Basilicata and Puglia

I arrived at Fiumicino airport around 2:30 Thursday afternoon to pick up the SmartCar Melissa had rented for us through www.easycar.com. They are the only rental agency we're found that gives unlimited mileage, very necessary when you're driving all the way to the southern tip of Italy. Our first destination was a little town called Matera in Basilicata , the region between the heel and the toe of Italy, the insole I guess. Even though we were on the road by 3:00 the traffic heading out of Rome and then around Naples was horrendous (Friday was a national holiday, Primo Maggio, the first of May, which I think is equivalent to Labor Day in the States) so the drive which should have been about 5 hours was a little over 7. Che palle as they say (literally 'what balls' better translated as 'this sucks').

We finally got to Matera (birthplace of Francis Ford Coppola, and one of the chef's at Pierluigi) at about ten and before we even found our hotel we stopped for dinner at the first restaurant we saw, which ended up being a great decision. We had a very nice bottle of Aglianico del Vulture, a plate of orchiette con funghi e salsiccia each (fresh ear shaped pasta with mushrooms and sausage) we split agnello impanato (breaded lamb chops) and a small cheese plate with some great mozzarella tied in little bowties, a nice pecorino, some parm and one other that I didn't know. The bill for all of that came to 55 euros, probably would have been at least 80 in Rome, our first sign that cost of living in the South is so much less.

We grabbed our bags and walked to our hotel. On the way over we passed a point that had a great view of the city and the surrounding country. It was nearly midnight and the town was practically silent except for the howling of wolves coming from the valley below. There was just enough moonlight to make out the shapes of the hills across the gorge from the town. Not until the next day would we truly appreciate what we were looking at.

Matera is said to be the oldest inhabited site in Italy going back to the Paleolithic era some 30,000 years ago. It was a Greek colony, part of Magna Grecia, since the 8th century BC and was colonized by the Romans in the 3rd century BC by Lucius Caecilius Metellus (who defeated Hasdrubal , Hannibal's brother in the battle that turned the tide of the 1st Punic War near modern day Palermo in Sicily). The town changed hands frequently throughout the middle ages, belonging to the Lombards, Saracens, Byzantines, Germans and finally the Normans. By the fifteenth century the Orsini family was in control of the town and it was the official capital of Basilicata until 1803 when Potenza became the seat of power. In 1943 the citizens of Matera were some of the first Italians to resist German occupation. After WWII living conditions in the town were so poor that people, plagued by malaria, were living in caves alongside livestock. Finally the Italian government relocated 15,000 inhabitants to government housing. Today,Matera is a Unseco World Heritage Site and a very popular tourist stop.

The mountain the town is set upon is covered with natural caves, up to 6,000 of them by some counts, that provide great natural shelter and are easily defensible due to the steep slopes, clearly illustrating why it has been such a popular spot. The natural caves (sassi) can still be seen today, there is even a small museum that has set up a house at it would have been; stall full of farming equipment with a donkey in it, kitchen with small dining table, bunk beds in one corner for the kids, even a guy sitting on the john in one corner, pants at his ankles and everything. Across from the town on the other side of the gorge you can see other caves, some probably no more than 6 feet high, others 30-40 feet. There is a small river that runs through the valley and apparently the hiking is phenomenal and it is possible to organize trips of up to week, something I would love to do one of these days.

Walking around the town feels like you are have stepped back into the Middle Ages, the early middle ages. All the small streets are paved with rough-hewn stones that have outlasted their masons by a millennium or two. On the large streets small triangles of concrete have been poured up against the steps to provide passage of wheeled vehicles, carts, not cars. There a few pieces of evidence that give away the current date (an antenna here and there, a few cars) but they are few and far between. When we woke up Friday morning and walked out of our hotel room is was quite easy to imagine that the view of the Orsini family members 500 years ago, or the conquering Normans 500 years before that, was exactly the same.

We set off around noon towards Lecce, about a 3 hour drive away. We made a stop on the beach in Metapontum (a pretty dumpy little town but great views of the Ionian Sea with Calabria on the right and Puglia on the left). In our meanderings around Matera we had bought various goodies to have for lunch, which we happily ate sitting on the rock wall off the boardwalk in Metapontum. We had some cheese left over from dinner the night before (I don't think Italians would ever do this, but we got a doggie bag because there was so much left and it was delicious). On top of that we got a hunk of caciotta piccante (a semi-soft cheese with chili pepper flakes), caciotta con tre latte (the same semi-soft cheese made with three types of milk, sheep, goat and cow), porchetta (spiced roast pork), filetto di maiale (pork fillet, basically richer prosciutto), dried tomato paste, some delicious honey, oranges, a few slices of bread and some craft beer to wash it all down. The caciotta con tre latte stole the show, although the spicy cheese with honey on top was fantastic. The honey was incredibly thick and almost grainy.

