May 24, 2023
Grassano to Matera
We awoke to another beautiful sunny day. The host of the B&B had invited us to have breakfast in his home, situated directly in front out our abode, at 8 am so we showed up on his doorstep promptly at 8am. He was so very proud to show off his view and rightfully so. The hills of Basilicata we're looking beautiful and lush this morning. Not only that, but his home was decorated with art and ceramics from his worldwide travels. Against the stone walls, it all looked stunning. What a trip down memory lane it is for him to see these everyday. It was a perfect example of ‘a man and his castle’.
We enjoyed this B&B, but there were a couple of shortcomings. First, there was no internet (the walls are 30” thick stone) and I am now behind a day on the journal. Secondly, we were looking forward to breakfast but it was only coffee and a packaged ding-dong (or the Italian equivalent). It wasn't what we expected when we had a personal invitation for breakfast. Oh well, we will make up for it later.
Today’s ride started with a long cruise downhill. We are leaving the mountains behind and the landscape is flattening out. The traffic was light and the riding was pure pleasure as we cruised down from the heights of Grassano to the river valley.
We cruised on like this for a good long stretch and eventually, the grade turned upward. I stopped after a while and had another look at the climb to Matera on the Komoot app. I did not want a repeat of the ascent to Grassano, so chose a route with a more gradual approach. As we neared Matera, we saw a large modern city sprawled across the ridge ahead of us. It wasn’t what we had expected of Matera, which is renowned for its sassi (stone cave dwellings). They were nowhere to be seen.
Making decisions on the fly like this can backfire on you because you truly don’t know if there is a price to pay. This time, it came in the form of heavier traffic and a rough road surface. In fact we had a long climb, albeit less steep, and the traffic was considerably heavier. We weaved our way uphill through the streets of modern Matera to find our accommodation just outside the Sassi. After a refreshing break in a nearby city park, we contacted our hosts to arrange a time to meet.
We were pleasantly surprised that we had booked a nicely appointed 3-room apartment that was fully stocked with drinks, pastries, focaccia, fruit, wine milk and coffee. The kitchen is fully appointed with a gas stove, convection oven, fridge, coffee maker, milk steamer and much more. The hosts took the time to explain everything we needed to explore Matera and said they would be at out disposal anytime we needed anything. We couldn’t have asked for more.
We settled in for a rest and headed out for a quick look at this amazing town. I will let the photos speak for themselves. More on Matera tomorrow as we will be staying here for two nights.
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At 7:30, we were seated for dinner at the Soul Kitchen. This was out first dinner in a cave and we were fascinated to see how it was carved into the limestone. The caves are surprisingly complex. This one has four levels, each one extending further and deeper into the limestone tufa.
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10 months ago
Today's ride: 41 km (25 miles)
Total: 316 km (196 miles)
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Your breakfast reminded us of the package of Melba toast we got for breakfast one day on the Tour du Mont Blanc. All the energy you need for a big day of exercise!! Ha, ha!
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