Lord and Lady Snooty's European Wanders in a MB SLK

matera

Matera - just wow! Stand by for a photo fest.

After just one night in PaM we departed about 11am, after Her Ladyship had another look around for a few more snaps. We headed off in sunshine again although temps only about 10C. Have I mentioned that since we arrived in Puglia on January 31st we haven't seen a drop of rain? We only had about 45 miles to go today and exiting PaM was easier than I expected and we were soon on our way enjoying the countryside. Throughout this trip I have kept the speed to the limit or below, we are never in a hurry and I get the chance to take in the scenery also.

I managed to negotiate our way through the twisty streets of a couple of small towns we had to pass through without any navigational cock ups; a feature of many of the towns is the awful state of the roads, they really are in a shit state with potholes, bad repairs, dips, cracks and every other manner of imperfection designed to test your tyres and suspension to the limit.

As we were passing one town on a perimeter road I saw a sign on a roundabout for an Italian supermarket chain called Euro Spin so I did q quick U turn and set the GPS to find it, which it did, or rather it took us to where it thought it was down a narrow alleyway I reset it to find a Lidl which was just about a mile away and thankfully that was not a figment of a GPS imagination. We stocked up on food and alcohol; the selection of meats and seafood knocks the stuffing out of the UK Lidls. We were only about 20 miles from the digs in Matera so I sent Lorenzo a message with out ETA. Once again I managed to get there without fecking up and for once we were on a proper sized road and there are free parking spaces on the road right in front of the apartment, happy days. Lorenzo appeared and helped us up the stairs to the first floor with the luggage to a pretty fantastic place for £47 a night. Large kitchen/diner, large double bedroom and a really well appointed shower room. Apparently, when No Time to Die was filmed here he hosted some of the film crew for three months, nice business! We were just outside the historic old town and he had already prepared a street map highlighted with places to go and he has an extensive folder with lots of details about museums and attractions to visit - it was very impressive and well thought out. We scoffed some lunch and off we trotted to explore the old city.

After a five minute walk we were there and it is absolutely breath taking, it was difficult to know where to look. We followed the route highlighted by Lorenzo which gave us some incredible views over the valley that the city is built in. There are layers and layers of history here dating back to prehistoric times. Tomorrow we are planning on going off-piste and just wandering around the more residential areas just getting ourselves lost and absorbing the atmosphere; we have already realised that just one more day here is not enough and I have requested Lorenzo if we can stay for a third night and leave on Monday, no problem.

I will let the pics talk for themselves, there is a man made water cistern here extending into the caves, sadly the tours are shut at the moment but the start is by the archways of a 9th century church just below street level, I took a photo of the notice board if you want the details. There are churches everywhere including a cathedral with a fantastic museum of artefacts which must be worth a fortune and a huge illuminated manuscript book which I photographed.

There is a building/church called a Purgitorio which represents Purgatory where the souls of the dead awaited judgement from the big G to await their fate, Heaven or Hell, I took a photo of the imposing door which is noticeable with its embossed skulls and crossed bones.

Pic frenzy

More pics

And more

More pics

Thoughts on driving in Italy

A few observations

1. Always drive as close as you can to the car in front
2. If a car is doing 30 in a 30 limit you must overtake
3. Solid white lines are an invitation to overtake
4. Never, ever use your signals they are the work of the devil.
5. When emerging out of a side road take the merest of glances and then pull out anyway.
6. When joining a roundabout the same as rule 5 applies.
7. When parking in town stick the car at 90 degrees to the kerb with the arse end poking into the road and leave it.
8. On a one way street, double park alongside a car already parked thereby blocking him in.
9. Ignore all parking restrictions they are there for mere mortals.
10. If in doubt sound your horn to demonstrate your are a superior life form.

Into the lower city

Did I say that we have extended our stay here to three days as there is clearly so much to see.

Today there was a very much welcome increase in the temp, the sun shone and the biting wind of the last week or so had gone. We wandered into the old city and this time we went off descended into the labyrinth that is the more ancient and residential area. The light was so much better than yesterday and the sunlight was reflected off the pale coloured stone of the buildings giving the whole city a glow of warmth.

I spotted this weird looking Citroen, never seen one before, I assume it is a leccy city car.

