Matera

This morning at breakfast, I checked my options for getting to Rome tomorrow. I decided to take the train rather than fly for a few reasons. Flights were over $200, and 1st class train was 89€. My luggage will be very heavy and checking it would cost more. And the train schedule worked out perfectly. The plane got me to FCO at about the same time. This way, I can take my time packing up, check out at 10:30am, and comfortably get to the train on time. I will arrive in Rome at about 4:30pm. From there, I can check my bags somewhere and explore, or just go straight to the hotel. A coworker will be in Rome tomorrow, and we may try to meet up for a drink.

Back to my day. I left around 10am. It was a little over an hour to Matera. The drive was mostly on Strada Provinciale, or SP-- "sheep poop" roads. Some were pretty narrow, and meeting a truck on the road was a bit dicey! But I have learned that driving in Italy is a dance. Everyone tries to dance to the same music. Non c'e un problema!

I arrived in Matera a little after 11am. The next challenge was figuring out where the historic area was. A bigger challenge was finding a place to park! I parked near the castle, which surprisingly looked free. The signs mentioned ZTL. I looked it up, and it means Zona Traffico Limitato. Or, basically, parking for residents only. I went back and looked up parking lots, and found one reasonably close to Sassi, which is the old town. I finally found one and left my car there.

At first, I didn't understand what the big deal was about this place. It seemed like just another hill town. But the dwellings are all built on top of each other in a mish-mash sort of way. It's even more of a maze than most hill towns. I wandered around for about 45 minutes, then found a place for lunch. I wasn't that hungry after last night, but I wanted to sit. I had a light-on-the-basil caprese salad and a glass of rosè. I stayed for quite a long while to enjoy the view!

I continued to poke around and went up and down a million stairs. There was a "newer" church, from the 1600s, next to an older one that was carved out of the rock. At the overlook into a gorge, I saw that there were hiking trails to the caves on the other size. Not sure how to get over there, but it's not like I was going to hike today!

I finally started making my way out and stopped for a gelato--mandarin with basil and lemon. I ate that while I was walking to the parking garage. It only cost 4.50€, which was a deal!

I tried to drive to the overlook on the other side of the gorge. I got to the top, but it seemed like I had to walk quite a way to the overlook. Pass.

It took about an hour to get back here. I stopped for gas at the station close to the Masseria. That will be fine for tomorrow. 57€! I guess that's pretty good for 3 days of driving.

I'm now relaxing by the pool, watching the sunset. I've got 3 hours until dinner!Read more