Residence San Giorgio 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.

The Sassi was the poorest area in all of Italy and was called Italy’s greatest slum and greatest shame. Most residents lived with ...

... 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.

This place is crazy. Totally a fitting welcome to this fun country. We show up in the morning from our overnight ferry. There's total confusion as to whether the pedestrians are to get out with the cars or somewhere else. Bikes, we assume go with the cars. Of course that is until someone decided to tell us differently. Everyone waits in the boat for 15 minutes having no idea what's going on. When the doors finally open, the cars don't know ...

... 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 ...

... guide of the protected parks in Matera. He has just finished a degree in forestry and environmental science and knows all about the native flora. It was very interesting, but funny at first because the first place he showed me was full of gum trees and looked exactly like home! Anyway later on he pointed out all the native birds, the native plants and also the pests - like the gum trees. He makes a very good tour guide and it was a really ...

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.

... view from the cliff looked out to some of the earliest Sassi across the ravine. Gabe's thoughts- The Byzintine art is some of my favorite so far. Sharing the small dark church with a group of Italian teens on a school trip not my favorite so far. Apparently the Matera housing authority has no problem with black mold, the place would be covered with "Mold Remediation Professionals" in the USA. The down side to Matera, other than the mold, is that it's a bit like the ...