Monday 1 November 2010

From Bari to Potenza via Matera, some small villages and a castle

13th - 19th October


Italy


We arrived in Italy on the 13th October, in the town of Bari. Unfortunately our Sat-nav had broken as we entered Croatia, but as we only had one road to follow and had the sea for reference at all times, even I was able to navigate successfully. However, the smug feeling of knowing where one was going soon disappeared after we disembarked from the ferry.
Bari is a veritable warren of small, bustling lanes without a useful directional signpost in sight. To make matters slightly worse for us the only maps of Italy we had included an overall A-Z map of Europe (pretty light on the detail), and some Google maps we had saved when we last used the internet. Nevertheless, we were able to navigate sufficiently to escape the chaos and arrive at the Castle Del Monte, near Andria. There we found a good rest stop with extremely friendly and helpful staff so we bedded down for the night.

Castel Del Monte


Castel Del MonteStaying there was a bit of an unintended masterstroke as it meant we were not only well placed to see the wonderful Castel Del Monte, but we were also able to converse (in limited fashion) with the local staff. The result of which was that we were offered (and accepted) to stay there another few nights which meant we were able to carry out some needed van maintenance as well as try our best to learn as much Italian as possible. One fellow in particular, Antonio, really could not do enough for us and we really felt spoilt by him.

The Castle Del Monte is a very attractive castle, built for Emperor Frederick II around 1240 and the theme of eights is repeated throughout. There are eight turrets adjoining the eight walls and the rooms are geometrically divided in eight also. The effect is striking and the castle dominates the surrounding landscape.

Stone Huts


Shepherd huts in PugliaAs we were driving round the region of Puglia, we repeatedly saw small round stone huts and had to find out what they were. We were told that traditionally they were houses built for the shepherds to live among their flock. This type of housing was afforded a tax break by the government because of this, and this of course resulted in everyone and their dog building and living in "shepherd" houses.

Matera


View of MateraFrom there we headed to Spinazolla as it was a useful reference town for us as we navigated to Potenza, on the opposite coast. However once we reached the town we decided, on a whim, to make for the town of Matera. It quite possibly had to do with it's name, but we had also been told by a nice German couple whilst staying at Castle Del Monte that it was a "Cave Town". We didn't have a clue what this meant but decided that as it was pretty close (relative to England) that we would have a look. We were very glad we did.

We managed to park very easily and in short order we were in the town centre having a cappucino. After that we took a stroll round the town and after looking in a few shops we turned a corner to be greeted with the most incredible sight of Matera's sprawling dwellings which literally spill down steep slopes into a central valley. It looked like something from Aladdin and the 40 Thieves and it took a while for us to take it in. As we took a stroll round Matera we were spoiled by the magnificent beauty of the place, even if its existence is testament to a darker side of its history. The dwellings of former residents which make the views of Matera simply stunning, were hewn out of the rocky slopes leading up to the richer residencies and churches on the top of the outcrop. Either side of the settlement the land falls away sharply to a canyon with a river running through it. The dwellings of the workers were dank, only used by poor worker families and were the equivalent of slums leading the government to introduce new legislation and high-rise flat to enable them to move people (forcibly if necessary) from these family homes during the 1950s.

It was while having a nosey that the heavens opened and while Rachel had a look around a museum to avoid the rain, I went into a photo shop as the proprietor was busy playing on a Fender Strat. He had a spare acoustic so we spent the next two hours jamming in his shop. It was a great way to pass the time before heading back to the van to spend the night.

Sunset at MateraThe next day we headed back into the centre of Matera for a coffee and when we left the van we bumped into Andrew who was another Brit and with his wife had also stopped over in the same car park. After a brief chat we pushed on into the town and were greeted by lovely weather and lots of folk milling around in the street just having a chat. We then went back to the van we decided to head off in the direction of a National Park overlooking Matera from the other side of the canyon. Once we arrived and were just parking we again bumped into Andrew and his wife Sarah who were just returning from the site. Following another brief chat and considering what a lovely day it was we all decided to park up (or re-park) and get the chairs out. We spent the day in wonderful company and spoiled with wonderful panoramas of Matera over the canyon. We were later joined by a fellow who used to live in Matera as a small child and now looked after the five churches within the national park. We had parked pretty much on top of them as they were carved into caves in the rock face below the car park. View of MateraHe happily showed us round, giving us a guided tour and telling us about when and how they were constructed and how they have been used. They are still used on special occasions.
While we were visiting these churches we were joined by another British family Tim, Ruth and their lovely kids Charlie and Billie. The rest of the evening was spent with us all sitting around the campfire talking about all subjects under the sun, relaxing over a pint or a glass of wine and enjoying the spectacular sunset the location afforded us. It was another cracking night. Billie and Charlie are doing a blog of their travels and if you want you can look them up here.

The next morning we all packed up, said our good-byes and had a last look at the wonder that is Matera. We had picked up a pretty good map in a tourist info centre which showed what produce was made in all the villages in the region and we needed little encouragement to go in search of locally made pasta, cheese, bread and such. Unfortunately we had forgotten to factor in the Italian way of having lunch from about one to five in the afternoon (they do start early and finish late though) which meant that we didn't have too much joy on that front once we had found our way to the appropriate villages, but we did get so see some pretty nice villages off the beaten track. Windy streets up sheer cliffs and vistas over valleys broken up by castles and those cool motorbike/van cross breeds. It was fairly obvious these were not affluent areas, but the locals were friendly and the villages themselves were very picturesque and well worth the detour. We were heading for Potenza to join the Motorway, or Autostrade, on past Naples to Pompei. En route we decided to rest for the night on the side of a Lago after a day seeing some nice villages. CowsThe drive to our rest point was very interesting though as we passed through the Parco Nazionale dell Appennino Lucano where there were huge cows on the sides of the roads roaming free. At one point our way was blocked completely by a herd, only for help to arrive promptly in the shape of a Fiat Punto-driving shepherd. He quickly rounded the corner and drove them on without even getting out of his car. It was raining pretty heavily at the time though and no-one seemed else batted an eyelid!

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