We have been in Italy for just a few days over two months now.  There have been many great days and we have seen beauty and grandeur that makes you sit back and just stare.  A visit to Matera is to go to a place that you never knew existed and to see a way of life that is so different from anything you are familiar with.  This is a place where people have lived in literally cut out of stone caves made into a type of home for 2000 up until the mid 1950’s.  You stand there and go Huh!??  Are you kidding me?

During the 1950’s the “sasso” dwellings were forcibly closed by the Italian government and the people moved into modern housing in the higher, newer town.  Modern redevelopment of a good portion of these dwellings has occurred and  you can now visit, shop, eat, and stay there.  It truly is a unique experience.  Our “hotel” was very comfortable but also really different.  The company that has developed it has made a concerted effort to make the dwelling as realistic as possible without destroying what is there.  This is not a widescreen, plush carpet kind of place.  We thought it was a wonderful experience and certainly are very glad to have had the chance to stay there.

The Hotel website: http://www.sextantio.it/grotte-civita/?lang=en

UNESCO website:  http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/670

Wikipedia website:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassi_di_Matera

A short one hour drive from Lecce to Matera.

The stairway to our “room”.

The entry way into the bedroom.

Master bedroom

Bathing room with fireplace!

The living room look back toward the front door.

We went out the first night after we settled in and were greeted with this panorama. We are definitely NOT in Kansas!

It was pretty quiet in town and the wind was on the cool side.

Lighted bell tower. Because hearing them is just not enough.

I couldn’t pass up the nice grapevine shadows on the wall.

The church is carved out of the outcrop. No air conditioning needed.

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Old peasant carts at a small museum in town.

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Daylight give a different, but none the less awe inspiring view of the settlement.

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A little slice of life.

Three wheel pizza delivery.

The area has a relatively flat to slightly rolling surface. The downward erosion of the rivers exposed the soft rock into which the caves were cut.

This is the interior of one of the last caves inhabited until 1956. The couple raised 9 sons in this dwelling.

And the mule had his own place!!

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Breakfast room detail in the hotel.

I found a few caves that were boarded up but had an access hole I could stick my camera and arm into. A lot of work went into making the hotel habitable again.

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It may be the heel, known as Puglia (Pool Yuh) of Italy but it held some real surprises for us.  We left Sicily a bit behind schedule in part because of the ceramic shopping in the morning.  Then finally made it to the car ferry which left every half hour and we were the third car on it.  I got to watch the harbor side anchovies fisherman during the wait.  We then ran into the slow, southern end of the A3 Autostrad which is under considerable reconstruction in order to straighten it to improve travel times.  This is a tremendous undertaking since the road is basically an alternating series of bridges and tunnels through some imposing and beautiful landscape.

We arrived after dark ( 5:15 pm in southern Italy) at the town of Lecce (Lay chay).  It has been described as the Florence of southern Italy and it did not fall short of that label.  The city has historic roots back to the Greek and Roman civilizations but owes it more “modern” appearance to the Zimbalo family who in the 1600’s decided that the town needed a face lift.  The common local limestone used as building stone is especially suitable for carving and as you walk through the city you can not be amazed by the extent of the work and the ability of the craftsman who labored to “remodel” much of the town in a Baroque style.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lecce  The result struck me that if a little bit of ornate decoration is good than a BUNCH would be so much better!!  And it is not limited to just the major churches or civic buildings.  The ornamentation extends right down to the cantilevered braces used under the residential balconies.

Another total surprise was that Lecce is a major center of papier-mache art work.  There are many shops displaying wonderful creche scenes and statuary made by this technique.  We spent the day doing our requisite church peeping, sightseeing, and poking into a store or two before setting out late in the afternoon for the next stop at the town of Matera.  This proved to be another knock down surprise destination.

For the geographically challenged.

Coming soon to a dinner party near you! That is, if you live in Houston.

It is interesting to watch these men fish for 4 inch long fish with a rod that must be 15 feet long and collapses down to easy carrying size.

