Our first day in the Basilicata region was busy but nothing short of fun. Our second day continued to be adventurous and full of wonderful scenery!

DAY 2

Breakfast each morning was simply amazing!! They always outdid themselves! It was by far the biggest breakfast spread that we have ever been offered to date! There were local dishes of every kind- from cheeses, fresh fruits and veggies, breads, jams, nuts, cappuccinos, eggs to order, etc.

We spent our last morning in Matera walking around the old town, checking out local food stores, enjoying gelato and drinks in the piazza, wandering around the morning markets, and finding all the amazing architecture and views.

About 30-40 minutes into our drive we were starting to get hungry for lunch. With two and a half hours still to go we started looking for somewhere to eat. As I began to search I noticed that we weren’t too far from a place that our tour guide in Altamura had told us about the previous day- the Ponte Aquedotto. It’s a bridge over a ravine in Puglia that was made famous when a James Bond film was shot there in 2021. It is the only connection between the city center of Gravina and the rock-cut churches on the eastern side of the canyon.

We found a random restaurant that was advertised as a “pub” so we thought it’d be a perfect place for a quick and cheap lunch. Well, this is one of those dinners that we will probably remember for longer than most. The food, like many other places, was top notch; however, it was a bit of an awkward experience. The eatery was on the top floor of a large building. As we arrived, so did a larger party, all dressed up, and I thought we were definitely underdressed. We decided to go in anyway. The pub was called “Lights in the Cave” and had a very cool vibe to it but the set up was more like that of a banquet hall- large and open. The waitress actually set us at a table in the same large room as the party (turns out it was a birthday party), and for the longest time we couldn’t figure out if they thought we were part of party! (Although we clearly looked out of place). When we ordered wine, they brought us a bottle instead of glasses, and they never took our order, just started bringing us appetizers. We began wondering what else we were getting. We really thought that they were including us in the birthday party! Turns out it was a set menu for everyone. We actually only got through a couple appetizers and the first course before we asked for a coffee and our check. We had start driving back because it was getting late. We weren’t quite looking for a place where it takes 3 hours to eat lunch. But nevertheless, it was a different experience and everyone was very nice about it!

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