Thought I’d keep writing my missives despite my internet problems. They can sit in the outbox until such time as I can connect. In the meantime I have spent the morning finding a WIND outlet and have now reactivated my 3G sim on ipad so emails are getting through on the ipad and I feel a bit better. In the meantime have been on to landlady again to fix the problem.
now, where was I up to:
Roma…a lovely relaxed, hot and very sweaty time! In the evening on Saturday we walked down to the island on the tevere for a meal by the river. It was really a lovely time. We found a great Spanish restaurant right beside the river, had a seafood paella, some wine and a crema catalana (shared). We wandered around, watched some open air cinema from the bridge…a dubbed version of Youth with Michael Caine. Then we wandered home in the slightly cooler night air, both had a cold shower before bed.
The next morning we went off for our morning coffee, always a little hard to find on a Sunday morning, particularly now when the Romans are exiting for their August holidays. Anyway after coffe we got on a bus and went to the Porta Portese sunday market where you can buy just about anything at all. Chris persuaded me of the virtues of buying a suitcase of the intermediate size for my next couple of months of tripping around. It was only 25 Eu and provided it doesn’t fall apart I think it is a good idea. We got home at lunch time …guess what hot, sweaty and tired!! A cold glass or two of wine seems to remedy most washed out sensations. Chris made a most delicious lunch of fresh sardine she crumbed and baked…delicious!!! We then stayed home in the afternoon in front of the fans, had spaghetti at home for tea and went to bed due to my need for an early rise on Monday morning to take myself off to Matera.
I was out of the apartment at 7am Monday morning and on the bus to the station. On the train to Bari for 4 hrs or so…a jam pack aroobied train with me sitting nest to a woman and her dog that she talked to all the way. Every time she put the dog in its bag (these are special dog carry bags) and put it on the floor someone tripped over it which elicited a volley of abuse from the lady towards the unsuspecting person who had nearly tripped over. I tried diligently to ignore the damn dog but was looking more and more heartless as the journey went on.
Anyway I got to Bari, found the other train station where the regional trains left for Matera, got my ticket and all went well. Paola the landlady met me at the station (came specially up from the beach house to meet me and then got into all sorts of drama when I said I had to have internet access). I won’t go into all the carry on with the internet that ensued. Suffice to say I went out for a meal last night to a restaurant nearby which was so full it overflowed and the single little old lady sitting by herself had to struggle to get any attention.
Matera itself is a truly amazing town, like nothing I’ve ever seen before. To start with the South is a totally different world, a dry, flat world of olive trees and some vines. So different to the rolling, green hills of Tuscany. And then this town of ravines, cave dwellings and steep steep streets is quite remarkable, awe inspiring and breathtaking. I think I’m really going to enjoy exploring it slowly while trying to avoid being a mad dog or an Englishman in the midday sun.
Into the outbox with this post. While I’ve been typing it I’ve had multiple phone calls as they try to fix the problem.