Time has passed since our last transmission. Good weather, and a established routine is my only excuse. And as I sit here on a Saturday morning, I realize we have only another week before we leave Lecce. It has been interesting to see how our feelings about the place have changed during our time here. Four or five weeks ago, we had pretty much decided that while Lecce is a very pretty town, it was also very quiet and we saw very little reason to need to return. Then as the weather changed around the 1st of May, we thought it might be fun to come back for a visit of a few days. Now, with a week to go, we are contemplating another extended stay. The lifestyle and the people truly ideal. We caught these street singers entertaining us just off the town square.
Our philosophy about our lives andwhat we enjoy about travel have evolved and mellowed. Lecce seems, now, a very good fit.
As we always do, we did acquire a cat friend last week.
As the weather warms, we are more and more leaving the door open. This little neighborhood fellow (actually a she) wandered in and with a little coaxing (and a little food) has been dropping in from time to time.
Tuesday of last week, we left on an extended trip for three days, heading west to the town of Matera and some exploration of the region of Basilicata and northern Calabria (the toe of the boot). Matera had been recommended to us as a “must see.” So, we picked up our little “Smart” car and headed to this famous cave city. It is the location in which Mel Gibson shot “The Passion of Christ.” The parents of our neighbors in Portland, who we visited in Bari last month, said it looked very much like Palestine. I will have to take their word for it.
Matera is about 3 hours west. It is a town of cave dwellings and is one of the most extensive complexes in the Mediterranean as well as one of the oldest inhabited human settlements in the world. These “sassi” were quite successful dwellings up until the 20th century, as Matera became the capital of Basilicata. However, as the population grew, people were forced to live in caves unsuitable for habitation and health issues developed. It got to be so bad that by the mid-1950s half the population lived in cave, sheltering an average of 6 children in each. The infant mortality rate climbed to 50%. Carlo Levy’s impassioned writings about the town revealed the wretched conditions and in the late 1950s, 15,000 inhabitants were moved out of the “sassi.” Ironically, the town’s history of misery, now makes it Basilicata’s leading tourist attraction and the “sassi” are undergoing stylish renovation. Our hotel was part of that restoration.
Polley and I splurged a bit on this hotel (which for me means more than $30 a night!). It is the Hotel Sant Angelo and it sits at the base of huge “sassi.”
All the rooms are actual restored caves.
We were so taken with the place that we ended up staying two nights and using it as our based.
It had a terrific view across to the south end of one “sassi,”
and above the hotel
and we looked across to two churches.
The one is Chiesa di Santa Maria de Idris, which is dug into Munt Errone (also known as the Idris rock).
Below that is Chiesa di Santa Lucia alle Malve
From that location, you can look back up at our hotel and sassi above it.
It is also back up against a deep ravine, Gravina di Matera, their own kind of miniature Grand Canyon.
Very dramatic.
That first night we just walked about town and had a lovely dinner outdoors at the hotel, over-looking the dramatically lit view from just above our terrace.
A very romantic and dramatic first evening. More to come.
Ed and Polley
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