PUGLIA AND BASILICATA ROAD TRIP: Matera

As much as excited I was to tell the story about Matera on my blog, I kept postponing it for too long now. It's because I wanted to tell it right, because Matera deserves it. It came a long way from the oldest troglodyte settlement in Mediterranean region inhabitated already in Palaeolithic, prosperous capital of the Basilicata region in 17th century, la vergogna nazionale (the shame of the country) in the 1950's, when the poverty and malaria struck inhabitants were relocated to new government housing, to vivid, chic, unique and simply beautiful town which it is today, and is going to be Italian host for European capital of culture in 2019.

I've first heard about Matera in the BBC series Italy unpacked, presented by Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli and British art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon. It's one of my favourite documentaries, as both of them are such enthusiasts, and they really pull you into their art and culinary journey through the "less traveled" corners of Italy.

The story of Matera and its inhabitants is deeply moving- once the prosperous capital of the region, by the end of the 19th century it fell into unimaginable poverty. In the 1930s, Italian artist, doctor and politician Carlo Levi was exiled to the south of Italy, because of his opposition to the Fascist regime. Years later, he wrote a memoir called Cristo si e fermato a Eboli, about his time spent there, and it is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read.

Levi writes down his sister's impressions after visiting Matera:

"What a place that is! From the glimpse I had of Gagliano just now I'd say it wasn't so bad; it couldn't be worse than Matera, any how. ...Matera...Well it was beyond anything I could possibly have imagined. ...The narrow path wound its way down and around, passing over the roofs of the houses, if houses they could be called. They were caves, dug into the hardened clay walls of the gully... In these dark holes with walls cut out of the earth I saw a few pieces of miserable furniture, beds, and some ragged clothes hanging up to dry. On the floor lays dog, sheep, goats, and pigs. Most families have just one cave to live in and there they sleep all together; men, women, children, and animals. This is how twenty thousand people live. ...I have never in all my life seen such a picture of poverty."

People were struck by malaria and hunger, and in the 1950s, the infant mortality rate rose up to 50 %. After the war, Carlo Levi made an initiative to help people living in this region. That led to the social housing plan organized by the government, and the population of Matera was soon relocated to their new homes on a plateau near the city. Matera became the city of ghosts, till the 1980's, when the artists and the younger generation started to move back and renovating the caves. In 1993, the old city of Matera became the UNESCO World Heriage site. 

Nowadays Matera is one of the most beautiful and peculiar places a traveller could find. The town was built around a gully, in form of the arena, with cave houses, called sassi (which means "the rocks") rising one atop of another. Stone-paved streets circle down and up between the houses, many of them renovated into lovely accommodations, restaurants, bars, stores. Walk the streets of Matera, and the breathtaking views will keep opening up in front of you; the theatrical shape of the city provides for amazing view from almost every point of the city. In the night, flickering lights make the atmosphere magical.

We had the luck to stay with an amazing host, Eliana, in her eco-friendly b&b in one of the caves of Matera. She is a real enthusiast regarding her city and she provided so many plentiful information. If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have seen many of Matera's amazing sites and places to be. At Eliana's place, we met the nicest New Zealanders, Alex&Alicia, with whom we shared some great breakfast talks, few bottles of wine in Eliana's patio and explored the city a bit. Also, their bathroom in the b&b was partly a cave, and Eliana showed us the actual cave in the back, which she started to renovate, and has a plan to convert it into an interesting meeting place where concerts or workshops could be held! Below are two photos with some charming details at Eliana's place!

We visited together the Casa Noha in Matera, where we learned about the city's unfortunate past. The story and the videos shared there leave no one indiferent. We also visited the MUSMA, the biggest Italian museum of contemporary sculpture, which is situated in the most extravagant setting I've been to- it consist of 7 long caves which spread like fingers deep into the rock. It was about 40 degrees Celsius on the street these days, and in the back of the caves it was 15!

Following the steps of Giorgio and Andrew from the BBC series, we visited some of the fantastic cave churches in the city, but the most extraordinary experience was seeing the Cripta del pecatto originale (Crypt of original sin) in person. This cave church is located a few kilometers outside of the city. It was discovered to the modern world in 1963 by the group of enthusiasts from Matera, and is considered today to be the "Sistine Chapel" of Rupestrian art. Here too, the main iconographical motif is the Original Sin, but the frescoes here date back to 8th or 9th century. The unknown artist called "Painter of the flowers of Matera" (because the walls are covered with beautiful red flowers typical of this region) painted this delicate, refined piece of art in the cave in middle of the fields! Everything about this experience was incredible, from the moment we started arranging the visit! We had to call to book our visit- we were instructed to meet with our guide on a gas station outside of the city. There were a couple of other visitors too, and we were all aproaching each other with the question: "Are you here for the crypt?" When the guide came, we had to follow him by car through country roads, and when we came to the spot, he unlocked the doors and let us in. We were sitting in the dark for few minutes, while he started to talk about the crypt, and then, one by one, the lights came up, iluminating the scenes in complete darkness of the cave. The guide was so immersed into the subject, that it was a pleasure to listen to him talking, while sitting on the cave floor and admiring rupestrial art!

