This past weekend, Nick led all but four of our EHP group to Matera, a city in the far south of Italy, where he did his thesis and lived for a long time. It's a city with a whole lot of history...the old part is called the "Sassi", which are literally houses built into the mountains and rock. On the opposite side of the ravine, there are also real caves that used to be inhabited, but are now just preserved. The sassi experienced extreme poverty and disease in the '40s and '50s, and had to be quarantined for many years. In present day, many of the sassi have been renovated and are now beautiful homes. There is also a modern part of the city, as Matera is actually the capital of its region, but the sassi are infinitely more interesting and are what draw visitors to the area. (And for any Lord of the Rings lovers like myself, it looks like Minas Tirith.)
We left the Cenci at 6am on Friday to catch our six hour long train to the south. After checking in to the hostel, we had the entire day to explore the city, so we all broke into groups to go adventuring through the sassi.
Our whole group met up later that night for a dinner together, which was a feast - probably ten antipasto dishes, two pasta dishes, and dessert - all incredibly delicious. Matera is known for its bread and cheese. At dinner, I had the best ricotta I've ever had in my life. The other cheese is called stracciatella or burrata and is sort of like a super fresh, soupy, creamy, buttery mozzarella.
Our whole group met up later that night for a dinner together, which was a feast - probably ten antipasto dishes, two pasta dishes, and dessert - all incredibly delicious. Matera is known for its bread and cheese. At dinner, I had the best ricotta I've ever had in my life. The other cheese is called stracciatella or burrata and is sort of like a super fresh, soupy, creamy, buttery mozzarella.
On Saturday, we went for what turned out to be a four hour hike through the ravine below the city. It's a steep descent into the valley, where there is a (biologically contaminated) river, then another steep climb up to the top of the other side. Along the way, there was a church built into the rock, cows, and a beautiful meadow where we ate lunch. It was also obscenely hot - I'm guessing above 80 degrees. The views were breathtaking, and though we didn't make it to the planned destination (a rock quarry), it was still an incredible place to hike. When we were going back up the ravine, some of us decided to take a "shortcut" straight up the mountain instead of use the roundabout path, and in some places it was legitimately rock climbing and intense exercise.
After a shower and a nap, we had more free time to wander and then met up again to see a painting and show in a museum. Then Susie, Eliot, Katy, Andrew, Hamed and I got dinner at an enoteca (wine shop), where they served us regional food like cheeses, olives, meat, fried sweet chilis, and others. Nick met us there for a bit, and we enjoyed listening to the tarantella and electro-swing music!
On Sunday we left Matera for the day to see some places in Puglia, the region next to Matera. First was a stop at a 12th century castle, then to Trulli, a little town with funny shaped houses. Next was the most incredible stop of the day - the caves in Castellana. It's an impressive cave system that goes for 3km. We were all in shock the entire way through - it was so beautiful, and photos do not do it justice. Actually, photos were only allowed in the first cave anyway, and the rest were somehow copyrighted. I can't even explain this place though, it's something that can only be appreciated by seeing in person I think.
Our last stop of the day was in Ostuni, a small, white hill town where we watched the sun set and had an amazing dinner (I had wild boar!)
On Monday, I explored the sassi more with Eliot, Katy, Andrew, and Astrid. We found abandoned homes that continued for many levels underground, and had an exciting time discovering all the different rooms (personally, I was waiting for zombies the entire time).
Another six hour train ride, and we were back in Rome. This was such a great trip in so many ways. On one hand, it was like a sequel to our southern tour to Sicily, and on the other, it was our last big adventure as a group before the end of EHP. We only have three weeks left, and it's becoming very bittersweet. There's also a lot of pressure, as we really only have two more weeks to complete our projects for the final show! AH! Speaking of projects, here is a bad photo of my siren puppet (I will have a proper photoshoot once I finish the third one) -
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