Cleaning the catch of the day with a pair of scissors the removes the fins and scales very nicely. I couldn’t tell if this was the “big one” or not.

A fisherman’s ride. Complete with custom rod rack in the back.

We arrived in Lecce after dark. Found the hotel. Found the parking garage. Walked through the park back to the hotel and came across this little gem that foretold what lay ahead.

Church peeping of the interior. The exterior was covered in scaffolding.

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The side aisle. Just about all of the churches in the city had very austere interiors.

A peak at the exterior embellishments.

You have to keep your head moving to the left and right as you walk the narrow streets. Otherwise you might miss this wonderful “Study in White” or grey. Tongue in cheek.  But I like the old Vespa.

Laura doing her thing. Finding little gems at the antique market. I am not sure who was having more fun.

I really hope we were not her big sale of the day.

Laura is on a roll. This dance went on for several minutes. They talked. I took photos. Then we were on the street just outside the stalls and the gentleman found Laura and made his final offer. Laura still said we would think. One hundred feet later she turned, went back, and bought the doll.

You might call this the “Busted Balcony”

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I really like the way the light pours into a church interior and mixes with the side chapels and candle light.

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The different angles of the ceiling. The variation in glass windows. And the direction of the exterior sunlight made for a simple church ceiling to be very interesting.

This decoration gives a good idea of the extent of the work in the city. This detail is located high above the main door to the left of the window in the church in the next photo.

The same church as it sits in the piazza.

Even the not so well cared for exteriors are intriguing.

Everybody gets a balcony.

These next few shots are of an interior school courtyard that was totally done with the local caramel and white stone. It was simple, but beautiful.

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And just a touch of aged fresco thrown in for color.

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Just how small are the old Fiat 500’s???

Throughout the city there were parts of the facades that had a slightly different stone which, when it weathered, looked like giant morel mushrooms.

Another detail shot. Love the mouths on these guys. These were under the left and right niches on either side of the main door of the church in the next photo.

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Most of the city is underlain by Roman ruins. This is a small portion of a Roman theater in the heart of the town. It is also interesting that the modern roads in town often come almost up to the original second floor of the old buildings.

Laura and I decided to head back to Taormina for a couple more days and do a bit of ceramic shopping we had not gotten around to.  Sure enough, we really did like the pattern of dishes we had seen a few times and decided to buy some new dinner ware and have it all shipped back to Texas for when we return.

Mt Etna teamed up with some low clouds and the setting sun to put on  a spectacular display to remember Sicily by.  The following morning the mountain was visibly venting more steam which only punctuated the fact that it is a changing geologic system.  We pretty much just relaxed and soaked in the wonderful hotel, the evening promenade in town, and had dinner in the hotel to close out the trip to Sicily.  It has been a tremendous 3 weeks of discovery and adventure.

We got up in the morning and commenced the third stage of the trip as we traveled into the “heel” of Italy and eventually will go on to Montepulciano for several weeks awaiting Claire and Alessandra’s arrival for Christmas.

A great shadow play set up by this street vendor and the quickly setting sun.

Eventually, I will put together the panorama shots from this evening. Unbelievable!!

I may just have to come back the next time I hear this volcano is erupting.

One for Claire!

Any one need a parasol?

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One of the hotel lounges.

The ladies finally get in on the action.

The kids turn the piazza into their playground.

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Wednesday morning we woke to the steady drone of rain on the roof. The rain was relentless and we had no choice but to slog our bags to the car after breakfast and hope that our travels would take us out of the downpour. This day we were to travel to Taormina on the west coast of the island. The guidebooks glowed about the town, calling it “the pearl of Sicily”. It was also just an hour or so from Mt. Etna, Sicily’s active volcano, so two nights in Taormina were to be our tour’s “Grande Finale”.

