Travels and Thoughts
After a wonderful breakfast, we left Giardini Naxos for Matera. On the was, we went to Messina and took a short ferry ride to Villa San Giovanni on Italy's mainland. We drove through Calabria into the Basilicata region. And, on the way, we stopped at a local winery.
/Top right: a family owned business atop a beautiful mountain. The Crocco family started it over 30 years ago and have built it into a very profitable enterprise. Bottom left and right: the view from the winery is spectacular. The Crocco family used to be wanted by the government for briggandery. They have several framed letters from the government stating this and finally exonerating them from all charges. They employ about 15 people not including those that run the restaurant where we ate.
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Above: The wine is brewed in the stainless steel tanks. Left: After the wine is prepared, it is stored in wooded casks for many years depending on the type of wine produced. It reminded me of Dogfish Head brewery. I remember a few years ago when the beer was brewed in the restaurant in Rehoboth. Today, it is brewed in Milton and shipped all over the world.
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Above left: The restaurant is an elegant pourch-like addition to the main home. There were 40 in our party, and there was no sense that we were crowded.
Above right: Their wines flowed freely! The white wine was especially tasty.
Left: With large windows all around the restaurant, the view was spectacular. Couple in foreground were from California (unmarried).
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There were several courses to the meal. Abocve are two of the courses; the pasta and the meat - chicken and sausage, both well seasoned and rather spicy.
Tuesday, October 15, 2019, we explored the "Sassi di Matera," an ancient settlement of carved cave dwellings. These ancient cave dwellings have been inhabited since the Paleolithic period. The Sassi originate from a prehistoric troglodyte settlement and are suspected to be among the first human settlements in Italy. There is evidence that people were living here as early as the year 7000 BC.
In the 1950s, the Sassi were moved to the modern city of Matera because they had become an embarassment to the modern Italian government. There was extreme poverty among the Sassi. Young cjhildren were dying of disease. The caves lacked plumbing and electricity and the inhabitants were riddled with malaria.
The current local administration, however, has become more tourism-oriented, and it has promoted the regeneration of the Sassi with the aid of the European Union, the government, and UNESCO. Today there are many thriving businesses, pubs, and hotels there. In fact, our guide lives in one of the caves. He remembers his grandmother who lived there. She had to walk to the well every day to gather water.
Above: a modern cave home. Below: a cave home as they were before the government moved people. Below Top L-R: Sewing machine, storage shelves, storage for farm equipment. Bottom L-R: Dining area, bedroom with hanging baby cradle. (electricity has been added in order to clearly show these original rooms)
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Top left: a view of the city taken from the upper wall. This city was the location for the filming of The Passion of Christ, directed by Mel Gibson. One of the streets you see is the street used when Christ had to carry the cross. Top right: another view of city. Bottom left: system for collecting water. Water drained down the pipe to a cistern. Bottom left: view across valley to other caves. right: one of the many pathways throughout the city.
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Left: There is a huge, deep valley between this hiss and the city on the other side of the valley. We had to take a bus to reach this location. This is where the scene of Christ's crucifixion took place - Golgatha hill.
There was very little Mel Gibson had to do in order to film the Passion. He found the perfect site for filming!