Puglia vacation - Day 7: Gallipoli and Matera

We woke up in time to milk the goats, but once the kids saw what was involved they were a little less excited about it. Only brave Avery gave it a try. We had breakfast and then Josh was off to visit the Peugot dealer nearby. Apparently, the car is drivable, which is a total relief, but the clutch pedal is stiff because the spring is broken.

We’d heard from some German guests at the Masseria that the beaches just south of Gallipoli were lovely and since it was a warm day, we decided to check out Gallipoli, on the Western coast of the heel. The old center of town is located on a promontory with beautiful views of the Mediterranean sea.

The town itself is not so pretty, but the Germans were right about the beaches. The Baia Verde, as the strip is known, had nice sandy beaches and perfectly clean water; and we were the only ones there. Apparently 75 degrees and sunny –although it was a bit breezy—does not qualify as beach weather in Puglia. The kids were so excited to get in the water that Avery completely stripped down and Olivia took her pants off. It was cute seeing them run around on the beach and play in the shallow waters.

We had to have fish for lunch – and it was delicious. Again we were the only patrons in the restaurant until about the time we were leaving at 2:15pm. The drive to Matera would be over 2 hours so we settled the kids in the back with a movie.

Just before arriving in Matera, we witnessed some serious drama. All of a sudden, the car in front of us on the road had stopped behind the car in front of it. The man in the first car got out and was yelling and gesturing wildly to the man inside the car behind him. Then he returned to his vehicle and the car behind him followed him off the road. Then the man got out of his car again, this time with a knife. The man in the second car pulled a knife as well. Holy cow! At least they pulled over and didn’t hold up traffic. Josh wanted to call the police…but then he just chalked it up to being in the South. We weren’t in Puglia anymore. Matera is in the region of Italy called Basilicata.

We arrived in Matera just before the sun went down (that’s around 5pm these days) and checked into our cave (hotel). Matera is a UNESCO World Heritage Site well known for it’s Sassi. The Sassi are the rocks and boulders from which dwellings and churches were carved. An enormous section of this town is cut out from these rocks. Our hotel, Locanda di San Martino (www.locandadisanmartino.it) is one such dwelling where the entire hotel is embedded in the side of a cliff and many of the rooms are cave-like. Our room is a duplex with a sleeping loft – like a real cave -- where Olivia and Charlotte will sleep. Avery will sleep with Josh and I downstairs in another alcove that was also carved into the cliff. Each of the 30 or so rooms at this hotel is unique and the English speaking staff is delightful. I explored the cliffside before dinner and was just amazed at how cool the whole place was.

At night, the town is lit up and while the only windows in our hotel room were in the doors, there was a great view of the other side of the canyon and more Sassi dwellings.

Having admittedly not taken our hotel receptionist’s advice about where to eat, we were disappointed with our dinner. By the time we parked the car (we had to drive it to a remote parking lot), everyone was so hungry we just went to the first place. It looked very cute, but in fact, the food was not fresh. The next morning, the receptionist would make a face when Josh told her where we ate. We’ve been spoiled to think you can’t go wrong in Italy; but you can. Again, we were the only patrons in the place. Charlotte and I recounted that aside from the first night of our trip when we ate in Ostuni, we’d eaten dinner alone every other night. In some sense, it’s a relief because then we (read: Avery) can be as loud as we want, but Charlotte felt it was lonely. I guess there are pros and cons of vacationing “off-season.”