Matera

Matera is another very interesting and unusual place to visit in Italy and like the rest of this area undiscovered by tourists. It was about a one and a half hour drive and just outside of the Puglia district.

A local guide had been arranged for us and she walked us through the 2 districts which was all so interesting but also about 36deg. Heat coming off stone in every direction.

Matera is famous for its extensive cave dwelling districts and is divided into 2 districts.

The first is the area called Sasso Barisano made from a porous tufa lime stone which had once been under the sea before being used to build these dwellings.

There are many churches cut into rock and hillsides  created by the Basilian monks.Top right is one of the churches cut into rock.

 The 2nd district was called Sasso Caveoso where the cave dwellings had lived for many centuries. The cave we visited had been lived in right up until 1956.....not very long ago. Their animals were also housed inside with the family, a donkey in the corner, chickens under the bed and a family of 11 all in this small space. No electricity, water or sewerage.

The families that lived here were the poorest local peasants.

A new town was built and they were forced by law,due to malaria and disease, to leave their caves which they were reluctant to do.

In 1980 the wealthy began to move in renovating the cave houses. So now there are a few B&Bs a small number of hotels but only one road that serves this area. In 1993 this area was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After our fascinating 2hr tour we all found a cave restaurant to cool off and refuel then off back to the pool. 

Locorotondo

The name comes from the circular layout of the village and is one of the most beautiful in Italy. They take so much pride in their little entranceways which is usually on the public pathway. The view from the village overlooked  the countryside and the valley of Itria.

It was market day at Locorotondo which was huge with very few tourists. This whole area is so enjoyable to visit as there is only a handful of tourists. 

So much delicious produce.

The girls walked us through these narrow wee alleyways where people live. Their pot plants are their gardens and some of them had some colourful displays....a competition that is judged annually.

These streets are so picturesque surrounded by the whitewashed houses and their tiled flat rock rooves 

Aqueducts taking the water across to the next building.

We arrived back to our units in time for swims and a breather before the next surprise.

The girls know 2 local young men with their lovely white horses and gigs which they race in events. This was our next treat for the evening. We felt like kings & queens as they trotted & cantered us through this beautiful farmland along country roads looking into some very nice homes with their extended family plots of fruit and vegetables. Farmland with cherries, olives, grapes freshly baled hay and figs hanging on the roadsides. 

This went on for an hour and a half stopping halfway for a snack of fresh fruit and water. 

Such an amazing experience. 

Then off home for dinner which is always a pleasant surprise & very delicious.

Grottoglie

Breakfast in the alcove outside.

A wall of ceramic tiles with roosters. The rooster is the symbol for the area and every potter has their own style of rooster. 

We visited the town of Grottoglie in the morning well known for its ceramics. Chris & Lyn walked us up through the ceramic area explaining things as we went then into the castle at the top where we visited the ceramic museum. Once again they let us wander on our own for the rest of the morning. We meandered our way back down the hill in and out of  the lovely little shops all making their ceramics on site.

No photos but managed a quick one here in the ceramic museum.

Most of the ceramic shops also were no photos. There were plenty of very gorgeous pieces.....all very tempting

Back at our Trulli where Chris & Lyn served up a beautiful big tuna salad for lunch with beans from their garden followed by delicious water melon and cheeses. All very simple but tasty. They call Puglia the food basket of Italy. There certainly is some lovely fresh food here.

Siesta then the pool.

View looking back at our Trullo from up the road.

Later that evening the plan was to eat at Chris and Lyns very own Trulli that they have had restored. Early evening we set off and walked to their Trulli, about a 20 minute walk.

The team arriving at the entrance of their beautiful place.

Inside was so tastefully done and beautiful.

The vege garden they had planted only 8 weeks ago when they first arrived in Puglia. Tomatoes already ripe for picking and figs to eat straight from the trees.

The night lights as we were leaving after dinner.

Their wood fired oven area and BBQ to the right where they cooked all our meat and vegetable kebabs.

Another very enjoyable evening with the team and a delicious meal was had by all.

Visit to Alberobello

After a delicious breakfast with local fresh fruit including figs off their trees we all met at the van at 9.30am for our day to Alberobello. The first stop on route was a family run olive pressing factory. One of the brothers explained the processing of the olives for a good quality oil. All very interesting. After an oil tasting here we drove on to Alberobello only about half an hour from our Trulli. This was the most divine little place and has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1996.

