Exploring Matera

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

After touring the Norman Steps at Castelmezzano, we returned to our Opel Corsa rental (Hertz), parked in the blue spaces on Strada Provinciale 13, and set off for Matera.

I connected my iPhone 14 to the Opel's USB port, and Apple CarPlay started working! It was a great help in navigating the complex roads to Matera. The drive itself was not very complicated, and we arrived at Matera's Parcheggio Sant'Isodoro (Parking Garage) at 15:00. We called our Aquatio Hotel to pick us up and waited for the shuttle for about 25 minutes (almost giving up) before it arrived to take us to the hotel. We were expecting better service from a 5-star hotel.

Once we arrived, we dragged our luggage up and down the cobblestone steps to the reception, where we were assigned Room #128 (on the 3rd floor, even though the number has no digit "3"). We also made reservations for dinner at the Hotel's La Dispensa Restaurant at 20:00. We also confirmed spa reservations for 18:30 (one hour of spa use).

We rode the elevator to the wrong floor, thinking the first digit of our room number implied the first floor (but it does not). The elevator behaved strangely, unresponsive to button presses. Eventually, we found our room and were shown how to use all the facilities.

Since we were hungry, we walked around our neighborhood, looking for an open restaurant. Finding nothing available (it was past 15:00, when most Italian restaurants closed for lunch and reopened at 20:00), we decided to buy some slices of pizza next to our hotel room. We selected a couple of slices of pizza, an apple pastry, and Lemon drinks. The pizzas were quite delicious (as were the drinks).

After eating our light pizza snack, we stopped by Cafe LanFranchi for a couple of Affogatos (to cool off and give us energy).

We wandered around Matera, stopping by various churches, including the Chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi and the Chiesa di Purgatorio.

 

While walking around, we stumbled upon a Film Festival with red carpets.

We noticed a few couples dressed up, and we suspected they attended the film premiere. We also noticed that Palombaro Lungo was nearby and purchased tickets to see it. This is a vast underground cavern dug for storing water.

The largest cistern has been found under Piazza Vittorio Veneto, the Palombaro Lungo which was built in 1832.^[64] With its solid pillars carved from the rock and a vault height of more than fifteen metres, it is a veritable water cathedral, which is navigable by boat. Like other cisterns in the town, it collected rainwater that was filtered and flowed in a controlled way to the Sassi.

After enjoying the short exhibit, we returned to our hotel room.

 

Inna scheduled a visit to Aquatio Hotel's spa for 18:30. We changed into our swimsuits and walked out of our room, making several left turns and taking an elevator to reach the spa.

In the spa, we signed waiver forms and were given sandals and towels to use. We first used the large pool inside a cavern to swim around. The pool had many interesting jets activated by hidden buttons.

After about 10 minutes of relaxation, we headed to the dry sauna, where we spent 10-15 minutes. After we finished with the sauna, we tried the steam room. It was unbearably hot, and I could only stay for a few minutes. I took a shower and relaxed afterward. We returned to our hotel room at 19:30 and dressed for dinner. 

For dinner, we stopped by La Dispensa Restaurant, sharing the following dishes:

• Appetizer: Polpo Scottato
• Pasta: Ravioli del Plin
• Main: Agnello in Crepinette (Lamb)
• Dessert: Hazelnut mousse

Dining in a cave was an exciting experience. The dinner was delicious, but all portions were relatively small (and slightly overpriced).

 

 After dinner, we walked around near our hotel room, marveling at the beautiful views of Matera.

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

In the morning, I woke at 6:45, shaved, and showered. We had a long day planned, so we needed to start a bit earlier than usual.

 

At 7:30, we walked downstairs to La Dispensa Restaurant for our breakfast buffet. Many sweets were available, but we focused on everyday savory items. I selected Scrambled Eggs, Buffalo mozzarella, and other deli items. I also ordered an Americano Coffee. The Americano Coffee was good, but not as delicious as at our 5-star San Montana Resort & Spa on the island of Ischia. In general, the buffet had too many sweets and too few savory items.

