, "tholos" – meaning “dome”. See the pictures of the wee houses.

We found the Belvedere pub here too - also the name of our local in Aus – meaning “beautiful view”. It was beautiful.

... to go and are doing u-turns randomly before having to wait, not knowing what for. The pedestrians are told to wait and then pointed in a direction that doesn't appear safe for pedestrians and lastly for the cyclists, chrissy and I, none of the employees actually know whether we are supposed to wait in a really long vehicle line, or follow the pedestrians into that building. However, they all confidently tell us contradicting things ...

... much so that heaps of films have been made there, King David with Richard Gere and Mel Gibsonīs The Passion of the Christ amongst them.

We arrived late afternoon and looked down on the valley of houses from the main square, and in the distance saw a campervan on the edge of a cliff the other side of the valley, a km or so away. Now wouldnīt that be a cool spot to spend the night, wake up with a cup of ...

... see the sights of Matera. Matera is built on the edge of a deep ravine, and the old part of the town is built into the rock and people used to live in man-built caves up until the 1950s! One of the days I went to some of the churches built in about the 13th century. They are amazing, built into the rock with some of the old alfresco work on the walls. I even managed to talk with one of the attendants at the church "Santa Maria di Idris" whi ...

I decided to remain in Matera for an extra day. The old city, boasting a heritage of nearly 10,000 years is clearly majestic in its effect on the first time visitor. Not too touristy (yet), the city gives out the real feeling of what living in a small, secluded, cliff hanging cave town would be like. One can easily imagine this by looking up towards the still vacant stone houses and caves or looking down at the creak and the rocky hills surrounding it ...

... where the two pharmacists, once again, proved to be extremely kind and helpful. Armed with a dictionary and query Italian, I tried to remember the words for "rash" and "crouch". In the end I settled for a few jesters and finger pointings. "where? where? - oh, down there.. OK..", the pharmacist finally said, heading towards the baby ointments section. The whole process took 5 long minutes; the line behind me grew, yet the ...

Short ride yet breathtaking. Via Appia is magnificent! An ancient roman road which is situated comfortably on the mountains above the highway is also amerced in natural forest and meadows, dotted here and there by small town houses, grazing sheep, pigs or hens. There is barely any traffic on the road - definite a bikers heaven. The mountain peaks reach a hight of more than 1000 m.

... standing up, on the spot.
People would often bring their own bread and wine and make a meal of it, and it became so popular that a number of these establishments added a room to their shop and turned them into rustic restaurants, and it is one of these I'm taken to tonight.
We sit down and immediately bread, olives and red wine (the holy trinity?) in a rustic clay jug are brought, and a plate of marinated vegetables. Then the parade of meat starts (and I don't think ...