THREE DAYS IN MATERA

MATERA:    Matera is the 3rd oldest city in the world, after Aleppo and Jerusulam.  The first humans in Italy settled along the sides of a huge canyon in what is now part of the city.   These pre-historic beings dug caves in the soft, porous rock and lived in these caves with their animals.   For approximately 9,000 years these caves have been continuously  occupied, although in modern times the city of Matera (pop. 60,000) developed adjacent to the sasso (cave area).

As Matera grew only the poorest people continued to live in the caves.  In 1952, following an outbreak of malaria the Italian government forced resettlement, although some people managed to stay in their cave/houses.  During the 1980's the municipal government of Matera allowed re-development of the sasso and hotels, bars, restaurants, etc. were built.

As we could not bring our vehicle into the sasso we left our SUV in a parking garage and attempted the 1/2 km walk to our hotel.  Despite having a map we got quite lost in the sasso, as there are no streets, and almost no signs; only rock stairs and paths.  We twice found people to give us directions but still we walked past our hotel three times without recognizing it.

Our room/cave is quite elegant, although Betty finds it a bit claustrophobic.  To get from our room to an area with restaurants, etc. involves either a very long walk or a steep climb over a small rock hill.  Part of the way there are some steep rock steps without railings.  At this point Betty can climb/crawl over the rock in just four minutes.

During our first afternoon while looking for a place for lunch we came across a beautiful Enoteca built at the bottom of an ancient cistern.  Here we tasted some great wines and also ate some unique food.  Eventually we were offered glasses of Titolo Elena Fucci.  While in Venosa we had tried twice to visit to visit the winery  but without success.  Perhaps this wine turned out to be the perfect Aglianico.  My credit card felt  warm when I left feeling quite sated and carrying a couple of precious bottles.

As we were not very hungry in the evening we couldn't decide whether or not to face the rock hill outside our room.  Eventually we did and ended up having some pasta and a bottle of cheap, but good Aglianico in a hole-in-the-wall with only four tables.

FOOD TIDBITS: We did a lot of walking our second day in the sasso.  Betty is managing better than I had expected but is very dependant on her cane and frequently my arm.  We had a magnificent lunch along the way but perhaps drank a little too much wine.

I have been wondering whether or not it is possible to get a bad meal in Italy.  Last evening Betty was feeling very tired and we decided to stay in rather than face more stairs and rock slopes.  I made my supper as best I could from the minibar in our room proving that it is possible to have a bad meal in Italy.

One of my many, many weaknesses is ice cream, and, of course the best comes from Italy.  However, it is only in Basilicata than one can get aglianico ice cream.

PARCO MURGIA:   On our last day in Matera we took a open-top bus tour to the huge park across the canyon from our cave/room.   The park contains over 100 "churches" which are actually caves that were dug by Christian monks who were refugees from persecution in Turkey in the middle ages.  Although all of the others on the bus were Italian our guide was very kind and explained everything to us in English.

At lunch we met for the first time some English-speaking tourists; one couple from Australian and a foursome from the U.S.   We were horrified to hear that these people had been drinking Primitivo and had never heard of Aglianico.

                                                            BASILICATA

BASILICATA:  Italy is divided into 20 regions.  If you think that the map of Italy looks like a boot, then  Puglia is the heel and the toe is made up of the regions of Calabria and Sicily.  Basilicata is the instep.  The main reason for our driving trip to the south of Italy is to visit Basilicata in search of the perfect bottle of Aglianica (but more on that below).

 Basilicata is one of the least well-off regions, and one that attracts few if any tourists (the opposite of Tuscany where one can't find a native).  We planned two days in Venosa and three days in Matera.

DIGRESSION:  For those of you unfortunate souls who do not love wine, please excuse this digression, but I must whine a bit about wine in order for you to empathize with us as we visit Basilicata.

Italy is one of the world's greatest wine countries and within Italy each region tends to specialize in a particular varietal (grape).   For example the main wine of Abruzzo is Montepulciano.  Sicily produces Nero d'Avola.  Tuscany is best known for Sangiovese (the grape of Chianti).

Aglianico (the "g" is silent) is the great wine of Basilicata.  Aglianico has been grown in Basilicata for 1000's of years, but is rarely produced anywhere else.  Most Canadians have never tried Aglianico, which is a great shame.  What makes Aglianico so special is that it is a wine that is high in both acid and tannin.

I fell in love with Aglianico a couple of years ago and since then have dreamed of visiting Basilicata in search of the perfect bottle.

VENOSA:   The best Aglianico comes from the base of Mount Vulture in northern Basilicata.  There are three towns in this wine region and we booked a hotel in Venosa, a town of 11,000.  A half-day drive from Roseta took a little longer when our very sophisticated GPS suddenly told us to leave the highway due to an accident ahead.   Along with many trucks and other vehicles we drove through the countryside until we could return to the highway.  At one point we passed several scantily clad young women (who looked African).  They were waving to the truckers, but not to us.

