With Juan in Basilicata

Another little trip… this time the destination was Basilicata, the home region of Giovanni, a guy who has been living in Motta for 5 years together with his mate and fellow villager Peppino. So on the morning of Saturday 28 October I, Guido and of course Giuan set off by car…

The 28th was a day entirely devoted to travelling; we left in the morning around 9.00 and reached LAVELLO in the province of Matera at 19.00 after an endless queue in Bologna (2 hours) and a stop in Cattolica. On arrival we were welcomed by Giovanni's family, who hosted us for 3 days. Days we'll remember for the huge meals and the great hospitality of the local people. On Sunday 29, after a most abundant lunch at Giovanni's house, we headed for Monticchio, where there are two beautiful volcanic lakes in which the Abbey of San Michele is reflected. Little lakes around which strange things happen… cars left in neutral on a downhill slope roll uphill, and spirits or who knows what… appear in the photographs.. We crossed part of Basilicata among flocks of sheep and caves still inhabited by people.

On the morning of the 30th we woke up very early and set off at once to discover the famous sassi of Matera. A stunning city on the western slopes of the Murge, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We had lunch in a very damp cave!! In the afternoon, having crossed the Lucanian Dolomites — so called because they recall the great Dolomites with their jagged peaks — we went to visit the disappointing POTENZA; the capital of this region, with buildings in the style of a Milan suburb rising from a mountain.

On the 31st, after saying goodbye to the very friendly people we had met over these three days, Guido and I began to climb back up Italy along the western side, stopping to spend the evening in ever-charming Florence. I must have been to Florence at least 10 times and every time the splendour of this city leaves you open-mouthed!!

After a wild evening that's perhaps better left out of the story, as soon as we woke up the next morning we headed for Pistoia, the only city in Tuscany neither of us had ever seen. A beautiful city, perhaps one of the least renowned in Tuscany, but one that certainly deserves a visit…