 

After breakfast, we walked for 10 minutes to the Parcheggio Sant'Isidoro, where our Opel Corsa was parked, to begin our drive to Alberobello. At first, we had difficulties getting our car out. In retrospect, I was using the wrong parking ticket. With Inna's help, we approached someone and used our license plate to pay the required 20.00 euro parking fee. We were finally able to depart and start our drive.

 

I used Google Maps (in retrospect, Apple Maps may be better regarding roundabout directions) to provide driving instructions. Many roads were twisty, and Italian drivers were quite aggressive.

I have a separate blog entry for our day in Alberobello:

• Trulli Beautiful Alberobello

On the return trip from Alberobello, I stopped at a gas station to fill up my Opel Corsa. I just realized that both full-service and self-service islands were available, and I stopped at the full-service one. An attendant filled my gas tank at a higher price - 2.20 euros/liter vs. 1.95 euros/liter at self-service.

 

Upon returning to Matera, I parked at the ground level of Parcheggio Sant'Isidoro. Instead of returning to our room, we used the available daylight hours to see more of Matera. We walked into the ancient city, trying to find a way to the Duomo. 

 

 

While exploring Matera, we found an interesting museum of rural life. We paid for an English-language tour.

 

The central high ground, or acropolis, supporting the city's cathedral and administrative buildings, came to be known as Civita, and the settlement districts scaling down and burrowing into the sheer rock faces as the Sassi.

In this museum, the difficult lives of local peasants were displayed.

 

Eventually, after running into many dead ends, we found a path to the cathedral.

 

 

The Duomo was built on top of another church. Although the outside did not look very elaborate, inside, it was pretty elaborately decorated with gold leaf.

 

The Duomo is much more impressive inside than from the outside.

We were tired from all the walking and decided to rest at the nearby Duomo Cafe for a few minutes. There were some street musicians nearby playing popular American songs. (We were always surprised to hear more popular American music in restaurants instead of Italian ones)

After exploring the old city of Matera, we returned to our hotel to use the Spa facilities at 18:30 (as we had previously reserved).

 

We changed into our swimsuits and spa robes and walked into the spa. We picked up fresh towels and flip-flops and plunged into the cavern filled with lukewarm water.

 

 

After swimming and using the jets, we went to the sauna. I poured a couple of cups of water, and we sat down in the sauna for 10-15 minutes. After leaving the sauna, I rested while Inna continued for a few minutes longer. We decided to skip the steam room (as last time it was too hot).

While resting in the soft reclining spa chairs, I drank some sparkling water and ate a few almonds. Italian almonds taste different from U.S. varieties.

 

After resting, Inna went for another swim while I relaxed. We returned to our hotel room and changed into dinner clothes.

 

 

Inna made reservations at Trattoria da Stano, but it was 20 minutes away on foot. Both Inna and I felt refreshed after the spa and decided to walk there anyway. We are happy that we did, as Stano turned out to be one of the best restaurants we had the pleasure of enjoying.

 

 

After sitting down on the second floor, we looked at the Trattoria da Stano menu and ordered the following items:

• Appetizer: Carpaccio Estivo (Summer)
• Boris: Ravioli with Buffalo Mozzarella 
• Inna: Scialatielli (pasta)
• Main: Polpo e Gamberi (Octopus)
• Dessert: Torta Limone

The Summer Carpaccio was excellent, and the freshly baked bread provided was terrific. My ravioli were some of the best I've ever eaten anywhere! 

 

 

The Octopus was exceptional, too! It was an excellent ending to a hectic day. Service was fast and efficient.

 

 

Matera Trip Report

Highlights

• Dining at Trattoria da Stano 
• Visiting Cattedrale di Maria Santissima della Bruna e Sant'Eustachio
• Using the cave pool, sauna, and steam room in the Aquatio Hotel Spa
• Exploring the vast, ancient Matera old town

Lowlights

• Problems with Google Maps handling roundabouts (when driving around Southern Italy)