Matera, Italy

First full day in Matera! We woke up a bit early (8:30 so not tooooo early) and the kids were unhappy. They begrudgingly got dressed and we went next door for breakfast which was (of course) in a cave. It was a gorgeous space and there was the most amazing buffet with cheeses, cakes and fruit. After, we met our guide for the morning who gave us the history of Matera and showed us all over the city. The history of Sassi is incredibly interesting and now I feel like I have to go back and re-read Christ Stopped at Eboli. The girls were tired at the end of our walk so we found a gelato place for a snack and then wandered back to our hotel for a little rest. We changed into our walking gear (I had to go all the way back to the car to get my sneakers!) and went next door for pizza which as AH-mazing. Some of the best we have ever had. We had decided earlier in the trip that we were going to hike accross the canyon to go explore the caves (built in neolithic times!), so we walked over and began the 1.6km hike. And hike it was! Straight up and straight down with a crazy bridge suspended very high up over the river. It was super hard but the kids did amazing and didn't complain at all. Once we got to the top of the far canyon there were all of these really fantastic caves to discover and explore built right into the rock. The only downside was the amount of trash all over the place and how crazy steep and dangerous (no railing at all) it was. Matt did not like being up so high, so we went back down fairly soon (the kids were bummed, they could have explored all day). Everyone was tired when we got back so we let the girls watch Star Wars on Matt's computer and we went outside for a drink which was very nice :) After, we all took a shower and played cards before walking down the street for dinner at a cute outdoor place (it was mercifully pretty chilly out!) and had pasta and the most delicous t-bone steak cooked on a hot plate. So good and the kids loved it. Then we sadly ordered the grossest dessset (some sort of weird cannoli thing) we have ever had before heading back to the cave for bed!Read more