We spotted a museum advertising a miniature model of the city, in we went and it was quite an incredible display. A local artist creates miniatures of many of the prominent buildings in stone for purchase, his work is quite magnificent. As we continued downwards it was always possible to see the campanile of the cathedral which gave us perspective on where we were

We eventually found ourselves outside the Rupestrian Church of San Pietro Barisano, it is a church hewn into the solid rock and dates back to the 12th Century. Inside there were a number of medieval frescos. There is a crypt, and the vaults were used for corpse draining. The ritual involved dressing the dead and placing them in a seating position in seats carved out of the rock and they were left to rot. The bodily fluids drained out of them and when decomposition was complete the bodies were removed by the family and the bones which were considered pure and incorruptible were placed in an ossuary. It was all very spooky. We went down into the vaults, there were several ante-chambers with seats and obvious channels for the gooey mess to drain off. The ceiling was low and the passageways very narrow and it was claustrophobic. When I explained to Alena what went on down there she was off like a shot, I think she was down three for no more than 30 seconds leaving me to explore for myself. I ventured as far as I could, ducking and squeezing into these macabre spaces. Now of course, I had he benefit of everywhere being illuminated by bright electric light but imagine being down there with only the light from sputtering candles, casting flickering shadows whilst you were surrounded by the staring faces of the dead. It certainly produced a few hairs on the back of the neck moments. I stood alone in this creepy place for a few minutes until eventually my musings were interrupted by two more visitors, I made myself back up to the upper levels thinking I'll be happy with a simple cremation thank you very much.

We exited and continued to wander downwards until we eventually reached the furthermost perimeter of the city overlooking the valley and the river. Eventually we were heading upwards again when I checked the time and realised that the rugby would be starting in 45 minutes so Her Ladyship continued her wanderings and I headed back to the digs for an afternoon supping local beer and rugby. We have another day tomorrow to continue our exploration as we have only touched a fraction of the what Matera has to offer.

More pics

and more

Yet more - note the rickety bridge in the bottom of the valley over the river

Superb Mike...

Brilliant and really interesting write up...great pictures

Thanks for sharing

Final day of exploration

Thanks for the endorsements guys, I do wonder whether I have been boring the tits of people with the travelogue, so it is good to know that some people in UKGSer land are getting some enjoyment out of it. I shall continue with my inarticulate musings whilst I have at least one reader.

The morning was a bit overcast and slightly cooler than yesterday as we headed down the hill into the old city. The first piazza we get too was significantly busier than yesterday, it would appear to be the locals and some tourists stepping out for a Sunday morning stroll, meeting friends, chatting and generally having a relaxing morning whilst looking very stylish - and that was just the blokes. :green It just seemed to be part of Italian culture to just go out and be seen prior to heading somewhere for a decent lunch and wine. The ambience and atmosphere was just rather wonderful, relaxed, friendly and chic and we felt as if we were part of it, just not dressed as well in my ASDA jeans, trainers and no-designer label polo shirt. Some church bells were ringing, calling the faithful to Mass - the sheer number of churches in Matera is mind boggling, there must be one for every 10 people and not many of them seem to be overflowing with customers. My guess is, like many Christian countries, that religion is just not on many people's radar and is not important in their lives as maybe their parents or grandparents. Italy is becoming a more and more secular country. A number of the buildings used to be convents which over the years attracted fewer and fewer women answering to the call of the big G and eventually they closed down. One in particular closed in the 1930s after it's final solitary nun passed away.

Now do you remember I mentioned a few posts back about the subterranean water cisterns below the surface of the ground level? They were closed to visitors a few days back but today they were open and for the princely sum of just 3 euros each we were able to gain entry. It is called the Palombaro Lungo, located under the Piazza Vittorio Veneto. Together with other underground cisterns it forms the famous underground Matera; the cistern is part of a water collection system that extends along the entire length of the stones of Matera and was necessary for the supply of its inhabitants. They were hewn out of the rock in the 1500s and are over 15 metres deep and 50 metres wide and contained over 5 million litres of water, a quite amazing structure given that it was created using just manual labour and hand tools. I took some pictures, I also did a video but unfortunately I am unable to attach it as the size is too large to upload to the thread.

