As we drove through vast countryside, my GPS said that we were only about 15 minutes from our motel in Matera, but I didn't see anything resembling where I thought we were going. I'd dreamt of visiting Matera since The Passion of the Christ came out with scenes filmed there. It was on our itinerary for our 2020 trip, but with Covid, we weren't able to go. Then No Time to Die (James Bond) came out (with a massive chunk taking place in Matera) in 2021 and rubbed salt in the wound.
Ten minutes later, we found ourselves in the middle of a bustling town with concrete condominiums and fast food chains. With all of my research, I was thoroughly confused and began to get very nervous that I'd made some sort of terrible mistake in planning an entire day of our trip in a busy metropolis, but we continued following the GPS around a few bends in the road and before we knew it, we gasped with delight. It was EPIC.
Matera is confirmed as the 3rd oldest continually inhabited city in the world, and may even be the oldest. It has been occupied since 10,000 BC. It's made up of complex cave dwellings carved into an ancient river canyon. The area became known for it's poverty, poor sanitation, and disease and was evacuated in 1952, left abandoned until the 80s. Then investors decided to make it a tourist destination and it's now the European Capital of Culture and a UNESCO World Heritage site!
I'd spent a little bit more for a nice room in one of the old caves right in the center of the ancient city. It was beautiful and the bathroom was to die for!
We somehow managed to find a great free parking spot, dropped off our bags and set out to explore. There are tons of quiet little streets and sidewalks and nooks and crannies...it's exactly as I'd picture it in my head.
It seemed pretty quiet which was nice! We went into the ancient cisterns where they captured water and were in awe at the scale and craftsmanship for being so old. Then we found a little hole-in-the-wall cozy restaurant for dinner and dessert.
After dinner, Bill went back to the room to relax and Brian and I went out and got lost in the illuminated city. It was really just incredibly romantic <3
That night, we returned to the room very late and I took a long bubble bath in the massive jacuzzi tub.
The next morning, we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at the motel and then headed up through the middle of Italy to see what we could find! We explored endless dirt roads and even stumbled upon a National Park!
Is this not the most perfect flower that you've ever seen?!
We drove all the way to the eastern coast and then continued north from there. It was mostly farm land and we noticed, every once in a while, we'd spot a 20-something girl sitting in a lawn chair at one of the pull-outs off of the road. We didn't think anything of it for a few miles, but the girls gradually got more and more "haggard" looking and were wearing skimpier and skimpier clothing. We finally got to the girls wearing no bottoms and jiggling their boobs and started Googling. It turns out that prostitution is legal there and that road is known as the "Hooker Highway". We saw a few trucks pulled off of the side of the road and it all made sense. We were cracking up.
By this time, we didn't have much of itinerary, just 2 1/2 days until we needed to be back in Rome. We found a motel on our app and booked it for the night. It was called the Grand Hotel Vigna Nocelli and it was "grand", alright. I think we were just about the only people there and it was a little eerie. The grounds were absolutely huge and very fancy. We decided to eat dinner in the dining room which was set up for a formal wedding. The three of us sat across from each other at a massive banquet table with a fixed menu and we couldn't help but just laugh at how random and kind of awkward it was. The meal consisted of 4 courses and was my first experience with Beef Carpaccio. I didn't get sick though, so... We drank wine while Elvis' Unchained Melody and a variety of Whitney Huston songs were being played over the loud speakers for just us. It was so bizarre. The food was wonderful though.
We had our own room this time with a princess bed and Murano glass chandelier and a wonderful huge tub that I, once again, took a hot bubble bath in. The next morning was another lovely spread in the banquet room for just us, complete with a juicer for our very own freshly squeezed orange juice.
We checked out and hit the road again and turned back to the northwest and into a large mountain range that we'd spotted on Google Earth a few months before. It was wonderful to see snow-capped mountains! All along the way, we drove through countless sleepy little villages complete with cute churches and castle ruins.
The last full day was spend driving from the mountains back to Rome, enjoying all of the views along the way.
That afternoon, we checked into our motel, got our Covid tests (a VERY nerve-wracking process since Bill's tests kept coming back "inconclusive"), and then walked around to find a spot for dinner. We ended up near the river on a hip little street full of bars and restaurants. The only spot that was open (it was about 5 pm which is very early for them over there) was a restaurant with a full-blown DJ. It was pretty funny watching Bill bob along to 21 Savage and Kendrick Lamar at full blast. Then it was an early night for an early flight. The trip back home was very long...24 hours, and of course, I was violently ill and vomiting the entire time. Our layover in Dallas went from being 4 hours to being just over 7 hours long. We were able to use our Venture cards to get us into the Capital One Lounge which has some really good food, showers, and a massage chair, so that made it a little bit better.
Overall, it was a pretty perfect trip and I'm so glad that Brian's dad was able to come along!