Did I mention that the rain was relentless? It never let up as we made our way east, forcing us to scrap a planned stop at the ruin Villa Casale, a sumptuous Roman villa with beautifully preserved mosaics. Instead, we slogged onward to Taormina, arriving gratefully to the Hotel Timeo where everything suddenly became OK again, regardless of the weather.

Hotel Timeo is housed in a 19^th century villa, perched on a bluff over the Mediterranean, with a direct view of the smoking peak of Mt. Etna to the southwest. This hotel is truly the most beautiful hotel, in the most beautiful setting that I have ever seen, much less stayed in. We are here during the very last week of the season, so the rates are almost reasonable, the staff is gracious and relaxed, and they upgraded our rooms to junior suites…tutto bene!!

Taormina is charming, if admittedly touristy, and we had a great excursion up to Etna. The rain had stopped overnight so by morning, the sun was shining.  On Mt. Etna, the wind blew like crazy and was seriously bitter, so we opted to see the volcano in a time efficient manner: skipped the guided walking tour, ran down to see the crater (all smoking and steaming), took pictures, then ran back up to the warming hut. The profundity of the experience, however, was not lost on any of us. To stand on a massive example of nature’s power and potential was truly awesome, especially to a couple of geo-types! The day continued to be wonderful (it happened to be my birthday!) with lunch at a winery on the slopes of Etna, and later Prosecco and dessert on the terrace of the hotel.

Taormina also is home to a wonderful Greek Theater ruin with more fantastic views east over the sea. It was just next to our hotel, so day two was spent seeing the theater and shopping and exploring around the town. Like all great Greek tragedy’s, this story had a sad ending, as Karen and Scotty had to leave us Saturday morning. We returned to Cefalu, had a farewell dinner (home cooked by Michael), and then dropped them at the airport in the wee hours on Saturday. We also said arrivederci to our Cefalu home, Casa Pineta, and again, we thank Jerry from the bottom of our hearts for providing us a base from which to explore the delights of Sicily.

We had arrived in Taoromina the day before in the pouring rain and could not see anything but grey, rain filled skies. Fast forward to the following morning. Open the drapes and window shutters in our unbelievable room and “Oh yeah that snow covered peak over there, 13 miles away, is the Mt Etna standing 10,000 feet and with a bit of steam off the top. Geologists, get your boots on. It’s going to be a great day!

It was damn cold at the top of Mt Etna and the wind was blowing about 35 mph. It sure would have been nice to have some cool weather clothing for the day.

You can’t actually gut up to the active vent on the mountain but we are pretty darn close. Less than a half mile. It is easy to see the bit of steam still venting through the rock at the top.

There is a series of more than a dozen smaller cones that run from just below the summit and down the east side marking past eruption points. The ground is covered in ejected pumice, ash, and solidified lava. This is definitely some of the newest rock on the planet!

A well traveled baby stroller. Yikes.

The views around the volcano were fantastic.  Just to the right of the center are two 40 person buses that transport you across the cinder fields to the top.  This is a BIG place!!

These are gas vent holes in the highest non-active cone.

Cable car ride back down.

Back down in town for dinner and street cruising with “the usual suspects”

Piazza scene in Taormina

Happy travelers.

The old folks.

Shopping in town.

Gelato in a bun. This girls will do almost anything!!

Dancing in the dark while celebrating Aunt Laura’s birthday at the Hotel Timeo.

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Happy Birthday Laura. Love you!

It is a little out of focus but don’t blame the camera…..

A small bit of the Greek theater which is located immediately behind the hotel.

Karen spotted the light coming in through the windows in a church as we walked past.

Shopping till they dropped.

This is a public drinking fountain in one of the piazzas in Taoromina.

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Some of the terraced gardens at the hotel.