We wandered down a different road today to explore new areas on the western side of he city, we paused at a cafe and had cappuccino and cakes al fresco for just 7 euros. We just wandered around choosing narrow alleyways or steep, well worn ancient steps to descend and eventually we came to a viewing spot which gave us a different perspective of the valley or Sasso as it is called and a clear picture of the caves opposite. There are many caves in the city which were turned into dwellings, possibly going back to neolithic times and people continue to live in some of them even to this day, obviously with the introduction of modern utilities, some people throw their homes open to curious visitors, for an appropriate fee of course.

Tomorrow when we leave we intend to drive around to the opposite side of the gorge to get a panorama of the city from the opposite side, luckily the road that takes us there will also take us in the direction we need to go to head back to my cousin's in Pulsano.

Walking through a typical arched stretch there were two other people there who spoke English, naturally we started chatting and they were Australians from Brisbane, Steve and Annette, they had been in Germany on business and took time out to visit Italy until February 23rd. We spent about 20 minutes chatting about all sorts of subjects including travel, culture and even the Royal Family. Needless to say Alena gave them our contact details and is now connected on FB with an open invite to visit us at Snooty Mansions if ever in the old country.

i took a pic of the map that our host Lorenzo gave us when we arrived, the pink highlighted areas are mostly pedestrianised areas at the higher levels which we did on day 1. The rest of the white areas are the steps, alleyways, snickets, passageways that combine to create the astonishing, beguiling maze that is the old city. Every corner you take throws up something else to gasp at and it is absolutely with cafes, restaurants and shops tucked into all sorts of incredible spaces. As a UNESCO protected site it is certainly up there as one of the best I have ever visited.

Our accommodation has been perfect, just out of the old city, no more than five minutes walk with quiet designated free parking. To add cream to the cake there is a motorbike shop nor more than a few yards away - a Piaggio, Benelli and Moto Guzzi dealer and I intend to go and do some tyre kicking before we head off tomorrow.

If you do decide to visit Matera I can heartily recommend this apartment, you'll find it on AirBnB as Cozy House Matera, Via Lupo Protospata, 86. 75100.

On to the pics, some of which I put in an appearance, whatever next!

Does anybody know how to set the portrait pics the right way up?

Some more

Last few

A quick update, we are now on Sicily in Cefalu so we have been on the road for the last two days. Hope to get some pics tomorrow and resume the write up.

I'd be particularly interested in the Sicily bit.

Looking at going there in August after a family wedding in Naples in August.

Keep it coming your Lordship.

Sicily

It is Thursday morning and I am going to post the first of two updates before we go exploring more of Cefalu.

First of all I want to reflect on the kindness of strangers when you are travelling and find yourself in need of assistance in a strange land. I have already been the recipient of help from St Peter who helped me to resolve my parking fine in Ostuni and we have been lucky enough to have more help in Cefalu. The world really can be a wonderful place and complete strangers will often go out of their way to help a person who is a guest of their country, we have been humbled by such actions which I will talk more about later.

After leaving Matera we decided to bring our itinerary forward and head to Sicily; we had pretty much visiting all of the places we wanted to see in Puglia so decided to head SW down the toe of the boot to warmer weather. I did not want to push ourselves to make Sicily in one day so chose a town en-route called Cosenza and booked a place to stop, off we went. I have decided to stick to the autostradas mostly as making our way through towns has been proving to be a pain. However, the main routes prove to have some pretty spectacular scenery anyway and this route in particular was rather lovely as we headed south through the Calabrian mountains down the A3. We arrived in Cosenza and when we are at our stated location, according to the satnav, I pull in somewhere and pop the hazards on just like the locals and Alena goes on foot to find the digs. I also message the owner to tell them we are here so he/she can look out for Alena. As it happens we had stopped just round the corner from the place, luckily a parking space became clear on the opposite side of the road so I parked up and we took the luggage into the digs.

Now parking in Italy has certain rules, er-minio will know more than me but this is how it goes.

Blue lines, you pay. White lines free, yellow lines - disabled or unloading so keep out.