After lunch we hit the road for Lecce, with a quick stop along the way at a Greek temple just outside the center of Metapontum (the Temple of Hera built in 530 BC, 15 columns of which are still standing). We made it Lecce with no problems and meet Melissa's friend Lele (short of Gabrielle) who showed us around town with a few of his friends. That night we had a nice dinner at Lele's apartment in the center of town which consisted of Friselle di Orzo and a simple pasta with tomato sauce that Lele put together. Friselle are an old-fashioned type of bread made in Southern Italy, primarily Puglia, but also in Calabria. The dough is cooked first in small round pieces, sort of bagel like shapes but without the hole in the middle. After those are cooked like normal bread they are cut in half and then cooked again at a very low temperature to dry them out completely, allowing them to keep for months at a time. This method of cooking was developed to ensure grain would not go to waste and there would be food when grain was scarce. When you go to eat the dried bread you first soak it in water for a few seconds, or minutes if you like it softer, then pour some olive oil over it, a pinch or two of salt and chopped tomatoes. You can add anything else you like but that is the most traditional method, and with good olive oil and fresh tomatoes nothing else is really necessary.

After dinner Melissa decided to crash (she's really grumpy when she doesn't get her sleep, but will acknowledge it and make sure she gets enough sleep) and I went out with Lele and his friends. The town of Lecce is 100,000 people and has very little to do at night. Lele's explained to me as we were walking to meet his friends that the people in Lecce will stay outside and refuse to be indoors all year round. This makes sense in the warmer months, but he said even in winter when it's cold and raining they will stand around in the street outside a bar rather than stay inside. He had little explanation for this but I think it speaks volumes to Italian vanity, they want to be seen and see everyone else, constantly looking each other up and down. I am really not a big fan of Italian socializing as they tend to stand around in a circle, often guys and girls separated (alla middle school dances) and talk about absolutely nothing. In Lecce it was the same, we stood in the street for about an hour and then decided to call it a night when Lele's girlfriend (Danielle, she's American) and I had had enough.

The next day Melissa and I got up before our hosts and went for a walk around town in the morning. We met Lele and Danielle back at his apartment at 11:30 to head to the beach. We had decided the night before to meet his friends at 11:45 at the main gate to the city to head to the beach for lunch. We got there about 11:50, and his friends slowly started to trickle in until we were only short one person at 12:30, it turned out she didn't want to bother coming into town and wanted us to come pick her up at home, but hadn't bothered to tell anyone, gotta love Italian laziness.

We drove to the Ionian side of Lecce to the small beach town of Sant'Isiodoro where we had lunch. We ate a restaurant called La Nave (The Ship) that was on the edge of the water next to a very small jetty. Lele took care of ordering appetizers for everyone and we first had a fritto misto (mixed fried fish) the highlight of which was the mussels that were tiny and full of flavor. After that came the crudo misto (mixed raw fish) which consisted of mussels, purple mussels, large clams, small clams, razor clams and oysters all entirely raw. They were so fresh that when we doused the whole plate with lemon juice every animal contracted against the acid. The girls were a bit squeamish about eating live things, and Lele was having some stomach problems so that left Roberto (a friend of Lele's) and me to eat essentially the whole plate to ourselves. It was unbelieveable. I oysters were not quite as good as the ones we get ourselves on Martha's Vineyard, but not due to lack of freshness, I just like them a little saltier. Everything else was unbelievable, I can't really rate it against anything else because I have never eaten those types of shellfish raw. For a main course I had zuppa di pesce fresco (fresh fish soup) which had mussels, octopus, squid, scampi, swordfish and then three fish about 4-5 inches that I couldn't recognize but were all incredibly delicate. Along with the meal we had a 4 bottles of Greco di Tufo (a perfectly light white wine to go with fish from Campania) between the 7 of us and the final bill can to 25 euros ahead, practically nothing for what we ate. As we were leaving the restaurant I said to Melissa that I hope it is somewhere I return at some point in my life.