The landscape surrounding Cripta dell pecatto originale

We also visited the Casa Grotta, representation of the life in the sassi in the first half of 20th century. The peculiar cave houses which we admire today as travellers, used to be not so romantic homes for families and their cattle- there was a tall bed where a bunch of people would sleep, and under the bed was the place for the pigs; today, there is a fake donkey tied in the corner of the room, as it was back then (the real one, of course), in the 1950s!

When you visit the city in July, like we did, it buzzes with life, a mixture of locals and tourists; but mass tourism hasn't touched Matera yet. I haven't seen any bigger hotels in the city (in fact, I only saw charming private accommodations!). When you take a walk at night, get off the main squares and streets, and you'll end up walking the sleepy cobbled streets all by yourself, meeting some cats or locals sitting in front of their houses along the way.

Some of the restaurants have amazing terraces with a view of the sparkling city. I often think about one particular evening, on a terrace overlooking the city, where we enjoyed good food and wine, with a guitar player singing Italian serenattas for each guest (we asked for Louis Prima's Buona Sera :)).

There are some really nice dellies and bars offering tasty local cheeses- oh how we indulged in the creamy local burrata, it might be my favourite cheese of all times! And for the ice-cream lovers, the shop called I vizi degli Angeli apparently sells the best in town (we've tried it, it's delicious)!

Matera was the end of our southern Italian journey, and we spent those two days perfectly: we visited everything we wanted to see on a relaxed pace, met some really nice people, enjoyed the walks, emerged into history of this extraordinary place, and made some lasting memories. 

I'll finish off with Carlo Levi's quote:

"No one has come to this land except as an enemy, a conqueror, or a visitor devoid of understanding. The seasons pass today over the toil of the peasants, just as they did three thousand years before Christ; no message, human or divine, has reached this stubborn poverty."

It made me happy to see that now, about 80 years later, the town is slowly blossoming, still modest and simple; it seems that the message, at least human, finally came, and I tried not to be a visitor devoid of understanding.

I wish all of you a year of happiness, travels, music, adventures, friendship and love!

PUGLIA AND BASILICATA ROAD TRIP: OSTUNI & LECCE

After our short but sweet stay in Alberobello we headed further south, to Lecce. The weather was extremely hot, after all, it was July, and the biggest part of the day was ruled out for sightseeing. That's why we didn't stop at Locorotondo, Martina Franca or Cisternino, all lovely little places (at least that's what I've read about them), on our way to Lecce.

We did stop at Ostuni, the so called "White Town" as we were hungry and exhausted from the drive in a glowing car (the Air Conditioning could barely tone down the heat). It is a pity that the heat was unbearable and that we were too tired and a bit lost when we started searching for the city center and a place to eat.

When we ultimately found the center, we also found a place to sit, it was a colorful and hip bar called Evo, which had good sendwiches and excellent smoothies and cakes. A bit refreshed, we took a walk through the old part of the town. It is a hilltop town with narrow cobbled streets, white washed houses and some beautiful architectural pieces. I can imagine it beeing especially charming at dawn and evening, when the streets come to life with its restaurants, bars and shops, and the white washed houses start to glow in the night.

However, we left Ostuni for some other time, and headed to Lecce.

Lecce was kind of a dissapointment for both of us. I even thought of skipping the post about it on the blog, but since I'm doing a series on this Puglia and Basilicata road trip, it wouldn't make sense, and also everything can't always be beautiful or charming or lovely.

Just like sometimes everything clicks perfectly in some places in the right moment, it happened just the opposite for us in Lecce.

I cannot say that it is not a pretty town, after all it is the finest example of a baroque town, sometimes even called "the Florence of the South". But, as I said in one of my previous posts, "it may take only one rainy day or lousy restaurant to take the magic away", and so it happened in Lecce.

