Kiwi Roaming

We are very conscious everyone at home is dealing with a weather bomb right now with power outages, flooding and serious damage to homes. So it feels churlish to complain about the heat. Europe is suffering from a heatwave and a city like Matera – which is all stone with no green spaces – amplifies that heat.

After our yummy lunch in Bari we found the bus depot and waited in the air conditioned waiting room before moving out into the heat when our bus was due – but in typical form it was late. The trip to Matera took just over an hour, our lovely accommodation providers strongly encouraged us to get a taxi so we booked one via WhatsApp and given the heat this was an excellent decision as the 30+ minute walk might have been too much in the heat.

Our wee room is located in the Sassi and down in the valley above the ravine. Owned by the Rizzi brothers who have a shop, cave house, a very cool miniature of Matera made by their father, many rooms and apartments and we are sure other businesses in the area. We arrived at siesta time so had a quick nap before heading out in fresh clothes. The thing about being down means to get to everywhere we had to go up!

Our first stop was a self service laundromat, which meant we got to walk up through the Sassi, into the flat area called the Piano at the top of the hill, then out into the town – the real town – of Matera. The laundromat was near the castle which is surrounded by a grassy hill which is used as a dog exercise park. Right near there is a wee bar with cheap drinks and wonderful cannoli’s – so we frequented this even though it was a wee walk out of the tourist area, but more authentic and importantly cheap.

Back at our accommodation we headed out to find dinner, with many many choices of varying price points nearby we enjoyed a fairy average yet slightly expensive meal of carbonara and lasagna, our entree of melon and prosciutto was delicious. The next morning we had a walking tour booked so we headed back up to the Piano and purchased a panzerotto filled with sausage, cheese and Cavolo Spigarello. Very filling and yum, so yum we went back the following morning for a salami version.

Food wise we ate an amazing dish of Orecchiette ragu in a tiny wee bar who only sell three pasta dishes and a wide range of great drinks. 2 glasses of Rose later we headed into the shop next door where we had been watching a guy carving limestone trinkets for tourists to purchase.

That evening we went to a panini bar for two cheap yummy creations, one featuring meatballs and the other aubergine. I know too much food info.

We enjoyed an evening stroll, watched the sunset from the main rocky outcrop in the Sassi, saw foxes scavenging (we thought they were more stray cats), grabbed some cheeky glasses of prosecco from a noisy wee bar and watched the start of a rescue operation. It was about 10pm and fire, police and ambulance were working to winch someone up from the ravine below. Our tour guide had told us about how dangerous it is there and you need good footwear to do the walk. I had a meeting at 10:30pm so we had to head home but it was fascinating to watch the rescue unfold – I later read they successfully extracted someone from a canyon below, it was described as a complex and highly specialised operation.

The photographer came on this part of the trip so it will be awesome to see his photos when we get home. I forgot to mention the local peppers – peperoni cruschi – which are for sale everywhere and a common ingredient in their cuisine (above). Also in this group – our wee apartment above the grotto, the miniature of Matera, and a workman taking a motorised cart with concrete bags up the steps.