Day 23 Matera
It felt so good to sleep in till 9am. I was up till after
midnight downloading photos to the blog. Breakfast was organised by Davide at a
café down the street and after coffee and croissants we were ready to venture
out.
We planned a trek to the cathedral we could see on the other side
of the valley of stone homes, but Italy is generous with incredible sights and
we got distracted by an underground water cave, not a hundred metres from our accommodation.
It was only discovered a few decades ago and was all hand carved. The Palombaro
Lungo was the biggest cave structure in Matera and held vast 5 million litres
of water. It was a watery Alladin’s cave. By the time we emerged, the Italians were
again out in force. How lovely it was to see family groups enjoying themselves
and clusters of old codgers settling in for what promised to be a long, long,
sunny Sunday chat.
We took the stone paths into the chaos that was the Matera Sassi. The houses and twisting, turning stairs were carved right into the rock face. We prepared with shorts, sturdy shoes and walking sticks. The Italians prepared with cream trousers smart blazers, designer sunglasses and expensive handbags. Despite our different approaches we all got to the same places. Note to self: you don’t have to dress down all the time.
We particularly wanted to see the cathedral on the far side of the valley but a stony faced member of the congregation stood guard and shooed us away. We could return in an hour when the service was over. We wiled away the time with coffee and cake. After we heaved across the valley and up the final hill I thought that iced coffee might be nice. An espresso and a glass with ice in it was delivered to the table. Something was lost in the translation. The gorgon was still on the door so we wandered the streets to while away the time. Everywhere in Matera was a feast for the eyes. In the end, we gave up on the cathedral as the queue at the entrance was a bit daunting. How different could it be from the dozen or so we had already seen? A large group of chatty older northern britts must have also felt the same as having ploughed through several coffees and beers they seemed to follow us into the piazza as short time later.
If it was possible, the main streets of Matera were busier than ever. We searched a place out for lunch and found every place was busy. We stood in line with a big group of Philippines ladies to get our lovely salami and vegetable rolls. And we bagged a table! Of course, we finished lunch with a crazy wonderful gelato. I had the one spiked with real cherries and Johnny had tiramisu. We had earned a rest so it was a slow walk back to our accommodation.
After a decent rest we ventured out for dinner and of course, as has become the holiday radition, we found a place to sit, people watch and drink cocktails. A Hugo for me and a negroni for Johnny. This is becoming a firm favourite with Johnny.
Finding a place for dinner proved more elusive. The places we had scoped out, had closed early. Is that an Italian Sunday night thing? We went round the central area a few times. All we wanted was a simple pasta meal but it was inexplicably hard to find. Where had all the pasta gone.. long time passing..."
Eventually we found a place, but it was completely empty. We took a punt and went in. As soon as we did, steady stream of people dribbled in and within half an hour it was full. The pasta was perfect and we began with an orange and fennel salad with flakes of dried capsicum. It was wonderful and we think we will try to do this at home. As we walked home, the streets were still busy, but it was clear that these were only stragglers, and soon the area would be empty. Work tomorrow I guess.
This is the area we hope to exploe tomorrow, which is our last day in Matera.
AND IN PARIS