It was unbearably hot, really, (the sea wasn't so close to offer some refreshment) which excluded sightseeing during the day (we did try it once and came back to our apartment half-alive). Our accommodation didn't meet our expectations, but what bothered us most is that we have barely seen our host! So, we got zero local tips, which are usually so valuable for us. I have to admit that breakfast was good though. :)

During the day, the streets were completely empty, here and there, you'd catch a glimpse of a lost group of tourists wandering around slowly under the burning sun. In the evening, it seemed like everyone- all the tourists and all the locals poured out from their daytime shelters, to catch a little breeze on the evening passegiata, and we found the streets too crowded for a relaxed walk.

Although the streets were crowded and we were surrounded by amazing baroque architecture, we couldn't find that liveliness, charm, and beauty of the Italian town, it simply wasn't what we expected.

The town had its highlights, such as Basilica di Santa Croce with its exhuberant baroque facade (Giuseppe Ceva Grimaldi, 18th century politician and author wrote about it in his "Itinerario da Napoli a Lecce", saying that the extravagant facade looked to him as a "delirious dream of a sick person"), park of the Villa Comunale where we hid from the sun one day, the Roman amphitheatre... I particularly liked one street scene in front of the church of Santa Irene: it was a puppet theatre piece performed by a young woman and a charming grandma puppet. It was so funny, well performed and captivating- both kids and us adults were enchanted by grandmas little feet tapping on the stone paved square. :)

Now that I think about it, we could give Lecce another shot!

However, we were longing to move forward, to our next destination, which turned out to be a highlight of our trip- the wonderful Matera. I can't wait to share my photos and experiences of this special place in my next post.

Till then, I'd really like to hear some of your travel letdowns, and if you're happy as long as you're traveling, I'm always interested in good travel stories! :)

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PUGLIA AND BASILICATA ROAD TRIP: ALBEROBELLO

Some lovely pictures and memories from Alberobello have been waiting to be shown and told for a while now. It's been a busy summer and I neglected blogging a little, but since it's October already, I have decided to try posting more regularly! :)

In my last two posts I talked about our roadtrip to the beautiful Italian south, the region of Puglia, where we first visited the town of Trani and then the Gargano National park. The road led us further to the countryside, to the magical land of trulli and famous Alberobello.

The trulli are traditional white washed houses with peculiar conical roofs made of limestone. They have been built in a special building technique without using mortar since prehistoric times. For centuries, people have been living in those dwellings, and they still do in this part of Italy. Seeing people actually living there was so interesting that I couldn't resist from peeking through the open doors and tiny windows.

I had high expectations of Alberobello, and thought I might be dissapointed since I was told that it was pretty touristy, but I loved it, and it as charming (if not more!) as I imagined.

We spent a night in a beautifully restored old masseria (main buildings of the former agricultural properties scattered throughout southern Italy). This B&B, La Piccola Corte, was one of the most relaxing places I've been to, as it had a secluded courtyard with a lemon tree, seating area, amazing lighting by night and two lovely cats (a mom with her playful kitten). If I ever go back to Puglia, I would love to spend a few days there, just relaxing and reading hidden in this beautiful courtyard.

The owner of the masseria was very helpful in suggesting us what to see and where to eat. Alberobello is obviously very touristy, but she showed us on the map the residential part of the city, where there are no shops and no crowds, only "the colours white and grey" as she said.

Alberobello is conveniently small, and you can reach all of its highlights in one lovely walk. We headed to see the Trullo Sovrano first, the only two storeyed trullo in Alberobello, dating back to 19th century and obviously built by a wealthy family. It's a museum now, and you can see how people used to live in the trulli. For me, the interesting part was that it had two large kitchens but two tiny bedrooms, despite being owned by a wealthy family.  It seems like the kitchens were the heart of the house, the main social area of the family.

There was a wedding going on in a nearby church, Basilica dei SS. Medici, and a couple of men were decorating the cars- the scene was so charming and profoundly Italian, that we had to take some photos! 

From Trullo Sovrano we took a walk to the panoramic viewpoint, where a cityscape of cone shaped roofs lighted in afternoon sun opened up before us- we enjoyed the (certainly not everyday) view but also took some photos, like true tourists. 

Following our host's advice, we headed to the residential area of the town, located on the left side of the viewpoint. As she said, there were no tourists, shops or restaurants, just the peculiar neighbourhood of trulli. The contrast between tiny houses built in ancient building technique and items of modern day life was especially interesting: here and there trough an open door or window, we'd see a plasma TV in the middle of a small stone vaulted livingroom, or a shower gel on loophole bathroom windows.

