On Safari

Today it was a day trip to Africa, a short 30-minute drive from our trullo. Actually it was a tourist destination called Zoo Safari, but it could have been the actual thing. After paying at the booth we drove through the gates and started our very own safari. For two hours we drove through areas full of lions, tigers, and bears. “Oh my”, gasped the kids. We had curious giraffes, zebras, and camels, sticking their noses in our car windows while the lions and bears wrestled just outside. Luckily no one got too wild and attacked our car, as that would be a hard one to explain to the rental company. And just when we had our fill of animals, the trail ended at a large amusement park full of merry-go-rounds, bumper cars, and roller coasters. A fun day for all!This guy was our first greeter inside the gate.







Mia getting a kiss.

We had to get into a special train to enter the monkey area.  Once inside they started climbing all over it and running laps on the roof.
Of all the ferocious beasts on display, these lovable little lemurs were the ones in a cage.

Matera

Today it was off to Matera. This is a town known mainly for its “Sassi”, which are cave dwellings carved into the sides of cliffs. The town surrounds a deep canyon where the river created numerous grottoes in the rock. Science has shown that man first started to use these grottoes 9,000 years ago, as the river brought the necessary water while the canyon provided a natural defense against enemies and animals. As time went by, the side of the canyon grew into an actual town with roads, houses, and churches, all carved right into the rock. The facades of these caves sometimes use brick, but once you cross the threshold you’re inside the mountain. Over the last century though, overcrowding and hygiene became big problems. The average cave housed 6 or 7 kids and the area had no real sewage system (just a bucket with a lid in each cave).

In the 1950’s, a prominent writer by the name of Carlo Levi, wrote a book about life in Matera, and it became a national scandal that people in Italy were still living in grottoes. The government was forced to step in and declared it illegal for people to continue living in this manner. They offered new apartments to anyone willing to abandon their Sassi, and subsequently moved 20,000 residents into new housing. Most people took the offer, but a few continued to live in the Sassi. The Fodor’s guide states that “Matera is the only place in the world where people can boast to still be living in the same house as their ancestors of 9,000 years ago.”

Today the area has become more tourism oriented as they try and restore some of the abandon dwellings. The area is especially popular with Hollywood, as several biblical movies have been recently shot here, including Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ. The area apparently closely resembles the look in and around Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.



This church sits inside the rock.

Here is a dwelling set up as it was in the 50's.  Imagine a family of 7 or 8 running around in here.  Even the family horse, pigs, and chickens are kept in the cave.  And the only ventilation is the front door.
The hole in the bottom right of this photo leads down to the cistern where rain water is collected.  As they need water they drop a bucket into the hole.

Here are some of the prehistoric caves that still exist in the area.

A look inside one of the churches.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is not very well known in Italy, so of course we had to create our own. The pumpkins that they grow, at least in Puglia, are more like large orange gourds. People will usually buy them by the slice for cooking, so when we asked them to price the whole thing, they looked at us like we were crazy. Three came to around $120…no thank you. So it was on to the melons. One benefit to carving melons for Halloween is that the parts you carve away are very tasty. The kids carved their pumpkins/melons and had a snack all in one, not that healthy fruit is the kind of Halloween snack they were after. So of course we loaded up on sweets at the local market to complete our Italian Halloween.Carving away.
Tasty!

The girls made their own costumes and lots of Halloween pictures right before we left Dubrovnik.
Creepy crawly critters are easy to find around here.  We've found lots of centipedes, millipedes, spiders and even a scorpion.  We're told they have tarantulas as well, but fortunately have not come across one yet. Cole thought Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty should be "snake charmers" for Halloween.

Puglia

Well, we made it to Puglia, but just barely. Our ferry set sail at 11pm on what was to be an overnight trip, arriving Bari, Italy at 8am. During our two months in Croatia we probably saw about 3 total hours of rain, but just as we were about to set sail, the winds picked up and the sprinkles started. The ship was big enough that I didn’t think too much about the weather, but that would be a mistake. Barely into the trip we were bobbing in 15-18 foot seas. The crew said normal conditions were 3-6 foot, and anything bigger than the 15-18 we experienced would have kept us in the harbor. Luckily our cabin was in the center of the ship at the very bottom, probably the best place to minimize the motion. Unable to sleep much I ventured upstairs for a walk. Easier said than done. The waves were tossing passengers left and right, unlatched doors were slamming, and the bathrooms were filled with the sounds of seasick passengers. That was enough for me as I retired back to our cabin. Luckily we made it into Bari with no one in our family getting sick, in fact the kids all slept right through the night.

So we picked up the rental car and headed towards our place in Ostuni. We booked a weeklong stay and had several day trips planned around the region. Ostuni is your typical hill town except that everything is painted white, and thus is creatively known as “the White Town”. Our house for the week is actually a “trullo”. The trulli (plural) is a traditional Puglia stone house with a conical roof (typically one cone over each room). Originally, the conical structure was built directly on the ground, but in the 1600’s they started adding walls to the perimeter.  On top of the trulli they affix one of several pinnacles, chosen for its symbolism. The cone itself is also sometimes painted with symbols. These are used as decoration as well as to keep bad luck and demons away.

We are enjoying our first taste of southern Italy, but trulli aside; the differences between this and northern Italy are striking. First off, siestas here are the rule, not the exception. Everything, and I mean everything, closes from 1pm until 4 or 5pm. Even the parking meters are free during siesta as no one is expected to be around town. It’s also much harder to find anyone who can speak English, as you don’t find a big tourist population. And while Italian driving is always a challenge in any part of Italy, we’ve seen it taken to a new level in Puglia. Here traffic lights and signs are mere suggestions at best. Overall the area just feels a lot rougher around the edges. That being said though, one of the highlights has definitely been the food. The pasta, bread, and meats have all been a step above with distinctly different flavors. We even have fresh olives, figs, and almonds growing in the yard.
Our luxurious cabin.
Home Sweet Home!
The kids loved climbing the roofs.




Ostuni, Italy.


The next few shots are from the nearby town of Alberobello.



The trulli come in all shapes and sizes.