We are in a blue space and it is 1 euro per hour, the hostess tells me there is underground parking for 8 euros overnight, as I am in a one way system I have to go round the block and come back on ourselves so it is only a minute or so walk back to the digs. At least I won't be getting another parking ticket. Cosenza was just a stopover so we didn't bother exploring the town, I used the WiFi to find a place to stay on Sicily for a week, I chose Cefalu on the northern coast after a bit of research as it is another really old fascinating town. I found a place which had what we needed, Wi-Fi, kitchen, heating (it still gets chilly in the evening) and free parking - allegedly, more of this later. Total distance was about 215 miles but that included a ferry crossing from Villa San Giovanni.

The A3 continued to be panoramically spectacular through mountain vistas and ocean views on our right and consisted of a series of bridges over immense gorges on roads built on incredibly high concrete stilts and then into a tunnel, so it was bridge, tunnel, bridge, tunnel etc with the occasional stretch of road in-between. We came off the A3 for VSG and we had a stop for fuel, a pee and a coffee, the service station had a sea view which was great. I messed up in SGV and missed the ferry exit but managed to do a loop and got into a line of cars, the ticket office was just a few seconds away and I bought a return for 65 euros. We waited for probably an hour before boarding, it is an open deck ferry so you just sit in your car or you can have a wander if you like. I thought the ferry was only 20 minutes but they have changed the route so it docks south of Messina at a place called Tremestieri so the crossing is closer to an hour. The exit pretty takes you onto the A2 immediately and we were off with 105 miles to get to Cefalu. More tunnels, bridges and sections of open road until we exited for Cefalu on a wonderfully twisty ocean road, it waas all going so well as we got into the town and then the satnav took me on a left into the old city and that's when life became rather stressful.

Cefalu was not built with cars in mind as it originated in BC and has Greek, Roman, Byzantine and even Norman history. The roads are cobbled, or flagstones, uneven, ridged and rutted and very narrow and maze like. Before I know it I am getting deeper into the old city on streets barely the width of a car, I have the wing mirrors retracted to reduce the width. We get to a cross roads and the satnav is saying go ahead, the aperture for the road ahead is barely wider than the span of my arms (see the photo I took the next day) there are two Italian lads at the crossroads and they are astonished that we have got this far. One speaks some English, we cannot turn right as it is no entry so I turn left and find ourselves in the Cathedral square, I pull in as my stress levels are stratospheric! There are many tourists in the square enjoying coffee in the sunshine and they are all looking at this pair of mad Inglesis who have managed to get themselves this far. I check the satnav, we are very close to the digs but there is no way I am going to attempt to get there in the car. Enter our first good Samaritan, he speaks a little English, we show him the address, he indicates for us to follow him, I get the luggage out of the car and he grabs some of it, I tell Alena to stay with the car and off we trot up these steep steps by the Cathedral, hang a right up a steep road and we arrive. The road is slightly wider than the others and yes, there is what could be considered a parking space outside as long as you have a FIAT 500. I dump the luggage, offer profuse thanks to our good Samaritan and go back to the car. I find a way out of the square downhill towards the sea, I get to the bottom of a road by a left turn, there is a parking space but it is bordered by yellow lines, I don't risk it, a local tells us there is parking along the sea front so we turn left and the road follows the sea. We find the parking area, it is empty but that is because it has a chain across the entrance, bollocks, this is turning into a mission. At least we are now out of the old city and the road is a reasonable width. I set the satnav to find a parking area and off we go, we eventually arrive at the rail station parking lot, this will do, it is about an hour since we arrived in the old city and I am just relieved to have not damaged the car and to have found a safe place to park.

I go to the machine and manage to ascertain that it is 6 euros for 24 hours but only takes cash, luckily I have six euros in shrapnel so I get my ticket, it is now about 5pm but oddly the ticket expires as 11am the next day, so not really 24 hours. I set Google Maps on the phone to take us to the Cathedral which is 850 metres away, I know that I can find the digs when we get close the the duomo. On arriving we survey the digs, hmmmm, it is not that impressive, it is poky and cramped, the kitchen consists of a single plate plug in hob, the utensils are limited. Have I booked our first dud AirBnB? The problems are just starting. The Wi-Fi does not connect to the internet and we cannot get the hob to work. I send Giovanni a message and he says he will send someone round in 20 minutes. Sure enough, a couple of people arrive, an Albanian lady and what looks like her 12 year old son (he was probably a bit older TBH), he sets about messing with the router, she is on the phone to Giovanni showing him the hob and having the same problems as me. The IT wizard sorts the router out, at one time I saw he had a SIM card in his fingers, I play with the hob and through sheer fluke I get it going but the fan under the plate sounds very dodgy, as if the bearing is on the way out.