The main, touristy trulli area is also charming, regardless of overpopulation of souvenir shops and people wandering everywhere. There are lots of flowers on the streets, colorful ceramics and textile in front of the shops, and a good thing is that by visiting any shop you get to see what the interior of the trullo looks like! 

Among souvenir shops one can still find nice local worskhops selling ceramic or traditionally made textile. We found some beautiful art pieces to take home from Alberobello, and although we were flying only with hand luggage, we managed to fit in a beautiful "sea-urchin" lamp (which now shines in thousand dots on the walls of our livingroom), ceramic souvenirs for our family, and two lovely tablecloths with traditional patterns. 

We had a tasty dinner at a restuarant called Favola in Tavola (another of our host's good advices). It was a cozy and nicely furnished restaurant which played one of our favorite albums, Eric Clapton's Unplugged- all that accompanied by great food made for a beautiful evening in Alberobello.

We even had some room for dessert in well known gelateria Mille Voglie (visited by Giorgio Locatelli and Andrew Graham Dixon in amazing travel series Italy Unpacked). 

This summer there was a Light Festival in Alberobello, dedicated to Vincent van Gogh (as it was 125 year anniversary of his death). The streets, the roofs, and the walls of the houses were lighted by images of Van Gogh's famous works, and it kind of made a magical atmosphere in the city. We enjoyed the walk in blueish light of Van Gogh's works and other light instalations, and few times during the evening the power broke down, so we got to see how Alberobello lighted by the moon looked like. 

Alberobello is one of those rare places that regardless of their popularity among tourists from around the world and the side effects that popularity brings, still is beautiful, charming and beyond any doubt, worth visiting.

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PUGLIA AND BASILICATA ROAD TRIP: THE GARGANO PENINSULA

La vita è bella on the Gargano peninsula. And to make it even sweeter, try staying at a local hacienda. We picked one by chance, I panicked that there will be no nice accommodation left and impulsively booked a room without really knowing that it was going to be a relaxing hacienda in a lovely setting. The B&B Shanti is located about 5 km from the town of Vieste towards the inland, with a view of olive groves and pine trees, as well as the sea in the distance. Gargano is one of Italy's 24 (!!!) National Parks and is considered to have one of the most beautiful coasts in Italy. The peninsula is situated in the region of Puglia, and covered in lush Mediterranean pine tree forest and olive groves.  

July in southern Italy is really hot, so we spent mornings and evenings bathing, eating and walking the crowded streets of Vieste, but during the day we would just stay in on our hacienda, lying on one of the terraces, enjoying the view and the scent of the Mediterranean (and drinking lots of water!). There were a few cats keeping us company and the one called Silvio was the funniest as he was reacting to his cool name and he would peak his head through the curtains of our room from time to time. 

The breakfast at B&B Shanti puts a smile on your face (and lots of tasty Italian food in your belly)- nonna's cake, homemade jams, mozarella with tomato, bruschette, prosciutto, local cheeses, ricotta with chocolate, the crunchy taralli (typical Pugliese salty snack), watermelon skewers, a bowl of fruit, all home made and local grown, of course. 

As the hacienda is located on steep terrain, there are multiple terraces planted with olive trees, lavender, rosemary, palms, fig trees, agavas, there is a buzzing of the bees and flies in the air, a quick movement of the lizzards on the hot stone, and a sparkling light in the olive branches. Have you ever noticed how beautiful the olive trees look in the sun and how their leaves quiver and emanate the silver and green light? I tried to catch it on my photos!

As for the beaches, I read about how Gargano peninsula was once (in the remote past) connected to what now is Dalmatia, and how it resembles the Croatian coast, and so Croatian that I am, I decided that it would be best to spend our beach time in Puglia right here. :) As we started driving the Gargano peninsula, it really did remind us of Croatian coast, especially Croatian islands, with its thick pine forest and rocky coast with beautiful bays, but the color of the sea was different, and as we proceeded to the town of Vieste, the kilometers long sandy beaches appeared (uncommon on Croatian coast), accompannied by the "forest" of parasols, beach bars and restaurants, hotels, and all that we thankfully didn't have in Croatia few years ago, but it started to appear lately.

Nevertheless, there are some pretty amazing sandy and pebble beaches that aren't spoiled by mass tourism, and the funny thing is that you just have to walk to them for 10 minutes and there is immediately 90% less people! The sand is fine and clean, without unpleasant surprises in form of seagrass or sharp rocks, and the sea is so warm, I have never bathed in such a warm sea! Oh how we enjoyed it, we would stay in the water for hours, and I think I haven't enjoyed the sea that much since I was a kid, and my lips would turn blue and my fingertips would shrink from the endless playing in the water. It was extremely hot those days, but in the afternoon the sea seemed warmer than the air!

