Matera: The magical city of the sassi

(Actual date....January 5, 2008)

We were on our way to Basilicata, the region in the "instep" of the boot. We were sad to leave Puglia and Ostuni behind but we were excited to see Matera as well.

Basilicata is often described as Italy's last true wilderness. As described in Lonely Planet, Basilicata "is a chaotic landscape of tremendous mountains, dark forested valleys, and villages melded into the rockface...." It is a remote and poor region. We didn't not have too much time in Basilicata so our only stop was Matera, a unique city that is the backdrop for Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ. Matera is famous for the sassi, or stones of Matera. The sassi are cave dwellings that people lived in for thousands of years, until the 1950s. During the 1600s Matera served as the capital of Basilicata but by the 1950s, half the population lived in the sassi and there was an infant mortality rate of 50 percent. Carlo Levi wrote about the situation in Matera and in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the inhabitants of the sassi were forcibly relocated to government housing. In 1993, Matera's sassi became a UNESCO World Heritage site. Today, many of the sassi are being refurbished and it is possible to stay in one: We did! There are two sassi districts: Sasso Barisano, which is the more modern section that we stayed in; and Sasso Caveoso, the more impoverished section that gives you an idea of what the city was like at one point.

Our guidebooks recommended stopping at a panoramic overlook to get a good overview of the city. The overlook is on the Taranto-Laterza road and you follow signs for the chiese rupestri. The road takes you to the Murgia Plateau, which is separated from Matera by a giant ravine.

The ravine......


Across the ravine are great views of Sassi Caveoso. Despite the gale force winds and freezing cold, we got some great skyline views of Matera.



The many caves in the area....



After seeing Matera from a distance we were even more excited to see the city up close. We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at our hotel: B&B Del Casale, a great find (see contact info and the end of the post). We highly recommend this place if you want to stay in a sassi. What a deal for 65 Euros!



After finding a map it was time to explore!



There are a decent number of stray dogs, however, all strays are rounded up one a year and neutered which apparently helps with preventing fights.


Most stores were closed but we enjoyed just wandering around and getting the feel for the area. Reed quickly decided that Matera was his favorite place!







Near the main piazza, we found a great bakery and bought a bread that was loaded with olives! We decided that we would stop there the next day to get some snacks for the long trip to Sicily. We also found a restaurant that looked like it would be good. It turns out it was one of the worst, most expensive meals. Not even worth writing about. What a disappointment!

Even though dinner was horrible, we still had a great time. Heading back to our own sassi, we tried to absorb the atmosphere of this very special place!




For your own sassi experience:
Bed & Breakfast del Casale
Via Casale 43 Sasso Barisano 75100 Matera
Tel: 0835 337304
Cell: 3397362067

Next we head out of mainland Italy and get our first taste of Sicily, not to mention some amazing foccacia!

The Highlights of Puglia: Alberobello and some Trulli

(I'm behind posting....Actual Date: January 4, 2008)

On Friday morning we woke up early to a cloudy day with weather forecasts predicting rain!


I was disappointed since this was our only day to head to Alberobello and visit the trulli. The trulli are traditional stone structures with conical roofs that can be found in the Valle d'Itria in the Italian region of Puglia (the "heel" of Italy). One of the theories behind the origin of the design is that these structures is that they were built so they could be easily dismantled when property inspectors were in the area. (To read more about this area, check out two of our other posts: Alberobello and the Famous Trulli and Our First Taste of Puglia: Trani and Ostuni).

We grabbed a quick espresso at a cafe in the center of Ostuni before picking up the car for the 40 minute drive to Alberobello, our first stop.


We had a little trouble finding the exact road we were supposed to get on, but in no time we were heading on our way. Within a few minutes we had spotted our first trulli! We pulled off the side of the road and took some pictures.



The trulli are really amazing and the landscape is breathtaking. Even though it was January, was overcast, and was cloudy, the colors were amazing. I am sure that on a sunny spring day with a bright blue sky it would be even more stunning. As we rode along towards Alberobello, passing through the town of Locorotondo, there were more and more trulli!




As luck would have it, just as we pulled into Alberobello it started to rain. We quickly found a parking spot (benefit of traveling during the off season) and headed off to see the highlights of the town, not before stopping at a bakery to get some traditional bread from Puglia: bread stuffed with olives. We took our time wandering the streets but were kind of disappointed with how touristy the town was. I had read how signs throughout Alberobello are written in English, German, and Japanese, but was stilled shocked at the "Disney-esque" aspect of the town. Every few steps we took someone was asking us to come into their store or to see their trulli. After about an hour, we felt we had pretty much exhausted Alberobello. Before leaving, we stopped back at the bakery to pick up another loaf of olive bread...it was that good!





