Hotel Vecchio Mulino Bari

... shouldn't have taken the first agent's word for it. Seemed to be ships sailing at all hours - must surely have been one with space on it overnight? Definitely the only way to do this route.However, we get by: but I wouldn't recommend Ventourist line: cheap, for sure; but tacky -very, very tacky!Another night in an anonymous port.

... it had strong echoes of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, although here the (potential) autism is less the focus than an accessory of the story. In any case, I was gutted when I left the book in Florence. I even went back to the hostel to see if a kind soul had dropped it off at the book exchange on the return trip from Siena to Milan, but no dice. I'll definitely have to pick it back up at the ...

... to come walking out of one of the dwellings.

We found a couple of very good restaurants (Nadi and il Cantuccio) and also explored the new town area which was surprisingly lively with numerous local families and residents walking on the streets at night in an almost carnival style atmosphere.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Matera because of its “other worldly” setting and feeling. It was a long drive to get there but very much worth the effort.

... main street and walked up looking at the shops, looking inside the house of a wealthy politician that has been well preserved. Back on the street they still had working water fountains, well preserved signs and we wandered off towards the main square and the forum. We looked inside the cages that hold the remains of the artifacts, including the casts of the bodies that are also on display at the Melbourne Museaum. Enzo then took us to ...

... 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 ...

... to hire a car! We had decided to travel around the region rather than staying in one place, so we could really get a feel for what it was like. The further we drove from Bari and the Puglia border, the higher we rose, the wilder and more beautiful the scenery became. Basilicata is the most mountainous as well as the least known region of southern Italy. We found out before we came that tourism is not big in Basilicata, although Italians ...

... style organisation. One boy had obviously been instructed to sneeze from a great height on passengers seated in poll position seats, mine was one, it was so blatant that this young man was faking it. Mine was an aisle seat so then the buffeting started, there was a lot of activity to and fro, I was barged, banged, "accidentally" bumped by passing luggage, had my hair pulled from behind as someone constantly used the back of my headrest to pull themselves ...

... district. Once we finally got settled in, we met a girl named Cynthia from Peru whom we traveled around with for the night. She had been in town for a few days, so she immediately took us to the Colisseum to see it lit up at night! WOW! Incredible site, but what was even more incredible was the DINNER (plus wine and desserts) we had at the Royal Roma Cafe RIGHT across the street from the Colisseum. We literally celebrated our arrival 75 yds from this wonder ...

... and then threw our things into our bags and walked to the dock to meet our Nova boat shuttle to Dubrovnik. The journey ahead of us was going to be LONG and here is what we will be doing for the next few days, en route to Greece: --6:45pm to 7:15pm - boat shuttle from Kolocep to Dubrovnik -- 9:00pm boarding of the Jadrolinija ferry to Bari, Italy, departure 11pm (yes, we dread going BACK to Bari but we had absolutely no choice on this route. Apparently there is some political issue ...

... typical Italian you see in movies. Greased-back hair, hairy chest w/ bling hanging out of his open shirt, sleeves rolled up, chewing on a cigarette ... I know that I shouldn't laugh as there's also all types of stereo-types of Chinese people, but this guy was almost like something out of "The Simpsons"! As the bus got close to Naples Guiseppe pointed out Vesuvius. I asked him if this was the reason for the poor air quality (smelled almost like a campfire at ...