 Built with dry overlapping stones, whitewashed base and a cone shaped roof. This is exactly what we are living in during our weeks stay here. 

Lyn walked us to the top of the town showing us one or two lovely places on the way then set us free with maps to do our own thing. We all met back at the van at 2.15pm and returned to our little Trullis then it was time for swims.

View of the 4 unit Trulli in the background with our pool.

Late afternoon we all met at what they call the tavern which is part of the Spolluto family property just behind the pool. This was an area with a big outdoor woodfired oven and inside a kitchen with a very large dining table. The owner and her cousin prepared a full meal in front of us teaching as they went. They also made their own pasta and included us in the process of forming the pasta shapes.

 Then it was outdoors to the oven to see the whole meal go into the woodfired  oven. Breads, meat veges and the final result was divine. While we waited for the meal to cook one of the sons showed us their vege garden, fruit trees and new grape plants all just for family use. The wine we drank was also made by the family. We then sat down to a beautiful meal with the owners and their 3 sons  a cousin and father/grandfather......an amazing family unit who all have their day jobs but come together in the evenings. A very special experience to share with an Italian family and see how they live and more interesting how they eat.....it went on forever in tasty small portions. The interesting part about our evening experience was that this family are just everyday Italian family home cooks that Chris & Lyn have encouraged to demonstrate their skills to their groups.

The family in the foreground and our group at the far end.

Amalfi to Puglia

Our day started really well with a driver on time to transfer us to the Salerno train station. We left in plenty of time as he wasn't sure of delays on the way. As it turned out we had heaps of time to spare so we found our platform and waited. Eventually our train arrived and then departed again leaving its passengers on the platform. It was all very confusing as a guard had stopped everyone from boarding.There were a number of us standing there in shock wondering what was going on. So we went to the ticket office to learn there wasn't another train to Taranto only a bus which didn't depart until 11.35am. We all insisted that they pay our bus fare which they did when they realised there were a few of us. An hour and a half later we were busing our way to Taranto. It turned out to be an enjoyable comfortable scenic drive.The concern was that we were meeting Lyn & Chris and the other 4 in our tour group at 3.30pm at their pickup point in Bari airport and there was no way we could manage that now. We made contact with Lyn and to save holding the tour group up we took a different route and caught another train after the 4hr bus ride that took us to Martina Franca which was only fifteen minutes from our destination in Puglia. 

Sitting at the Teranto train station with an hour to fill in so we taught ourselves how to use the camera timer on the phone.

After our long adventure it was great to see Lyn waiting at the train station to collect us. We were soon settled into our gorgeous little Trulli and then out to meet the rest of the team for drinks and dinner on the patio.

Inside our Trulli

Last day on the Amalfi Coast

We woke today feeling refreshed and ready to go again so we spent the day on the beach. 

It's a beach that is quite stony so to be comfortable you need a chair and umbrella. We bought our patch on the beach and there we parked ourselves for the rest of the day amongst the locals.

The water lapping at our feet

The water was just divine

And all the way home again

We took a walk into Amalfi for the last time then it was time to organise ourselves for an early start the following day.

Some entertainment that evening from our verandah. An Australian boat anchored below us has a helicopter arriving in to land on its pad.

A better view of our pink apartment from the beach.

This is what the beach looked like in Atrani if we had taken the stairs down from the other side of our apartment and the other beaches along the coast were even bigger. All laid out for tourists.

Sunday a Day of Rest

And a complete rest day it was. We had rain in the morning and then it turned into another beautiful day. So we had a slow start that continued to be that way for the rest of the day. Without realising it I think we have needed this time out. We checked dates and train tickets and refreshed ourselves on the next leg of the trip. It's so easy to get the days and dates all wrong when you live like this so we needed to be sure we had the right day for checking out. Most of the afternoon was spent on our verandah with a book.

Lunch on the deck. Forgot the drinks.

 It's been the perfect place to take a break from all the sightseeing and make the most of our wee apartment.

Every night since we have been here on the Coast there has been an incredible fireworks display around 11.30pm and another lot about midnight.The first night we were at Robertos I thought we were being attacked but have since learned that it's a historical/religious festival celebration that happens at this time of the year. It's no ordinary fireworks and goes on for several minutes. Quite spectacular to see across the water.