Matera

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  Matera, Basilicata, Italy
Sunday, June 1, 2008

About 2 weeks ago I went away with Gianluca and Manuela to their hometown - Matera which is in the South of Italy. It took us 5 hours by train to get to Bari (an Italian Port), and then we met Phillipo one of Gianluca and Manuela's friends, who drove us the rest of the way to Matera. We arrived that night at about 11pm, then dropped our bags of at Manuela's mother's house and went out for for drinks. Over the course of the weekend I reckon I met nearly 50 people most of whom I don't remember because it was only a fleeting hello. Gianluca and Manuela know pretty much everyone in Matera!! But fortunately I did get to meet some of their very close friends and every single night we went out for dinner and drinks with them. There was not a single night (of the four I was there) that we got home before 2pm!

However besides meeting the locals and practising my Italian I also took some time to see the sights of Matera

Manuela on the phone

. 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 is 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 tour 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 nice relaxing afternoon in the country away from the hustle and bustle of the cities.

Rimini beach

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 - Concettina (who is the sister of my grandfather). Gianluca's mother prepared delicious meals both days we visited and I ate so much I could hardly walk. Gianluca's grandmother looks exactly like my grandfather and she has a fantastic sense of humour. It was quite overwhelming to meet one of my grandfather's siblings and family in Italy and speak in Italian with them!

Anyway, it was a great weekend, and I hope to go back there again before I leave!

The other day I also rang my grandfather in Australia because I wanted to speak with him in Italian. I thought I knew enough to hold a conversation with him. He was very glad to hear from me - and we spoke pretty much all in Italian which is amazing and something I've always wanted to be able to do. So I look forward to learning more so I can coonverse with him even better, and read about the histroy of Sicily which my grandfather has written in Italian.

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Me at Rimini beach	Woman powerwalking	Walking in the water	People chatting
Small pier	Large pier	Davido and Gianluca at my b'day dinner	Tiberius Bridge built by Romans
Tiberius Bridge 2	Old Church in Matera	The Sassi from the other side of the ravine	The Sassi in front of the new town
The ravine	The ravine 2	Me, Manuela and Marielena	Path
The Sassi	The sassi 2	Me in front of the ravine	Marielena and Manuela
Me, Marielena and Manuela	Strange plants with snails	Ancient caves from 8th to 13th centuries	Ravine 3
Ravine 4	Church perched on ravine	Church perched on the ravine 2	Artisan gelati - delicious!
The old town Sassi where I walked	View over the church perched on the ravine	Alfreso in church in the rock	Alfreso in church in the rock 2
Spooky doorway in church	Church windows	The ravine and Sassi	The ravine and Sassi 2
old rock houses	Church window overlooking ravine	Old caves where monks probably took refuge	Driving in the old streets
Large Sassi street	Example of Sassi cave house	Example of Sassi cave house2	Example of Sassi cave house 3
Sassi streets 1	Sassi streets 2	Sassi streets 3	Sassi streets 4
Zia Concettina and I	Gianluca's parents, Zia Concettina and I	Lake	Gum trees - no I'm not in Australia I swear!!
Lake 2	Eating the best pizza according to Phillipo	Antonella, Desiree, Uccio, Phillipo, Vincenzo	Gianluca and I on left

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