DRIVING SOUTH FROM BARI, ITALY - MATERA, TROPEA

We had a week to reach Pozzallo, Sicily from Bari, Puglia, for the ferry to Malta. As on the way north we wanted to experience different places. First was Matera.

Matera  is a beautiful  UNESCO world Heritage site, 400 metres above sea level,  and what an interesting place. The older of the two Sassi districts consisted mainly of homes carved  into the rock, cave houses. As recently as 1958 locals were living in squalid conditions without water or electricity as they had done for centuries before. It was only when a poet reported this to the government in Rome that action was taken to “improve” their lives by moving people out and breaking up communities. 

The other Sassi district comprised stone houses. To walk around these districts now is enchanting and many buildings have received  modern make-over, some offering tourist accommodation.  There is more to the town, the hill top castle, churches, palazzos, piazzas etc.

We sat outside a small restaurant for a light lunch before seeking a campsite before dark. 

We had trouble finding it without internet. We were paying 12 euros a month since May 2018 for 20 GB roaming wifi with WIND in Italy, but in January roaming was restricted to 4.4 GB, but with 30 GB in Italy. EU in Brussels had made a ruling to restrict freedom of roaming to be a small part of annual local use. That works when going abroad on holiday but discriminates grossly against people always on the move like us. The regulations allowed service providers to be more generous but WIND Italy screwed us up here.

We paid the August payment but lost connection, not even being able to call the customer service number as the line was dead. WIND Greece were of no help when we went to their shop.

So WIND Italy took our money and cut us off, leaving us without generous coverage for our week in Italy.

Finally we did manage to find the AgroTurismo camping place, which was very much secondary to their expensive restaurant, and whilst offering camper vehicles reasonable facilities, it was less easy for us with a tent, and at the same time the most expensive site we used in Italy. There were no dish washing facilities and the showers were only useable on paying an extra fee.

Our next goal was Tropea but the distance was too great to reach before dark so we went to a campsite with forest and beach on the coast of Basilicata. On arrival just before dark we found it closed for the winter but found another about 15 km further south. It was really dark when we pitched the tent.

Morning gave a lovely sunrise and we decided to take a rest day and enjoy the peace and tranquillity under the pine trees and a short swim in the sea. Wifi was good here.

Next day we crossed from east coast to west coast to Tropea, Calabria where we were told by the campsite, ideally situated close to town and beach, that they would not give us the ACSI discount price as we had the 2018 card. Actually ACSI was the problem as they will only send the book and card to the registered address of the bank card, and when we applied we were not going to Malta for some time. We paid 7 euros extra per night but the showers were hot and unrestricted.  Wifi was less good but possible and included in the price. The location was excellent to explore the fascinating historical town.  The volcanic island of Stromboli is often visible in the distance and sunsets over the Aolian Islands are splendid.

 Amazing clear water.

 Italian and Sicilian ice cream, gelato, are amongst the best in the world.

 Climb up to this church for the sunset viewpoint.

 The local area seems to be specialist in growing onions.

Both Matera and Tropea were buzzing with atmosphere with locals and tourists.

We stayed two nights to enjoy Tropea before heading south to catch the ferry to Messina, Sicily.