Planning the “Great Sicilian Temple Tour” was challenging, in that we were forced to do it without Internet access. For those of you (and that would be most of you) who are totally used to checking the Internet anytime you want any bit of info, we are here to tell you that making plans without it was seriously unsettling. We depended heavily on an old guidebook from the pre-Internet days, “Karen Brown’s Italy; Charming Inns and Itineraries”. This book contained both a recommended touring route, as well as hotel recommendations (with phone #s NOT web addresses!). On Karen’s advice we booked ourselves into the Hotel Athena in Agrigento for our second and third nights. We arrived after dark (thanks to daylight savings time), and our approach to the hotel was quite stunning.  This area, known as Valle de Temple is an archeological jewel, with remains of 5 temples, catacombs, and the ancient remains of Agrigento (population 200,000 in it’s early days!). As we drove into the valley on Monday evening, the temples were lit and glowed magnificently in the early evening darkness. Hotel Athena is smack in the middle of it all, with the most complete temple just outside the grounds, and our rooms looked straight out onto that glorious view. It was certainly a “wow” moment.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valle_dei_Templi

The current town of Agrigento is above the archeological park, and is decidedly modern, but our concierge directed us to a wonderful restaurant, and on Monday evening we ate well, and raised a glass to our good fortune for being in this wonderful area. The next morning, it was as easy as walking out the door and up a short path from our patios to access the park. We wandered amongst the ruins for the morning, and then embarked on an unplanned side trip.  We had seen a postcard of an unusual beach while at Selinunte, a place called Scala dei Turchi…turns out it was only a short drive from Agrigento, so we set out to see it for ourselves. What an amazing treat!! At this place, the shoreline transitions to white “marl” a kind of carbonate mudstone. There is a cliff, and the rock has eroded dramatically at the shore into steep, white steps…kind of like the cliffs of Dover. The air was warm, the sky was moving toward a dramatic sunset, and only a handful of people there. So cool! Lucky us!

I was up and out at 7 in the morning, just as the sun was rising. I walked through an olive grove to reach the line of temples and there was only myself and a quite scraggly dog wandering in the ruins. A great morning.

My buddy.

The view to the west along the fortification wall. Our hotel was out the right side of the photo, even with the temple, and about 400 yards away from it. Quite a view.

Beyond the hotel was this shepherds home and the penned up sheep before they went out to the daily pasture.

The ruins were partially rebuilt during the mid 1800 by a retired English army captain named Hardcastle, who took up residence amid the site and funded the first archaeological expeditions of the area.

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Our intrepid companions.

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The ruins may have seen the most history but the olive trees come in a strong second.

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Enough dang old rocks and ruins.  Let’s go play at the beach!

Scotty and Karen trying to make the best of a wonderful day. These poor kids just had to suffer through it all!

Pretty much says it all.

The tilted bedding of the white chalk cliffs at the Scala dei Turchi beach area. You can make out Laura and Karen for scale.

Hugs on the rocks.

Still trying to have a good time.

Cheesecake pose or trying to keep here hair under control in the breeze. You vote.

A seriously steep and long way to the water.

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Time to go drink wine!!!

After leaving Segesta the day before we drove to Erice and spent the night at Hotel Moderna in Erice.  The weather continued to be quite cool and windy so we checked in and relaxed a bit before very short walk to dinner.  It seemed like we had gorged ourselves on seafood the last couple days and the nights dinner was veal and lamb chop centered.  We were definitely not let down.

The morning brought little change in the weather outlook.  Laura did some needed computer time, Karen and Scot got in a bit of souvenir buying, and I ran out to grab some photos and move the car before we got a parking ticket.  By 10 o’clock we were moving on down the road to Selinunte and the ruins located there. Selinunte welcomed us with 20 minutes of of wind blown coolness before we retreated to the relative comfort of the visitors center to let a 15 minute rain shower pass.  With a bit of hesitancy we ventured back outside and were able to spend a relaxed hour or so walking, touring, and climbing around and through the Greek temple and city ruins.  Most of the fellow tourists had given up for the day so we had the place pretty much to ourselves.  The sun peaked out now and then and gave us a bit of a rainbow. over the fluted columns.

Bits and pieces of Erice

The gardening flower Alyssum grows wild here and sprouts out of cracks and crevices every where.

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Good things come to those who persevere.