The main road from the highway to Venosa had some incredible curves and was only slightly wider than our large Renault SUV that Betty has been giving me a hard time about renting, but I digress.
Upon arrival in Venosa we checked into our hotel and with considerable communication struggles learned that dinner was at 8:00.  As it was mid-afternoon and we were starving we left in search of lunch.  We drove all over the town, discovering that ours appeared to be the only hotel and that the only eating place open was a small pizza/patisserie place.  Here we had pizza, beer and pastries while the staff gave us beaming smiles and the other patrons tried desperately not to stare.  The meal cost 10 Euros and 60 cents.

As there seemed to be little in the town to see other than lots of tractors (it is olive harvesting season) we decided to drive to Melfi, the next town.  As our GPS was programmed for the shortest route we had found some rather harrowing roads while in the Roseta area.  We thus programmed the fastest route hoping that that would keep us on paved highways.  Nonetheless we were taken on a gravelless, very rutted path up and over the mountain.  At first we called this a cow path, but eventually decided that no cow could make it so we changed our assessment to goat path.  Coming down a steep embankment we came to a stone bridge that didn't seem as wide as our Renault (confirming Betty's assessment).  With the windows down we eased our way across the bridge with an inch or so on each side.  Fortunately the stone walls weren't very high and our side mirrors extended above the walls.

At 8:00 we entered an elegant dining room which we shared with a family of five, a table of two men, and three singles .  There was no menu and we were just supposed to order.  Eventually we sort of learned that we could order a meal of fish or a meal of meat.  We chose the fish meal.  We were first served a plate of antipasta, then a pasta dish containing many kinds of seafood, my being able to recognize the octopus.  The main plate was large scampi cooked in a delicious but unidentifible sauce.  We ordered vino rosso and through hand signals, etc. learned that we could have a bottle or a carafe.  Not knowing what bottle to order I chose the carafe and we got a litre of the most wonderful Aglianico; no doubt the best house wine I have ever had. 

At the end of the meal, the guests in turn left their tables and presumably returned to their rooms, having received no checks.  Eventually we did the same.  I presume we will find out the cost of the meal upon checkout.

WINE TASTING NEAR VENOSA:  We spent the day driving around the countryside looking for various wineries; some we found, some we found but were closed, others we couldn't find.  However, we did find a winery called Cantine del Notaio in the town of Rionero del Vulture.  Here we tasted some truly magnificent wines.  Perhaps we didn't find the perfect Aglianico, but if not we came very close.  Hopefully the four bottles we purchased survive the trip home.  One website listed their wine La Firma among the top 100 wines of the world.

                                      ANTIGONISH TO ROSETO DEGLI ABRUZZI

HALF THE FUN:  I never understood the expression "Half the fun is in the getting there".  For us it was a Westjet flight from Halifax to Boston, overnight on Delta to Amsterdam, and then KLM to Venice; all of these trips in the backs of crowded planes.  Nonetheless, the flights were on time and uneventful.

We did struggle a bit in Boston.  Coming off our flight we found no flight monitors and asked someone in uniform where to find Delta international flights.  We  were in Terminal A, and he sent us to Terminal E, which was about a 25 minute walk.  Once there we were told that Delta arrivals were there but Delta departures were back in Terminal A where we started. Another 25 minute walk.

Once at the correct gate we were paged and told that we had no return flight from Italy (perhaps the Italian government was worried that we would become refugees).  We explained that we were returning by ship.  We apparently needed documentation that we were going to return.  Unfortunately our cruise information was all stowed in our checked luggage.  Eventually Betty (who does not clean out her inbox very frequently) found an old invoice from On-line Vacations and we were allowed on the plane.

I did discover that a travelling companion using a cane is a major advantage in boarding.

PADUA/PADOVA:  We picked up our rental in Venice and drove to the city of Padova where we found our hotel in the middle of an industrial area with no services anywhere walkable.  We actually knew that ahead of time but were happy to accept a free hotel on Marriott points (and it didn't take many).  The hotel was fine and dinner was better than excellent.  With 10 hours of sleep we were ready to start our trip to the south of Italy.

ROSETO DEGLI ABRUZZI:  We spent a long day driving to Roseto.  Italian drivers go much faster than what we are used to in Canada.  On the highway I drove 130 and everyone passed as if I were parked.  On the side roads with the speed limit at 50 and my doing 70 everyone passed on curves, hills, etc.  The drive was made longer by a road closure that our GPS couldn't quite figure out.  After being lost for what seemed a long time I eventually got back to the original blockage and followed the fastest car which twisted and turned for several miles but eventually brought us back to the highway.

However, all got much brighter when we arrived at our beautiful hotel in Roseto ($ 79. Canadian).  We were greeted royally and the guy at the front desk made us dinner reservations at a great restaurant, and then sent a very fine bottle of Montepulciano to our room along with a plate of antipasta.  We sat on our balcony overlooking the ocean and got quite pickled.

