23 October 2024–Dad is feeling a little better today such that he is able to move away from the restroom for a chunk of time! He is still not at all himself, would rather sleep than move, but he has no fever that we know of…. So, he ate a little bit of cereal this morning for breakfast, which is a good beginning! While I explored all of the doors/entryways to our Trulli this morning, I discovered that the door in the master bedroom led to our private little patio! This is a charming patio, with a clothes drying rack, table and chairs, a fountain, and flowers, more beautiful flowers! I could hear tourists visiting our little street, stopping to take photos on it. For the first time, this reminded me of paparazzi, thinking that if we stepped out of our main door, we would actually be interfering in tourists’ photos of the flowered little street. Anyway…We needed to do laundry, so I convinced Dad to shower, dress, and become/feel more “human” today in an effort to persuade his body to heal. The laundry mat was actually pretty close to our town, and there was no crowd today. Of course not! This is southern Italy, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and anyone wishing to hang clothes out to dry could probably get that task done and put away quite quickly. We grabbed a panini just outside of our Trulli Village and picnicked on the stone bench outside of Sant’Antonio Church. Dad ate about 1/4 of his panini, but, hey, that is a good beginning! Mine was delicious, and I ate all of it: artichokes in oil, fresh mozzarella, and sliced locally-grown tomatoes! YUM! Bathroom breaks were still necessary, which slowed our pace a little bit but nothing unmanageable. We drove to see Locorotondo (a small town about 15 minutes from Alberobello), and moved on to check out Matera, a little farther away, to see what we could see. We tried to avoid too much up-hill/downhill walking for today still. I stepped out of the car and walked downhill to get the photos, and Dad stayed in the car parked in a space that was not really a designated parking spot. Matera is a really interesting place! First of all, it is the third oldest city in the WORLD! It dates back about 10,0000 years, that puts it deep within the B.C. Ages, literally, the “Stone Age”! So, you’ve got some huge “rocks” on which are visible some cave openings, where cave people lived! On an adjacent “rock” emerged the medieval form of the Cave Dwellings, differentiating between elite and poor people, for example. This is a city that is perched on the rock top/sides, complete with Churches and what appears to be extremely crowded residential/community structures, in an effort to defend itself from unwelcome invaders. People lived in this old city until about 1952, when the dwellings were deemed unlivable by authorities. That’s when residents were relocated to the larger plains area beyond the rock. So…interestingly, people have continuously lived in Matera since the Stone Age! I don’t know how people effectively moved about from one house to the next in that medieval city. Looking at it from my viewpoint opposite it ion “new” Matera, it is difficult to see any roads or paths among the building structures. And…In crowded conditions such as this, can you imagine what would happen in times of illness/disease…? We planned to try some gelato for dinner when we returned to Alberobello, but…alas…the trulli lights were turned off and vendors were leaving their establishments, with everything on the main Trulli street shut down. I asked one of the vendors why, and his reply: “Because there are no people. When there are no people, we close.” But, he explained, establishments in the piazza downhill were open….On the way to our little Trulli, I encountered a small group of tourists, I think they were tourists….An older woman was telling the group members about his particular Trulli. I joined the group to hear what she was saying. So, it turns out that it is believed that a young woman likely lived in this very Trullo in which Dad and I are staying. She died at around 40 years of age due to a malignant tumor. Her mother still lives in one of the trulli on this Main Street. Since her daughter’s death, she has been planting flowers along the entire little Vicolo Antonella on which our Trulli is located (Antonella is the name of the young woman who died) and in the patio of our trullo. She continues to maintain all of the flowers year-round in honor of her daughter! The name of our Trullo is Trullo Vicolo Fiorito (Trullo on the flowered little road). This is the only road that has so many flowers. The older woman explained that people from all over the world come to visit it and take pictures by it. How is it that Dad and I, not knowing the first thing about this particular trullo, somehow chose THIS trullo among all other trulli, and THIS street among all other possible streets…? What an HONOR this is, to be staying in this very special and beloved place! We decided to pass up the gelato for tonight. Dinner for Dad was dry cereal and fruit juice, and I ate the other half of the sandwich he had not touched at lunch time. Tomorrow is a brand new day, Dad will feel even better than today, and a new beautiful adventure will begin!
Our Travels 