The scale of these ruins compared to that which we had seen at Segesta was astounding.

Scot for scale. The columns had a diameter of at least 8 feet at the base.

Looking pretty cute!

Olive trees with pines in the background.

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Laura, playing the warrior princess thing again.

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Oh look!! Gelato for dessert.  Can you believe it??

We are driving a counter clockwise tour around Sicily and checking out the ancient ruins that exist at various locations.  The weather was threatening rain as we loaded the car and grabbed breakfast in town before starting out.  From Cefalu we drove west through the now pouring rain, past Palermo and Monreale and on to the remains of what is described as the best preserved Doric temple in the world at the town of Segesta.  The weather had turned in our favor with the sun peeking out but the temperature had dropped a bit and the wind was whistling making for a cooler than expected visit.  As the photos show the temple is truly in remarkable condition for having been built around 430 BC by the Elymian people of Sicily.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segesta

After a few hours of touring the site we grabbed some lunch.  Karen managed to polish off a gelato even in the brisk weather but loved the warmth of car.  We traveled the short distance to our overnight location the hilltop town of Erice which Laura and I had visited previously.

Click the photos to enlarge them.

We loved the fact that even though this archaeological park is not more than 2 miles from the autostrad there were not more than 100 people there while we visited. It made for an easy time of taking photos without people in them.

You can’t always get photos without people.

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Apparently the temple was never finished according to the reference material. Part of the support for this argument is that the columns are not fluted.

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Thank you Sicily for not ruining this place and keeping it natural.

The Greek theater.

Scot and I both thought the seat cushion concession was the real money maker here.

One last shot and then on to Erice for the night.

Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012

We picked up Karen and Scot at the airport just outside of Palermo at 3 in the afternoon.  Aside from a bit of lack of sleep the travelers were in good spirits and ready to hit the sightseeing trail.  Karen had mentioned wanting to see the mosaics at the cathedral in Monreale so off we went for a bit of touring before the drive back to Cefalu and dinner.  Even though Laura and I had been here just a week or so earlier the church held new surprises as we took in a side chapel not seen previously and purchased the audio tour headsets which did a wonderful job of filling in where the tour guide books ended.

Back in Cefalu we freshened up and headed down into town for a little local introduction, glimpses of a wonderful sunset, a fantastic huge seafood dinner, and some street surprises.  After the requisite second gelato of the day we headed back up and hit the bed before the first full day of touring ahead.

Back in the cathedral at Monreale.

Doing their best to look like tourists. What do you think?

Mosaic details.

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Putting a lip lock on the gelato. With Makiato in hand. What a multi tasker!!!

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Really, there is no connection between the sign and Karen.

The sun and the sea teaming up to be show offs!

Meanwhile in the other direction. Hello Cefalu`

An Officer and a Gentleman Italian style.

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Taking it to the streets.

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A little late night shopping for the essentials.

The main piazza in town.

Table side wave action during dinner.

The ‘twins’ having just one more gelato before calling it a night.

With all this Italian wining and dining we have to get out and burn some serious calories from time to time. Wednesday was forecast to be a sunny but not too hot day, so we decided to try another hike, this one recommended by our host (and most excellent long distance concierge) Jerry. The trailhead was located adjacent to a nearby church, Gibilmanna, which we had visited last week.  We found it easily and set off into the cool morning woods. Before long though, the trail began to descend, and seeing as this was supposed be a hike to the TOP of a mountain, we began to doubt that we were on Jerry’s trail. We went back to the trailhead and set out again, this time looking for a fork that would take us up, rather than down, but we couldn’t find one. There happened to be an elderly couple hunting for mushrooms nearby, and Laura used her limited Italian to say something that probably translated to “We like walk UP mountain. Is this way?” The gentleman provided lots and lots of instructions in Italian, clearly sending us back to the beginning of the path, and telling us, we think, to walk through the church, not around it. Huh? After a bit more wandering, and no doubt some trespassing, we found a paved path behind the church that led through the Stations of the Cross, and up to an outdoor chapel. From there we followed a woodland trail that led us to a road…by this point we had no idea where we were heading, but it was quiet and pretty, and at least it was going up. The road finally ended at a communication tower, and another man, some kind of worker, was parked there. Thank goodness, because he showed us another path and told us that it went all the way to the top, where we’d be able to see in all directions. A short distance later, we reached the summit where we were indeed rewarded with 360-degree views of Sicilian landscape.

