Moving day.....left our nice little place in Lecce and moved toward the north and west so that we could visit the city of Matera in Basilicata. We (as in I) found a place to stay online. It was lovely, not locateable by GPS from the online address and directions (as per usual) and after lots of false tries and asking lots of questions, I called the place and BEGGED in my best pidgin Italian for someone to come get us. Turns out that instead of 1 km from the highway, it was more like 5 km from the highway down a couple narrow country roads and past an Italian airbase.
It was actually a very nice place with kind of an Alfred Hitchcock feel to it. We w
ere the only guests there and the only person working there was a kid about 20 who spoke no English and had NO personality in ANY language. Our room was nice and up one of the steepest marble staircases I have seen. One of the more intersting features of the place was the 13 cats that resided there. I tried diligently to get a photo with them all but they were simply not willing to cooperate. This was the best I could do...Mr. Personality had thrown out the crumbs from our breakfast along with the leftover milk from my latte and the cats attacked the food.
ere the only guests there and the only person working there was a kid about 20 who spoke no English and had NO personality in ANY language. Our room was nice and up one of the steepest marble staircases I have seen. One of the more intersting features of the place was the 13 cats that resided there. I tried diligently to get a photo with them all but they were simply not willing to cooperate. This was the best I could do...Mr. Personality had thrown out the crumbs from our breakfast along with the leftover milk from my latte and the cats attacked the food.We drove to Matera, an ancient city carved into the limestone of the area. It has a history of terrible impoverishment and very high mortality rates due to malaria until the late 1950's when malaria was wiped out with DDT and the Italian government made all the residents of the cavelike dwellings move into more suitable housing. There is a "sassi" (cave home) that has be
en recreated in one of the original dwellings for tourists to see. Here's a photo of it and one of the deserted, empty caves. 
en recreated in one of the original dwellings for tourists to see. Here's a photo of it and one of the deserted, empty caves. 
The city of Matera is really very striking....all carved into the stone and on 
the top of a steep ravine. The old part of the city where the people were moved to apartments is deserted except for a few shops and kiosks. There is a newer part that has very nice homes and apartments, all made of the limestone of the area. As you can see in the photos, there are a lot of elevation changes so we earned our pasta for the day, which we enjoyed at our lunch stop.
the top of a steep ravine. The old part of the city where the people were moved to apartments is deserted except for a few shops and kiosks. There is a newer part that has very nice homes and apartments, all made of the limestone of the area. As you can see in the photos, there are a lot of elevation changes so we earned our pasta for the day, which we enjoyed at our lunch stop.
No comments:
Post a Comment