Local Time: May 8, 2014
I found myself back in Pompeii. It was the first place I went to after I picked up my wife from the airport on the second day, but it was very strong thunderstorm at that time.
I visited there 7 years ago. At that time, we were able to see the sights but it was raining.
And now it’s very sunny. I’m happy, but also a bit mixed.
Well, yesterday, the 8th, we left Alberobello for Matera, a city about an hour away. This is a World Heritage Site, an area where unique cave houses called “Sassi” remain.
Nowadays, the area is surrounded by grasslands and wheat fields, but at that time, it was a dusty island on land. When was it then? I’ll look it up later.
We parked our car in a public parking lot that was “unusually” located in the still dirty area of the new city river and walked for about 5 minutes to reach the sash.
The first view of the sassi is of a lovely old town that makes you think, “Why cave dwellings?” You might think, “Why cave dwellings?”, but it’s a nice old town.
When I look closely, there is a shadow of a person on the other side of the bank which is more than 2km away. I have to go this. Return to the parking lot and drive for about 10 minutes to the cliff on the other side of the river.
I was convinced that it was a cave dwelling when I saw it from here. The ruins of the dwelling were still continuing on the back side of the old town. This is indeed a cave. And it was a sight that made me imagine that it was a dwelling in the poor and harsh land.
A little thrilling shooting from the precipice under the strong wind.
Now what to do next? We’ve already given up on visiting beautiful villages, so we’re out of ideas. However, when I searched the route, I found out that the castle of Del Monte is just an hour away from Matera. There are not many places to go, and I decided to head here next.
The road to Del Monte Castle is a true Dracula world. It’s a vast forest of grasslands, wheat fields, and low trees, with no high mountains in sight. The endless horizon stretches 360 degrees around you.
There is one road that is almost straight.
Unfortunately, the weather was cloudy and rainy at times.
We arrived at Del Monte Castle in a little over an hour as planned. This castle stands suddenly in the empty meadow, and you can find it from 10km away.
This castle has an interesting shape anyway. Very beautiful instrumental design, the octagonal shape is very impressive.
However, perhaps because of its geometric perfection, the inside is monotonous…
Inside, there were historical explanations in about four languages. It was built in the 13th century, and it was built by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II.
This emperor spent most of his life in southern Italy, and he built about 200 castles in this area. Del Monte Castle is one of them.
These castles were intended partly as a response to the Saracens, but apparently more for hunting parties, or entertainment purposes.
So, what’s next? There is no more and more place to go. Anyway, we went to the direction of Naples, and on the way, we decided to stop at a village, or rather a town, called Venosa, which is registered as a beautiful village.
This place is also disappointing. There is only a castle. It’s no good.
We still have to do some sightseeing tomorrow, the 9th. I had to think a lot in the hot sunshine. I thought I should go to Rome, but I chose Pompeii and Naples after all.
I couldn’t visit Pompeii because of the rain, and I haven’t seen Naples very carefully when I think about it.
So we decided to stay in Pompeii for the night.
We arrived in Pompeii in the evening. Ironically, it was clear and cloudless. And it’s sunny again this morning.
I’m going to go sightseeing in Pompeii now.
Today is the last day of sightseeing.
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