In our guidebook I had read that there was a panoramic overlook where there was a great view of the trulli. We searched but with no luck! We decided to head to our next stop....the city of Martina Franca.

In my exhaustive internet searching for our trip, I had read on the SlowTravel forum (a great website for travel planning!) that the best trulli were on a secondary road between Alberobello and Martina Franca and that in order to find this road and the trulli, you follow the signs pointing to the agriturismo Green Park. This is definitely the road to take! It was very scenic and we got\ to see how spectacular the trulli are! We both definitely agree that a visit to the trulli is a must, but that the experience of seeing the trulli in the countryside is far better than in Alberobello. A car is also a must because without one there is no way to experience it!

Inside of a trulli

We found ourselves in Martina Franca as it began to rain harder! Martina Franca is an amazing baroque city, completely different than Alberobello. It was founded in the 10th century by refugees fleeing the Arab invasion. It only became really prosperous during the 14th century when Philip of Anjou granted the city a tax exemption. (Franchigie being the French word for tax exemptions, hence the name Franca). In addition to wanting to wander the baroque streets of Martina Franca we were looking for capacollo di Martina Franca: a D.O.C. meat that is cured in brine and soaked in mulled wine.

Martina Franca details

Martina Franca's duomo

In the main piazza with the duomo, we found a great store selling all handmade cheese and meats including the capacollo and burata cheese, a specialty of the area. The lady was really nice and helpful and we bought some mozzarella and burata. It was getting close to pausa during which everything shuts down so we decided to head on to Locorotondo, wishing only that we had more time to wander the streets of Martina Franca. Next time!

We easily found a scenic secondary road dotted with rolling hills and trulli. We stopped many times to take some great pictures. We later decided that this was the best route for seeing the trulli, but unfortunately the next day we tried to find this road again and were unsuccessful.

As we were approaching Locorontondo we happened upon three very large (but lean!) pigs that were just hanging out. Oliver went ballistic when he saw the pigs. I have to admit, they were a lot faster that I thought pigs were!


When we got to Locorotondo, it was pretty much deserted; the daily market had just finished and it was pausa. We had wanted to try some of Locorotondo's moscato but no stores were open. Bummer. Next time hopefully! We wandered the streets for awhile looking for a place where we could get a quick bite. There were not a lot of options! We finally found a place and had a quick bowl of pasta. Considering that it was rainy and getting late, we decided to head back to Ostuni.




Once back in Ostuni, we debated going back to the restaurant from the night before, but decided against it seeing we had bought so much cheese in Martina Franca!




After dinner, we wandered around Ostuni's labyrinth streets. As we took turns opera music radiated from speakers. It was a great time, wandering through one of my very favorite cities in all of Italy. I was glad I got to experience it with Reed and Ollie but wished we had more time there!

Tomorrow we leave Puglia and head to see the sassi of Matera in Basilicata. Plus, Oliver gets his first taste of Italian Dog Gangs!

To read more about this fascinating region, check out the New York Times article The Heel is Rising

Back in Sorrento: A ferry later and all the wiser

I awoke early on Friday morning, around 5:30 am, before the alarm had a chance to go off. We were scheduled to arrive in Naples at 7 am, but what do you know, we were early. Sure enough, we were pulling into the port. We hastily got everything together, during a time like this it was hard not to wish that the ferry ride was longer. Longer ride=more sleep! We got off the ferry, passing carabinieri who did not seem to care that Ollie had obviously spent the night in the cabin. It was pitch dark outside and we had no idea of our exact location and where we needed to be in order to catch the hydrofoil to Sorrento. I'm not going to lie, the next half hour was quite stressful. It involved trying to speak with a cop who was all drugged out and insisted on repeating "F-E-R-R-Y" over and over to us in English, being surrounded by more stray dogs, and finally Reed having a cab ride from hell to an ATM machine. By the time we got to the hydrofoil office it was around 7 and we learned the first hydrofoil for Sorrento was at 9:30. It started to rain, which made the long wait even longer.

By 12ish we had arrived back at Casa Mazzola and were glad to take a shower and go to sleep!

Saturday was pretty uneventful. We were still tired and the weather was pretty bad: cold, cloudy, and rainy. Reed and I went down to Sant'Agnello to drop off some laundry and then walked around Sorrento for a bit. We went to dinner at La Rosa for dinner with two other guests who were staying at Casa Mazzola who were from Virginia. Ironically, the guys name was also Reed spelled the same way! What a coincidence!

