Puglia vacation – Day 8: Celebrating Halloween in Matera

We were so excited to walk around and “hike” Matera during the daytime. But first – breakfast. Locanda di San Martino serves an amazing breakfast. Let’s face it, this was actually the first hotel we’ve stayed in for this vacation and there are actually many people staying here (it’s not just the Rosenbergs anymore). So, we have, as Josh would say “a very large, very rich” breakfast with all kinds of choices. For me, I went straight for the bran if you know what I mean.

After we had breakfast and the kids messed around in the lounge for a bit, we set off on our hike to see the Sassi of Matera. The surrounding area is very geologically dramatic. There is a large gorge and a river runs through it. We started by visiting two cave churches and a monastery/convent dating back to the 11^th century. The churches, Madonna delle Virtu and San Nicola dei Greci, are completely dug out of the tufa rock and one is overhanging the other. The frescos in these churches date from the 14^th and 15^th centuries. Above the churches were two typical cave homes.

Thus, one might get the impression that this is how people lived in this area back in Medieval times – taking advantage of the geology. Not exactly. Sassi became the name of a people who lived in these cave dwellings. Just up the road from the “Rocky Complex”of churches, we visited a typical Sassi dwelling called a Casa Grotta. This cave was staged and furnished to illustrate the way the Sassi lived. The bed was in the center of the room (cave) just next to the alcove where the horse, pig and chickens lived. That must have smelled nice. Furthermore, these caves had no plumbing so there was a ceramic pot just next to the bed used for “waste.” Drinking water was kept in a cistern. Also in the center of the room was a small table – the size of a kids’ play table – used for serving food for the whole family. The meal was prepared in an alcove off to the side. The chest of drawers doubled as small beds for the younger children. It was not uncommon for couples to have six children living together with them in this one room cave home – even though the infant mortality rate was 50%. The guide pointed out that the bed was high so that chickens could also live underneath the bed.

It looked very much like living in the “wild west” might look in America. So, we’re thinking, based on the accoutrements here, that we’re in the 1800’s. Nope. Here’s the punch line. There were 15,000 Sassi living here in this way. They were evacuated in 1956!!! The evacuation to move all these people to “modern” dwellings took almost six years. Mind blowing isn’t it? Josh’s observation was “It’s the South.”

We continued our tour around Matera – the Sassi side; and then we made our way over to Matera’s centro storico; finally, we found the “modern” section of Matera. Each part of this town was beautiful in a completely different way. Consistent were the steep, winding, limestone-cobbled streets, and the stairs!

Avery had had it. It was naptime, and he practically collapsed in our cave room. I had bought just enough prosciotto, bread and cheese to tide the kids over lunch. We put Charlotte in charge as head babysitter with Olivia as her assistant. The babysitters watched a movie while Avery napped and his parents FINALLY had a few moments alone. We went down the block to have lunch and talk. An hour or so later, when we returned to the room, Avery was still napping so we decided to join him.

In the evening, we went on another “hike,” this time climbing the stairs up to the Piazza del Duomo and visiting the beautifully lit Cathedral. The weather here has been drastically different than it had been in Puglia. We are at some xxx in elevation and the temperatures have dropped 20 degrees. We had to keep breaking up our evening “passeggiata” with coffee and cookie breaks. We even did a little grocery shopping for car snacks for tomorrow.

It was our last night of vacation. It feels like we’ve been out of Rome forever. After a week of eating out, I am ready to start making my own food again, my way. I feel like I could eat steamed broccoli and arugula salad for a week and be completely satisfied. Strangely, I think the kids feel the same way after so much pasta and pizza.

By our last night, we’d become true Italians, or so we thought, going out to dinner at 8:30pm. We went to a pizza place near our hotel and when we arrived, we were the only ones there. Yet, we were asked if we’d reserved a table. It was Halloween after all. The restaurant was decorated with carved pumpkins and fake bats, etc. We had our pizza and beer, and by the time we left not much later, the place was packed. Still more were pouring in to enjoy the Halloween party. We weren’t eating alone; we ended our vacation with party!

Just a brief comment on Halloween: We were quite surprised at how pervasively it is celebrated here in Italy. I already touched on the celebrations at school before the break, but in Rome tonight there are all sorts of parties going on for Halloween. Furthermore, here in Matera, we a handful young “trick or treaters” and they seemed to have a good bit of candy in their pouches. For the most part, it seems to give the Italians an excuse to don their pointed witch hats or ghost masks and go out and have a good time. Like they need an excuse.