We spent the rest of the afternoon recuperating on the beach in Santa Caterina (a little north of Sant'Isiodoro). That night we had some pizza to go at Lele's apartment, took one finally after dinner stroll and called it a night so we could get an early start the next morning. I came to a sad realization some time ago in Naples that I enjoy Southern and Neapolitan pizza, with a thick doughy crust, more than I like the incredibly thin Roman style pizza. The pizza we had was delicious and the crust just fantastic.

Sunday morning we were on the road by nine and headed toward the town of Ostuni, known as the White City. We drove into the town and parked a bit outside the center and walked slightly uphill to the main drag. The town was very cute, with white-washed buildings all around, but entirely built for tourists, every single shop on the main street was selling little tourist items; loads of ceramics, small paintings and drawings, you name it. There was a nice little artiginale food shop where Melissa got her fourth bottle of olive oil to the trip (bringing her total to over 2 liters) and I got some grappa made for Primitivo grapes (that I still haven't tried) and some almonds in honey. Walking around the town was entertaining, but it's almost better just to drive by it and see the shining white buildings from the car.

After Ostuni we drove to Alberobello which must be the most curious little town I have ever seen. The town's name (meaning beautiful tree) derives from the original name Arboris belli that described the primitive oak forest that once covered the region, sadly not there any more. Today the town is known for the trulli. These are small circular dwellings with conical roofs made of grey stone. There are dotted all over the region, but Alberobello has by far the highest concentration. In Alberobello the roofs are also capped with white tips, only adding to the gnomish effect of the houses. I could not find any information on the why this construction method was used until I asked my roommate Rodolfo (in his last year of architecture school) and he explained that there was in the Middle Ages when heavy taxies were levied against property owners, so people devised a way to build houses that could be dismantled and rebuilt easily. No mortar was needed for these stone roofs so they could come down quickly if people got word that a tex collector was coming down. After that period of taxation stopped there were so many of these houses and people just started securing the roofs better and making them permanent structures rather than building entirely new houses.

On our way out of town we stopped at an alimentari (deli) and picked up lunch. We got a giant ball of mozzarella, some parmesean-like cheese that was a bit richer than parm, (sadly I didn't write it down and therefore can't remember what it was called, something like rezol maybe...), some mortadella, a piece of white bread, one of whole grain bread, some small tomatoes, olives, dried figs for dessert and a bottle of Primitivo.

About ten minutes out of Alberobello we pulled off the main road and drove down a little dirt road aways through an olive orchard and parked the car. We found a nice spot in the shade under a tree on the edge of a grassy field surrounded by stones walls and olive trees on all sides and laid out our feast. There was not another sole in sight and the only thing we heard other than the birds was the occaisionally mooing of a cow in the field next to us. It was quite easy to imagine Horace sitting against a tree with a jug of wine enjoying a meal quite similar to ours while writing his Ode to a Jar of Wine. As we sat there and ate we agreed that there might not exist a more perfect place to sit and eat a meal.

The meal was fantastic, but the highlight was a piece of mortadella wrapped around a thin strip of the cheese I don't know the name of, great combination. Lying back in the grass and munching on dried figs after was a great end to the meal.

After lunch we got in the car and wound our way through Puglia for awhile, avoiding getting on the highway for awhile to take in some more of the countryside. We finally did get on the highway and head north to Bari and then took a left in the direction of Naples. Before we reached Naples we had turned north and headed toward Abruzzo because we wanted to drive through the Abruzzo National Park. We reached the park about an hour before sunset after winding up and down switch backed mountains for an hour or so. The park is home to a few small towns and a stunning man-made lake. The roads in the park were practically empty and our little SmartCar handled itself very well on the winding roads. When we drove past the lake and the small town of Barrea on the south end of the lake I almost just pulled over and called it a day right there. The light was stunning, patches of clouds rushing by leaving splashes of light on the water and the mountain faces, and I have realized that the thing I really miss most about living in Rome is spending time in nature. Now that I have seen the park I am sure I will return sometime soon for a more extended stay.

For dinner we ate what food we had left over for our various picnics throughout the weekend. It ended up being a pretty delicious meal, bread with sun-dried tomato paste, olives, an orange and almonds in honey to top it all off. Not bad for driving through the mountains, Melissa took the hit and made a total mess of herself scraping the bottom of the jar of tomato sauce and tearing the bread into manageable pieces for me to eat on the windy roads.

All in all, an amazing weekend and Southern Italy is somewhere I am growing to love the more I go there, learn about it, and eat and drink products from there. However, I think it is a place that can only be enjoyed to the fullest extent with a car, the majority of the places we went would be almost impossible to reach by train and bus.