Trip Day 9 - Monopoli, Sassi di Matera

Tuesday September 20

Not much rocking when we sailed during the night. We had a good nights sleep and even woke up before the alarm. The sky was beautiful.

When we arrived and docked in Monopoli James was excited to watch some rowers from our balcony.

But we didn't have much time to watch because soon after breakfast we went by bus to Matera. This was an optional tour and we decided that we could not miss it.

When we had left the bus and started walking with our local guide we were a bit disappointed. It was not what we had expected but that changed quickly. We walked through some more modern streets. Most likely because the bus could not drive the narrow streets of this "UNESCO World Heritage Site". 

The local guide pointed out the bakery with the very special bread for this area.

Few steps further we got to taste the special pepperone peppers, dried and fried. Very nice. Il pepperoni che scrokkia.

Then we were led to an overlook and what a view that was! The page of information had said: The city of Matera lies in the remote region of Basilicata, still little-visited by foreign travelers, it is a town famous for its extensive cave-dwelling districts, the "Sassi". And this was our first view.

Back to the plaza we could see in the middle that there was an opening showing that there also was a whole other town underneath from a different area but we didn't get to see that.

We crossed the plaza and then walked passed several churches which were all only a stone's throw away from each other. All roman catholic. 

One of several sculptures of Salvadore Dali which happen to be on exhibition in this town right now.

Suddenly we had to squeeze aside because a band came marching through practicing for a celebration a few days later.

VIDEO:    (0:32 minutes)  We always like marching bands. Fun!

Another overlook.

So interesting.

Our local guide explained the lives of the people in the "sassi", that it was suddenly declared a disgrace of the nation because they lived without running water or electricity or sanitation, the people got uprooted and relocated and for a long time the "sassi" stayed empty. Now renovations have begone and the places are preserved. 

The streets are actually steps and we went up and down and around. It is amazing.

One place was renovated and is a museum to show how it used to be. You have to imagine it without electricity and water though. 

Also, animals were kept inside too ... for warmth (which was probably also "smell")

Each cave only was allowed to have one door and one window for the whole family. Next door to the museum happens to be an open door (used as storage) which looked probably more like it used to be.

Most of us did the many steps up to the cave church. You can see it in the very back of the first photo of the "sassi".

From there we had a view of other churches which we did not visit.

The cave church had frescos but we were not allowed to take photos. I took this before I realized. The catholic church wanted to sell photographs of it. Sorry.

Slowly and carefully we made our way down again.

But behind the cave church was an overlook into the canyon.

It was lunch time. Our group actually had lunch in a cave restaurant.

We had the typical Matera bread (but I forgot to take a photo before we started eating).

Ha-ha, we had two kinds of glasses on the table and wondered which one was for water and which one was for the red wine. We thought it should have been the other way round.

We were told that we were getting typical local food. This cauliflower soufflé on a spinach gravy (?) was incredible. I would like to make that at home. Google!

We had a nice fruit cup for dessert and a little glass with a digestive liquor. 

Back to the bus now.

On the way back I managed one decent photo from the bus of the hundreds of olive trees.

We had just a little time on the ship to relax and refresh but soon it was time to get going again. A bus brought us to the harbor gate (security) and there the private cars of our hosts and hostesses waited. Our group was divided into 3 smaller groups. James and I went with Kay and Kibong, Bev and Larry to the apartment Eustaccio, his wife and 2 sons. They lived in the city center and picked us up in two cars. 

The first thing we noticed was that there was a problem to find parking. She had called her son Gian Luca (who was in his third of five years in high school) down and he waited with us in the entry of the building. An older lady happened to come out of her apartment and embarrassed him. She wanted to know who we were and also told him that he needed a hair cut. She talked a lot, all in Italian and it was too much for him to translate.

Once the cars were parked we went up and were led to the balcony. They have a nice view.

At the end of the street you could see the ocean.

We were out there quite a while talking.

Kay and Kibong had brought a bottle of champagne as gift for them. He was surprised and thought we knew that his surprise for us was to open champagne with a sword. We had been told that he was a sommelier but we did not know that this was his thing to do. 

He did it on the balcony but used his gift and not his own bottle. I have a VIDEO  (5 seconds). He was so happy and asked whether I would share. Of course. We did airdrop.

I really don't know all the names for all the typical dishes for this area. Left were three different kind of olives and right something made from dough, soaked in wine and probably baked again (?). It was a bit like pretzel.

These little bags of cheese are very nice. They are soft but solid on the outside but when you cut into them the "explode" and the inside flows. 

James was asked to cut the first into 4 pieces.

Sweet peppers roasted, similar to Padron peppers when they are not spicy. 

We had lively conversations. His main job is tax collector. As hobby he likes also to be a tour guide. He says he likes to talk to people. Well, that was obvious. His wife was a house wife. We had a great time, but were wondering though because we never got any wine. (Vanessa later told us that he had been nervous and just forgot)

Eggplant and parmesan, very delicious, of course homemade.

We were told how to make this pasta with your thumb. And the sauce was homemade too.

Eustaccio explained that it was a very special melon. If I understood right, not quite ripe.

Two kind of dessert. A strudel type but he said "not like a German one".

And almond cookies, very nice for a marzipan lover like me.

And a little bit of a digestive at the end.

Of course then they had to bring us back to the harbor security gate where the bus waited. Bye-bye, it was a very nice evening.

A photo from our balcony:

It was a very eventful day. I left a lot of photos out. We saw so much. 

We will have another night here. More to see tomorrow. Night, night.