Le Monacelle Matera

... a program where they would give away properties in the Sassi if you would renovate them and make them &#8220;livable&#8221; while maintaining the historic integrity and appearance of the area. <br><br>Today nearly 50% of the Sassi buildings have been renovated and are now occupied. You can still wander the streets of the remaining abandoned area and see just how horrible the living conditions must have been. The area is so primitive that is was used as the setting for many ...

Where to start! Martera and the Sassi are absolutley beautiful - definitley a must see when visiting Basilicata.<br><br>Matera,the second largest town in Basilicata is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, thanks to its extraordinary labyrinth of caves, used as dwellings as recently as the 1950s, and which are literally part of the town &#8211; under your feet, beside you, and around the next corner. Many ...

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.<br><br>Pete was also called Pietro while in Italy. :-)<br><br>Trullo comes from the Greek word, "tholos" &#8211; meaning &#8220;dome&#8221;. See the pictures of the wee houses.<br><br>We found the Belvedere pub here too - also the name of our local in Aus &#8211; meaning &#8220;beautiful view&#8221;. It was beautiful.

... train station in the country and they could give you any information about any train in the country. We showed up to a small town train station and they had to call 2 different numbers to find out what the price was for the train and also to find out that in fact bikes are not allowed on the smaller regional trains. We would have to bike the desert and mountains in order to arrive in Potenza a train from which we could take a State train.

(Note : All entries from now until Perth in November are way<br>shorter than they should be, as all out text got stolen, together with<br>our laptop, all our valuables, and almost our whole campervan, when it<br>was broken into and trashed in Rome at the end of October. Have a look<br>at that entry if you want to have a look at the damage the *******s<br>did. The next month or so´s text is written 6 months later, so ...

... relaxing afternoon in the country away from the hustle and bustle of the cities. One of the days I went for a walk through the streets of the old Sassi region - The Sassi district consists of all the old cave dwellings where the people lived and the streets are narrow and wind their way up and down a hill. There were cats everywhere lazing about, as usual! I also have relatives living in Matera Gianluca's parents and his grandmother ...

... hostel was situated right in the middle of this old section of the town, so that I was able to dine, work and nap surrounded by this tranquil, yet lively village. I am continuing towards Bari tomorrow and then to Greece. I am excited to head back out on the road in an unfamiliar territory but in the same time I am already feeling a little sad to leave. All in all, I have had a wonderful time here in Italy; I am sure I will be back sooner than later.

... were very paciante and understanding. The hotel I stayed in was a one star hotel. For 15 E I got a small, fifties style room with a little closet and a table. The hotel and Bar, below it, were run by a family - brother, sister and two parents (and one bossy mother!). The next day I continued towards Matera. I arrived in Matera at about 13:30, after having my tuna sandwich in the outskirts, surrounded by meadows, sheep and cows.

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.

... history. It is full of little cave houses and in the 1960's was rife with disease and poverty. But has renewed itself as an interesting place to visit. Plus I ate the best pizza in my life here. And drank some good wine. Actually thinking now, I wonder why I left?