Matera to Benevento

Today we left the somewhat unsatisfactory Hilton Garden Inn outside Matera to travel across the soft, green flower laden hills of Puglio and Campagna.

 Our first stop was the Autore Chocolate Factory in San Marco die Cavito, where we watched  being mad, and sampled the wares.

After at fine start we rolled on to a small restaurant out in the countryside, where we got a cooking lesson, and tried our hands at home made pasta.

After which we got to eat the product of our own hands, along with an excellent ragu, and copious wine

A lone petunia growing out of the paving.

Italy only seems to have one kind of lizard, but they seem to have a lot of them.

Georgia and Mary waiting for the bus. After that, we drove on to Benevento; more on that tomorrow.

Rule 5 Saturday- Italiano Pubblicita

Some Street advertising that we've encountered in our last week:

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Down Home At Stoney’s" and "FMJRA 2.0: On The Road Again" ready at The Other McCain.

Sassi di Matera

Today, we plunged into the cave dwellings (and bars, restaurants and bed and breakfasts) of the Sassi. It was overcast, cool, and windy, which didn't help with the photography.

The three shots above could be assembled into a panorama of the area, viewed from the rim

Inside a cave dwelling as it might have been 50-100 years ago.

Looking up from below.

The river gorge and walking bridge.

Caves across the gorge.

Georgia photo-bombed my church picture.

From Purgatorio Chuch:

But inside, magnificent:

The Girls Who Sell Gelato

After touring The old section of Matera, the "Sassi"' we stopped for gelato. No afternoon in Italy is complete without it.

The selection Part I.

The Selections Part II.

Squeezing the lemons for the next batch of lemon gelato.

They also made espresso and cappuccino.

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Down Home At Stoney’s" ready at The Other McCain.

Calabria to Matera

Today we left our resort in Calabria and set off for Matera, within the province of the same name. Before we left we took a walk down the road to see the wild flowers along the Calabrian roadside.

The red and orange poppies are amazing.

Anew butterfly, if only I can figure it out

And the weed of butterflies, called the Small White here.

A castle along the Ionian Sea, currently a restaurant.

The view from our new hotel outside Matera

The famous cave city in Matera. We go down to it tomorrow.

We had dinner in Matera before coming back to the hotel

Tropea and Pizzo

This morning found us leaving our resort bungalows to visit Tropea, Calabria. The Calabrian countryside is green and lush now (I imagine it will be dry and hot come summer). The weather was mostly clOudh today, with occasional light showers.

Tropea is an ancient city perched on the shore.

We walked and sampled the wares

And had lunch

Georgia' eggplant and zucchini, my ammonici de alci ( sardines and spaghetti)

After lunch we headed to Pizzo, a similar town a few kilometers up the coast.

Where we had our afternoon ice cream truffle stop

And visited a seaside grotto with religious sculptures.

Scylla and Charybdis

Today we left Cantania headed for Mesinna and the the ferry across to Calabria. At Mesinna we stopped for coffee and the famous clock tower:

John and I had cappuccino for lunch and were treated to art:

Afterwards we watched the great clock tower act out the bible, about 15 minutes late.

From the ferry on the Mesinna side.

Mid way between Sicily and Calabria.

The beach in Calabria rated the most beautiful kilometer in Italy. Over rated, but excellent beach glass.

Sex in advertising.