Palazzo Gattini Matera

... literally carved out of the soft tufa stone of the hillside and ravine. The fronts of the caves were covered with brick, stone, and plaster facades to make them look like normal buildings. People lived in the cave houses of the Sassi for thousands of years and as recently as 1960 there were still 30,000 people living in them.<br><br>The Sassi was the poorest area in all of Italy and was called Italy&#8217;s greatest slum and greatest shame. Most residents lived with ...

... in a humid cave which so recently housed entire families, and gazing across the ravine to opposite cliffs where shepherds sheltered for millennia, we got a sense of how hard life was here for so many. Stepping through the courtyards, ancient wine cellars and narrow streets, however, you do also get a strong sense of the communities which survived and flourished against the odds. <br><br>Tiny ...

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.

... we get to customs where there's complete disorder. Then we see the road ways. I've never seen so much disorder in my life.<br><br>Last nights rest on the boat was awesome. We wanted to get some sort of cabin, but all were full and we were forced to be deck passengers. There were a lot of us and most everyone crowded into a lounge and attempted to make beds out of dining booths. Chrissy and I were the only ones to set up our sleep mats ...

... and look over at the village from the other side of the canyon. So we took all sorts of little tracks until we found the right one in the dying light - and what an awesome sight it was in the morning, coffee in hand sitting on a rock at the edge of the canyon, watching the mist clear (check out the pics). For any movie buffs, we happened to be sitting on the spot in Mel´s movie where Christ was crucified - so not ...

... perched on a rock hill. He explained to me in more detail how the church was set out, and how it was used - and I actually understood most of what he said! Fantastic my Italian is improving! I also managed to have a (basic) conversation in Italian with the guy at the tourism centre who gave me some more information about the area and where to go. On the second last day one of Gianluca and Manuela's friends Uccio was kind enough to be my ...

... 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.

... hauled the bike up to the closest auto-washer and gave my bike a good rinse. We then returned to the shop were his son gave the bike a careful oiling (after I cleared the left-over smudges with some paper towel the shop-keeper provided me with). At the end of the process the owner wished me good luck and refused to take any money, "you can buy me a coffee tomorrow morning!" he said. The next encounter I had was in the local ...

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.

... get around with Ethan in the backpack and on our first day out, Jonathan blacked out a bit. We checked him out at the hospital but could only notch it up to severe exhaustion. Jonathan took it easy for the rest of our stay but I felt I should see a bit and with much difficulty, lugged Ethan and his cargo through three ancient rock churches and up and down the Sassi. As usual we visited ...