Sunday, October 2nd – We got up this morning and went downstairs to a nice buffet breakfast. After breakfast we decided to drive around to see the small towns around Matera. On our drive we happened upon a road that lead to the other side of sassi and the huge gorge. We drove up the winding road to the top and got out of our car to see this wondrous sight from a different angle. The ancient town, gorges and caves look spectacular from both sides. I took many pictures.
We drove on towards Ginosa, Laterza and then Castellaneta. We saw farmers plowing their fields with many rocks and wondered how they could plow through all the rocks. We saw abandoned stone homes crumbling and other structures we could not identify. In Castellaneta we saw a Rudolph Valentino Museum and I looked it up and he was born in that town and he left when he was 18 for the United States.
We drove back to the hotel and had a late lunch and decided to rest. Tomorrow we drive to Bari and turn in the car. We will spend the night there and leave for home.