The Sassi in Matera, has been a place of interest and wonder for us for a while now after watching a TV programme and today we finally visited this historic and very different place. The day started on the overnight ferry from Dubrovnik to Bari. We were provided a buffet breakfast (no room service on this ferry), and then proceeded to watch the slow entrance into port as we were stuck behind a larger Greek ferry. It took even longer to get through Immigration (approx. 40minutes), even though for some strange reason we were treated as EU residents & put into that line. The non EU queue would have been there at least an hour. Bari is a much larger industrial city than we expected. It was busy and confusing at first. The architecture seem to be in a time warp from the 50s, whilst the cars were very modern. It still strikes me each time I see an old Fiat 500, or even the odd Fiat 600 (haven't seen the suicide door version yet), how much larger today's mini cars are. Looking at a Fiat 500 today along side its first generation, it looks enormous. As a consequence, the streets are a lot busier, when cars are parked on both sides. This might have worked well in the 50's but today it makes for lots of horn blowing and near misses. Some streets in Bari are nice and wide, but this invites people to park alongside parked cars, whilst people run an errand into some nearby building. The scale and complexity of this environment did not seem a sensible option for hiring a car and travelling down to the Puglia district, south of Bari, so we choose to take the next train to Matera. What a great train service this is. For $15 we were provided with near new trains, and initially whisked through industrial areas and then large swaths of olive plantations. It took just over one and half hours to get to Matera. Exiting the Matera station was confusing. There were no indicators of bus stops, or signs/directions. Eventually we settled on taking a taxi to our accommodation, which proved to be a relatively short ride (as we did not relish taking our bags down and up confusing cobbled streets). Hotel La Dimora Di metello is typical of the new spaces that have been created from these once cave based housing complexes. It is an amazing conversion, which we would recommend to anyone passing through this area. Imagine a new stylish Italian room fashioned from curvy cave surrounds with white plastered walls, nicely lit with LED lighting. It truly is one very special place to stay, and rates right up their in our travels around the world. When first arriving in Matera you would not think this other world even existed nearby, let alone immediately off the town plaza. It was hidden below the 1940s to present day city, which resides on the hilltop, whilst the Sassi is located in the canyon below. The colour of the stone is very shady grey and this is reflected in the buildings that have grown over the original cave structures. The hillsides are a rabbit warren of pathways, steps and little buildings created in what appears to be random way. The steps and pathways are however very deliberate and follow the contours of the land. The nature of these pathways reflects the history of this place, where over the centuries until the early 1800's this area was occupied by the more wealthy merchants, and ruling families, so the buildings became very elaborate. However a shift away by this community led to squalor like occupation of the working class, farmers, and crafts people. In the mid 1900's The Sassi was identified as the shame of Italy, with living conditions very primitive, infant mortality at +40%, with large families sharing airless, damp, single cave rooms, with their animals, and no sewage systems. The medieval nature of living resulted in the 1950s and 60s of all these families being relocated to new housing districts. For several decades the Sassi remained empty of life, until it's Renaissance during the last decade or so where it is now the place to live again, with some stunning conversions. This is a massive urban renewal programme, whilst protecting a unique heritage (UNESCO site) of Italy. During some part of our ramblings today, we stumbled onto the set of the next supposed Superwoman movie (we asked a local what was going on) We were impressed by the false but very real looking sets being created (photo attached). There was lots of laughter amongst the 'artists' at work. There have been many movies made in the Sassi area, we found this out when we watched a multimedia presentation on the history in a special house kept for educating visitors. Our day was completed sitting in a restaurant (after hours of walking), attempting to communicate with the lady cook, who was very proud of her official status as a chef of Italy. We had the most pleasant evening, shared with one other patron, an American from Los Angeles. We were plied with a local spirit which we declared very drinkable, and aided sleep.