The town of Vieste is a romantic site, perched atop of a steep rock above the sea, a labyrnth of narrow streets filled with all sorts of knick-knackery, and a hoard of tourists spreading in all the directions. But the town is still charming, packed with lovely retaurants, and there is a bar called Carpenter that has an amazing view, good music, coctails and nibbles. We ate good in Vieste, seafood of course in a delightful ambience of restaurant Al Cantinone.

We ate even better on a ranch situated not far away from our hacienda, called Ambrenella. Based on their good reviews, we decided to check it out, and as we followed the sign from the main road it didn't look promising. It was a dark narrow road, passing trough an olive grove, and the drive seemed quite long at that moment. Then we arrived to a buzzing, rustic restaurant, filled with both locals and tourists, and the delicious smell of the grill convinced us that it was going to be a great evening. We were greeted warmly and seated on a charming terrace surrounded by the greenery and decorated in a rustic way.

We decided to eat local and typical of the area, so we ordered some olives, bruschettas, grilled caciocavallo cheese and orechiette- homemade pasta in form of a little ear (hence the name), which is a regional dish of Puglia. One with cime di rapa, and the other with tomato sauce. Cime di rapa are also typical for this region, and those are esentially the turnip leaves. The dish tasted earthy and heart warming, a real cucina casalinga (home cooking), which reminded me of the local Croatian dish which my grandmother used to make, the pasta with cabbage (literally translated from Croatian "Cabbage patches"). You can imagine that we really enjoyed this dinner, and if you're ever in Vieste or Gargano peninsula, do visit this place, it will pay off!

Three days we spent here just flew by, and it was a proper vacation, three days of sun, sea, good food and resting in the shades. Our next destination was Alberobello, and we were a bit sad that we had to leave the seaside. But Alberobello was wonderful, as expected, and you can read all about it in my next post. In the meantime, I would love to hear from you, with your advices if you've been to Gargano, questions if you're planning to go, and impressions of this post in general. 

PUGLIA AND BASILICATA ROAD TRIP: Trani

Trani was the first town we visited on our recent road trip through Puglia and Basilicata, and alongside Matera, which left a deep trace in my heart and in my mind, might be my favorite.

It may not be the most beautiful, the cleanest, the greenest or the most organised town I've been to, but for some reason it got under my skin, in a way that I would love to return, not just once as a tourist, but as if I was visiting old and dear friend.

I can not define what exactly made me feel connected to this town.

Maybe it's the beautiful park of Villa Comunale which stands like an oasis of green between the sea and the stone paved streets of the town behind, overlooking the port and the majestic cathedral of San Nicola Pellegrino.

Maybe it's the kids, loads of kids, playing in the park and on the streets, tag, football, or whatever game kids used to play outside, a view uncommon these days.

Maybe it's the simple beauty of the romanesque seafront cathedral, which dominates the townscape, both by day and night, and the square in front of it which becomes a lively meeting place in the evening.

Maybe it's the baker in the supermarket, who seeing that we are in doubt of which pie to choose said: "Questa. Melanzane e pomodoro. Buonissima. Te lo consiglio io." ("This one. Aubergines and tomato. Delicious. I recommend it.").

Maybe it's the golden hour, which makes the town and its port emanate golden, pink, and orange shades.

Maybe it's the colorful boats in the port, and the fishermen selling fresh fish directly on the boardwalk.

Maybe it's because it reminds me of my favorite Croatian coastal town Rovinj, a place where I used to spend happy summers when I was a kid.

Maybe it's the perfect seafood dinner we had in a beautiful restaurant called Osteria Frangipane (if we were living there, we would certainly call it "ours"). I still can't get over the fried little red mullets, best fried fish I've ever had.

Or the happy morning we spent eating fresh and fragrant croissants (cornettos, as Italians call them) in Bar Centrale, my new favorite breakfast spot in all of Italy.

Despite all of that, there are literally no foreign tourists in Trani in July. Maybe some Italians, but also scarce. There are no crowds in front of the cathedral, no full restaurants for dinner, no tourist menus, no plastic flip flops and tacky beachwear stores. Only golden cobble stoned streets, white cityscape, and simple everyday life by the sea.

I realize that someone might not like Trani as much as I did. It may take only one rainy day or lousy restaurant to take the magic away, but with me and Trani it all just clicked perfectly.