After being warned about Naples ( which had been likened to Dar El Salam in Tanzania) we were all psyched up and prepared to be hassled and robbed, we found Piazza Garibaldi so fine! (I think the Glaswegan in Peter was actually a tad disappointed!) we then headed by bus to Matera, a 5 hour trip East of Naples. Naples was a vibrant, crazy place with lots of noise, people gesturing and yelling in the streets, crazy traffic (with no adherence to traffic lights or pedestrian crossings), lots of scooters with 3 or 4 kids on the back( and no helmets) and lots of crowded neighbourhoods with not much light coming through the narrow streets. We wandered around with no camera and just the cash we needed for the day in our pockets and felt safe.

Matera is one of the most incredible places we have ever seen and we recommend it to anyone planning a trip to the South of Italy! Since the stone ages, Matera has been an important spiritual place and later many monks and nuns living in the caves went thereto meditate and pray. Later it was such a place of poverty that it has been referred to as a living 'Dante's Inferno' with poverty stricken families living in squalor in their 'sassi ' dug out of the rocks with animals and the whole family living under the same roof. In the late 1950's legislation was passed to forcibly remove people from the Sassi as it was deemed too unhygienic. It is now a University town and has been the location for a few films including Mel Gibson's "Passion of Christ" which we would like to see now!

To start with, we met some lovely people on the bus (Esther & Raul from Spain) and had lots of fun hanging out with them for a couple of days. When we arrived it was dark and there was a low cloud adding a sense of mystery to what was such an amazing place, lots of homes (sassi) seemingly all piled up on top of each other, carved from the same white stones with complex winding stone paths throughout the town. We stayed at a lovely B&B in the Sassi with a view out over the town and the owners father's art hanging on the walls.

We had a lovely dinner with Esther & Raul and then went to a bar with a built in courtyard and a lively university student crowd.

The next day we walked through the old part of the city and saw many of the Churches that had been dug out of the rocks, and the old empty Sassi (cave like dwellings where people have lived). It was amazing to walk through the damp, oppressive caves and see the artwork on the walls of the churches. Matera doesn't seem to be a huge tourist destination, and the locals were so friendly and helpful ( and amazed that we had come from Australia!)


We headed back to Naples as Peter had been on a mission to get tickets to Napolil/Juventus football game and had explored a couple of unsuccessful avenues but finally met a man on the bus to Matera who told him we would get tickets for him and made a meeting time and point prior to the game. We headed out to the train station and waited for 45 mins but unfortunately he was a no show. It was great to see all the pre match excitement and fans. Peter watched the game and thought some of the referee decisions seemed a bit dodgy (and perhaps some match fixing is still occurring!!). Napoli won so there was plenty of screaming and celebrations in the streets.

In Naples we went to the National Archeological museum (great mosaics and paintings from Pompei life but all the signs were in Italian and the "audio guide" we hired only had about 5 exhibits with an explanation! We also wandered through Caracciolo and the Bay of Naples/Santa Lucia where lots of families were out enjoying the sunshine and time with their kids and 'Spaccanapoli', the old quarter which had gorgeous old buildings and Squares and is home to "Preseli " Nativity scenes that are made & sold there.