We lingered on the summit for a time. The views were softened by morning mistiness, and we could hear the shouts and whistles of Sicilian “cowboys” moving cattle in the valley below. We also could see a dramatic example of one of the many wildfires that have burned in Sicily this fall: the better part of an entire valley to our east was scorched and blackened, burned literally to the rocky cliffs where we stood.

For our afternoon activity, we decided to drive out to an “amazing” restaurant that was off the beaten path but worth the effort, according to Jerry. We set off, directions in hand including an amusing instruction to pass through a “little arch thingy”, and all was well until we reached a critical turn and found the road completely closed off due to maintenance on the “thingy” (which by the way went under a railroad line).  Not to be discouraged we proceeded to the next little arch thingy and figured we could make our way back to where the restaurant was. Don’t know if the pictures really convey it, but we found ourselves bumping along on some very back roads, more like driveways, that were access roads for a string of small farm plots, maybe 2 acres each. We saw fennel, cabbage, squash, and even some scraggly grapevines. People clearly doing what they could to make a modest living.

Predictably the road we were on ended. Reversed course to the main road and forgot about the little arch thingies. We drove till the main road crossed over the tracks, and made our way back to La Campagnola. The reward was a beautiful patio, great food, and an adorable young dog that made himself comfortable near our table, but never begged.

There was a last chapter to this day. In the late afternoon, when we were back home, a storm blew in with thunder, lightening, wind, and hail. About 15 minutes into it we lost power at the house, but we were well stocked with candles and flashlights, so we managed just fine.  We texted Jerry to let him know and he assured us power would be restored soon, and also let us know that the candlelight “Romance Package” was all inclusive!

Not exactly a soft forest floor.

The Mediterranean is in the background and you can see the burned area across the central portion of the photo.

Looking over the burned landscape.

Another view of the burn.

This is a relatively large file showing an almost 360 degree view fro the top.  Click on the image for an enlarged view.

The back road to lunch.

Don’t tell the rental company we went down these roads.

We landed.

The mussels and clams were fantastic!!!

Looking good.

Our new best friend was so well behaved.

Action shot of the evening hail storm.

The hail knocked the brake dust off the wheels on the car.

Mid day walk along the water front in Cefalu`

Lover’s locks on a sign post.

Three wheelin’ produce truck.

Laura sealing the deal on some peaches.

We both thought this model was our niece Nora!!

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I had to wonder just how many nets this man had made in his lifetime.

I have “gone to the dogs” twice in this blog so far and the mutts will most likely be back for a few more posts before we get home.  They are just simpler to get good photos of than cats.  And, I must admit I am not a huge cat fan.  In an effort to be fair and trying to be balanced in the interests of those who might be folowing the blog I managed to finally compile enough good cat photos to put together a posting of the feline side of Italy.

A few of these might actually be some ones pet, but since none  have collars it is a bit difficult to be certain.  The majority of the cats are quite suspicious and not real prone to doing anything that resembles a pose for you.   If you try to bend down and get on their level that is an invitation for them to scamper off under a car or down the narrow street and out of sight.  So to the cat lovers out there here is one for you.  If you have better captions for any image please add them in a reply.  Identify which cat it goes with.

I am not going to look at the camera for any reason.

A little rough around the edges.

Looking for dinner out in the shrubs.

This is so embarrassing.

Busted!!

Hey! We are trying to take a nap over here.

The torn ear and scarred face tells me this is definitely a street cat.

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There is another one of the “camera people”.

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