Tomorrow we head to the mystical island of Capri, braving wind, waves, and storms!

Palermo Day 1: Are we in Italy????

We woke up Thursday morning and had a busy day ahead of us. Considering that we only had one day to see everything we wanted to see we were going to be busy! The one thing that I was interested in seeing after doing my research but we had to eliminate was the catacombs. Maybe next time if we ever make it back to Palermo. On our list of things to do, was check out the markets; Lo Spasimo, the church without a roof; some really interesting trees; and Palermo's cathedral. Along the way we were also hoping to find some goodies to bring back with us!

Our first stop of the day was the Ballaro Market in Palermo's Albergheria district. Along the way, we passed the Quattro Canti, or the "Four Corners." It is located at the intersection of Via Vittorio Emanuele and Via Maqueda and is a quartet of baroque palaces left over from the heyday of Spanish rule. Each of the corners is decorated with a niche in three tiers. The first tier of each niche contains a fountain and a statue representing one of the four seasons. The second tier of each niche displays a statue of one of the Spanish viceroys. The third tier of each niche is dedicated to a statue of one of the patron saints of the city: Christina, Ninfa, Olivia, and Agata. If there was not so much traffic it might have possible to get a better picture!



The Ballaro market was not a disappointment. It was almost worth the trip to Palermo to get to walk through here, especially for Reed! This old market is where the Saracens did their shopping in the 11th century -- joined by the Normans in the 12th century. Talk about history. We asked a number of people, and this market is now considered one of the best in all of Palermo. We wandered for more than an hour easily, just amazed at the sights, finding some time to buy some pistachio pesto.










From the Ballaro market, we headed towards Lo Spasimo, cutting through the older parts of Palermo while commenting on how we seemed to be in a different country other than Italy!



Along the way, we found this great coffee shop and bought some of Palermo's finest coffee beans to bring back to the U.S.


They grind everything at the store.


These are the two types we purchased.



Lo Spasimo is located in a fairly derelict area of Palermo that had been heavily bombed during WWI. Construction began on the church in 1506 but was never completed. As time went on, the the church was used as a theatre, a lazaretto (quarantine station) after the plague epidemic in 1624, a wheat storehouse in the mid-17th century, a theatre again in the late 17th century, and a poorhouse in the 18th century. In the 19th century other premises were built for use as a hospital, which functioned until 1986, while the church continued to be used as a storehouse, especially for works of art. Today it hosts a wide variety of major cultural events, including concerts, plays and exhibitions.


Lo Spasimo is characterized by the fact that it does not have a roof, and large trees grow from the interior. I bet it is even more spectacular at night!


Check out the scale!



We stopped briefly for lunch and to grab some "supplies" for our ferry ride before heading off to the park to take some pictures of the special trees that grow there. I can't remember the name of the trees or the park but the trees are quite amazing!


The park is a really nice urban oasis, away from the smog and noise of Palermo.


Hi Reed!


The trees are really massive! It is hard to get a sense of the scale.



By this time, the heat and pollution were getting to us and we were quite tired. We had about an hour to spare before we planned on heading back to the hotel, collecting Ollie and our stuff, and leaving. We had one last stop in mind: the Cathedral.


Check out the haze!


One thing that clearly sets Palermo's duomo apart from all others is the Arab/Islamic style. Nothing like anything we had seen in all of Italy.


I thought the duomo was very reminiscent of the style of architecture you find in Barcelona.


The interior was quite ornate as well!


As we headed back to the hotel, we passed through one of Palermo's other markets, Vucceria. There is an interesting article on the decline of the Vucceria market in the New York Times that can be read here.


There were lots of interesting smells that actually smelled quite good. However after a day of seeing miscellaneous parts being thrown in pots and cooked to make sandwiches, I'm not sure I'm adventurous enough to try anything!


We made it back to the hotel without about 15 minutes to spare before the cab that we had prearranged would be arriving. Marjolein, the hotel owner was completely inappropriate when Reed told her we were leaving. One more reason not to return! As we stumbled out of the apartment, the nasty children above us screamed profanities at us. We could not wait to get out of there!

We made it to the dock with plenty of time to spare. The one last thing on our agenda was to figure out away to get Ollie into our cabin. Dogs are supposed to stay in the kennel on the top deck of the boat. It was filthy and disgusting. Luckily Reed is brave and we mapped out a route from the top deck to out cabin, three flights down and were successful and evading all ferry workers and getting Ollie into the cabin.


After spending the day in Palermo, we did both agree that the city is quite intriguing and it would be interesting to come back one day, making sure to safely leave Mr. O behind! We celebrated the end of the day with a glass of wine!