Sicily to Matera

So we farewelled Sicily just before the heatwave weekend struck!

my boarding school was closely linked with the Bronte sisters, so this photo had to be included.

Secured hut on Etna..the bus stop!

Etna from above Randazzo...taken at the conclusion of my hill efforts training day

there were 2 places in Messina where we could board a ferry and we opted for the closest one, although we'd probably arrive 30 mins early.  Signage for this dock was spectacularly poor/missing..the sort of signage for people who already know where to go! After circling x 3 we finally got there only to mistakenly go through the trucks' ticket office..ie I had to get out the car  and pretty well do  the high jump to give the man our ticket.  We then circled around again, nearly boarded the wrong ferry and  finally turned out to be the only car amongst 12 trucks, 6 of which were tankers..we felt dwarfed.

Arriving in Matera we followed the directions on the web site via my smart phone and arrived at totally the wrong place! I phoned the owner to say we'd arrived, thinking we had and finally  20 minutes later he turned up...the delay was because  he couldn't reply to me as my phone number is a UK one.  Actually had he known it he could have but  he needed to  chop off the +country number bit. I have a sneaking suspicion that we are not the first to go to the wrong place as he knew where to find us!

outside/verandah sitting area

a well stocked kitchen/dining/sitting room

Anyhow the house is perfect..AC, free wifi, 2 bedrooms, TV for TdF watching and the kitchen was stacked with loads of food, drinks and welcome gifts. So...along with it's location, this house joins Ulle's in Cortina and Isabella's in Feltre as being THE most welcoming of all we've been to, ticking ALL of the boxes below.

Points are given for:
1. correctness of advertising..ie 2 bedrooms being 2 bedrooms, flat screen TV, AC, free (and generous bandwidth) WiFi
2. location...not too remote
3. etcs in the kitchen...condiments are the bare essentials we expect..who travels around with salt, pepper, oil and vinegar FFS? but other stuff is nice too..eg some fruit, bottles of water/juice/milk etc etc
4. and finally no dramas about having our bikes inside

I've learned to closely note the pix on the website..especially what is NOT shown. also what is promised..ie if alot is made of the provision of a hairdryer then what is not  provided!!  however as is evident from our Torre del Greco experience, I'm still learning!

One of the places we rented expected us to bring our own TV!!! truly..I kid you not.

Matera:  http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/basilicata/matera.html

cave houses carved into the rock and lived in by the poorest right up until  the 1950s..now a tourist attraction and some are expensive BnBs.

Our photos don't do it justice..not only due to our crap photography skills but also due to the glare of the  sun on pale coloured rock at close to midday:

one of the bigger renovated houses

looking down at the various levels - unrenovated houses

chimneys in the foreground of houses on the lower level

churches abound and this huge sasso/rock  houses one of them

doorway in the foreground to one of the cave  houses

caves on the far side of the Gravina  ravine

there's a foot bridge down there somewhere!

even a panoramic shot can't get it all in