Day 5, Wednesday October 15, 2014
Today we leave Vieste and make our way to Matera. Along the way we make a stop in Alberobello to visit the trulli houses. We also have a wine tasting scheduled along with some substantial snacks including meats and cheeses. We arrive late in the afternoon for a group dinner.
When we reached Alberobello, the wine and snacks were on the schedule first. The wine tasting was held in one of the Trulli houses. We tasted three different wines from the local area and they were all very good. They also made their own local olive oil. We purchased some of each for our consumption when we got home.
After our wine tasting, we had some free time to explore the trulli houses. These are round houses made of stone without using mortar. There are about 1,500 trulli homes in Alberobello. Why houses made of stone? Here is the story. During the Middle Ages any structure on the king's land could be taxed. Therefore, the locals designed these houses so that when the tax collector came, they could be easily disassembled. When they left, they could also easily be put back together again. Many of the trulli houses are 500 years old but some date back 5,000 years.
We finally reached Matera and were really surprised and fascinated by what we saw. It was a thought provoking site looking at Matera from across the valley. After a few pictures we drove into Matera to our Hotel San Domenico and headed to a group dinner after a short break.
When we reached Alberobello, the wine and snacks were on the schedule first. The wine tasting was held in one of the Trulli houses. We tasted three different wines from the local area and they were all very good. They also made their own local olive oil. We purchased some of each for our consumption when we got home.
After our wine tasting, we had some free time to explore the trulli houses. These are round houses made of stone without using mortar. There are about 1,500 trulli homes in Alberobello. Why houses made of stone? Here is the story. During the Middle Ages any structure on the king's land could be taxed. Therefore, the locals designed these houses so that when the tax collector came, they could be easily disassembled. When they left, they could also easily be put back together again. Many of the trulli houses are 500 years old but some date back 5,000 years.
We finally reached Matera and were really surprised and fascinated by what we saw. It was a thought provoking site looking at Matera from across the valley. After a few pictures we drove into Matera to our Hotel San Domenico and headed to a group dinner after a short break.
Pictures of the wine tasting in Alberobello.
Pictures of free time in Alberobello.
Pictures of Matera and group dinner.
Day 6, Thursday October 16, 2014
Today we have a guided walking tour of Matera and the Sassi homes. Then in the afternoon we have free to explore more of Matera on our own. Dinner is on our own this evening.
This morning we started the day on a walking tour of Matera with our local guide Giovanni. Matera's population is about 57,000. It is famous for its Sassi (cave dwellings). These Sassi have existed since prehistoric times. The residents lived with all their belongings in the caves including their animals. They had no electricity, plumbing or air circulation. In the late 1950's and 1960's, the Sassi were considered a national disgrace. 15,000 Sassi residents were eventually evicted from the cave dwellings and relocated to modern housing on the outskirts of Matera. In the 1990's the Sassi was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In the afternoon we did some more exploring of Matera during our free time.
We had dinner at Trattoria Lucana which featured local produce and the food was great.
This morning we started the day on a walking tour of Matera with our local guide Giovanni. Matera's population is about 57,000. It is famous for its Sassi (cave dwellings). These Sassi have existed since prehistoric times. The residents lived with all their belongings in the caves including their animals. They had no electricity, plumbing or air circulation. In the late 1950's and 1960's, the Sassi were considered a national disgrace. 15,000 Sassi residents were eventually evicted from the cave dwellings and relocated to modern housing on the outskirts of Matera. In the 1990's the Sassi was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In the afternoon we did some more exploring of Matera during our free time.
We had dinner at Trattoria Lucana which featured local produce and the food was great.
Pictures of our guided walk of Matera.
Pictures of Matera during free time.
Pictures of dinner at Trattoria Lucana.
Tomorrow we travel to the Amalfi Coast. On the way we stop at an organic water buffalo farm and have lunch. Then we visit Paestum's Ancient Greek temples before heading to our final destination of the day, Positano.