The Albanian lady is talking to Alena and she has a Russian friend in the town, before we know it she has called her and Alena is having a conversation with her as if she has known her all her life. Her name is Alla and she says she will come over to the digs. She arrives with a bottle of wine and cake, she is a very well preserved 49 year old blonde dressed quite glamourously, she is a beautician. Lots of hugs follow with her and Alena, she says that she will meet us the next day to show us around and she may be able to help with the parking situation. I message Giovanni telling him that the hot plate fan is not sounding good. I then discover that the heating/AC system just blows out cold air - another problem. We are now into the evening and as it is Valentines Day we go out to dine and I treat my wife to a pizza, I know how to treat a girl! We get back to the digs and frankly neither of us are happy with it but then fortune takes a hand.

In the middle of the night I get up for a piss, walk into the bathroom and find myself paddling in water, WTF! The bathroom floor is soaking, at least it is freshwater. At 8am I take photos and message Giovanni explaining the problem and ask for him to move us to another place. He responds quickly and says he is in Palermo that morning but will arrive at 3.30 and will relocate us, no problem. We decide to pack the gear that we are not likely to use for the week and carry it back to the car and renew the parking ticket. Off we go, it is a warm day, we stop of coffee and a snack so I can get some more coins, I renew the parking ticket at 11am for another 24 hours and this time it expires at 8am the next day so just 21 hours this time. This is going to be a complete pain if I have to keep walking down here everyday to do this. We dump the two bags in the boot and I throw my jacket in as I am too hot. We walk back to the digs, Alena calls Alla who says she will meet us at 1pm in front of the Cathedral. The water in the bathroom appears to be drying up.

We meet Alla, she takes us for a walk, points out a good supermarket and takes us to her apartment block, she is married to an Italian called Salvatore who runs a fishmonger. She has private parking with a barrier and she will speak to Salvatore and see if she can get us the remote control for the barrier to resolve our parking problems, see what I mean about the kindness of strangers. I get a message from Giovanni, he will be at the digs at 3pm. We head back and he arrives on time, we shake hands and he is offering profusive apologies for the problems, I smile and say no problem, at least he has responded quickly with a solution. I show him the bathroom floor which annoyingly is now almost dry, I show him the pics though. We pile into his red Fiat 500 and off we go for a madcap trip around the old city, even in the 500 he has to take two attempts to turn at some of the junctions. We arrive at the new digs and it is much better, three separate room, large kitchen with a proper gas over, microwave, plenty of utensils, sofa, large bedroom. Happy days! We thank Giovanni and off he goes.

We need some food so we head off to a supermarket on foot, get back and have a snack, we haven't really eaten all day. Alla calls, she has sorted out the parking and asks us to meet her at her apartment block in 10 minutes, it is about 700 metres away so off we go. Alena stays at the apartment, I walk with Alla to the car park, she goes to get in on the drivers side Off we go , I ascertain that sinistra is left and destra is right, we have to go to find Salvatore first for the bleeper. We find him at a bar with his mates, bleeper handover is done and off we go to the apartment block where I park up. Result, no more fretting about feeding the machine. We go for a walk with Alla, we walk down to the sea and it is a clear sky with stars in view. Alena says I can go back to the digs and get some spuds on the go and she will se me later, she wants some girly time with Alla.

I get back and have a beer and call my mate in the UK on WhatsApp, he is half Italian and advised me on lots of places to visit in Puglia, so I thanked him for his help. Sometime later she arrives back with a container full of cooked lamb chops from Alla, more kindness. We enjoy a lovely meal, the rest of the stay is now looking good.

Before going to bed I check my step counter on the phone, I have walked 13kms today, I sleep well.

I'm going to finish this update off now, her ladyship is keen to go out exploring.