CUISINE IN ABRUZZO:  Seafood is everywhere and two lunches and one dinner later I still have not seen meat on any menu.  For our meal last night we had only two courses but ate lots of clams, scampi, langostini, calamari and two unknown but delicious white fish.  Our restaurant was packed and as near as we could tell all the other diners had 4 to 6 courses.

WINE TASTING:   Almost all of the wineries I had hoped to visit in Abruzzo are closed on Sunday,  Google did suggest one that would be open.  After a harrowing drive over a big mountain on a very scary trail we arrived to find the place all locked up.  However, as we got back in our vehicle an impeccably dressed old man mysteriously appeared and opened the winery.  Despite his speaking no English he managed to give us a complete tour and poured us each 3 glasses of wine.  In the end we managed to purchase his second last bottle of 2013 Colline Teramane; the best Montepulciano in the entire region.

FROM COSTA RICA TO COLOMBIA

PUERTO LIMON, COSTA RICA:  We had a private tour with a couple from Vancouver and two couples from Spain who don't speak English.  Our guide did a great job of explaining everything in both English and Spanish.  He was born in Austria and apparently German is his first language.

Puerto Limon is a city of about 65,000 and appears to be very poor.  We drove through some middle class areas and then through an area where the "wealthy" live.  The main difference was that there was more barbed wire in the "wealthy" area.  We visited a banana plantation.  Here the workers harvest very large bunches, carry them to a "zip-line" and when they have 25 bunches on the line they pull them for long distances to the boxing area.  Looks like impossibly hard work.

The highlight of the day was a ride in the Tortuguero canals where we drifted in a small boat and saw wildlife (howler monkeys, iguana, cayman and many different birds).

In the evening we had dinner with a couple from Tel Aviv and a couple from California.  The American couple appeared to be in their late fifties.  When they told us they were 84 and 86 we were floorstruck.  Turns out we were the babies at the table.  That certainly doesn't happen very often.

PANAMA: As we were nearing the end of our cruise and had on-board non-refundable credits to spend we took a ship's tour.  Normally we only book private tours as they are less expensive and we get to travel with smaller groups.

We boarded our bus and drove through what can only be described as the ugly city of Colon on our way to a national park.  During the approximately one hour drive we basically looked out the windows at garbage strewn everywhere.  It makes one think that the national pastime of Panama must be littering.  Recycling appears to be throwing your garbage out the front door and if the wind comes up the garbage is recycled to your neighbour's yard.

At the sad little town of Portobelo we visited a modest church and the ruins of the San Lorenzo Fort which dates back to the days of the pirate Henry Morgan.  Portobelo, strangely enough, has a world heritage site designation, which is an attempt to save the ruins of the fort.

PANAMA CANAL:

The second part of our tour was a visit to the Gatun Locks.  Even though we travelled through the Panama canal a few years ago, this was an interesting view of both the old locks and the new Post-Panamax system.  The canal is a huge source of income for Panama.  Ships reserve passage up to one year in advance.  A large cruiseship can pay as much as $ 400,000. passage.  One of the new giant container ships can pay one million dollars.  And what seems bizarre is that payment is made 48 hours in advance and only in cash.  One wonders where the money goes, as it is certainly not visible on the streets or in the countryside.

CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA:  This is the second time we visited Cartagena, a truly beautiful city. Of course this time it was in stark contrast to Colon, Panama.  We didn't have a lot of time in the city center as there was a parade (Miss Colombia contest) about to start and many of the streets were closing.

Cartagena surrounds a spectacular harbour and is guarded by a giant fortress.  Once in the city the streets are clean, orderly and although the architecture is not stunning it is very eye-pleasing.

The social structure of the city is very rigid.  There are six social classes and each class lives in its own section(s) of the city.  These traditional divisions are based partly of race and partly on historical economic considerations such as different tax rates in different parts of the city.  We would have liked to have more time here and this is definitely a city to place on the list of where to return.

                                           FROM COZUMEL TO BELIZE

COZUMEL:  Cozumel is a Mexican island that has developed in recent years as a tourist/cruiseship Mecca.  There are many beautiful beaches, and the city is clean, safe and great for shopping.  We decided not to do a beach day but instead walked into town, through several shopping areas, had a couple of cold beers, and returned to the ship for an afternoon of sleeping by the pool.

Wheras Key West's shopping district specializes in tee-shirts and sunglasses, Cozumel has endless jewellry stores, most of which feature the gems Zultanite and Tanzanite.  Prices are very, very good. Of course, they also have something on offer for the men.  There are tiny pharmacies on almost every corner, each with large signs letting the men know that they sell Viagra.

COSTA MAYA (MAHAHUAL):  Twelve of us (from two different cruise ships) contracted with a local tour operater for a visit to Chacchoben, about one hour from the pier.  At Chacchoben there are the ruins of an ancient Mayan city which dates to around 400 B.C.  Mayan civilization peaked around 600 A.D.  They built large cities, grew corn, were the first to grow tomatoes and to eat chocolate. They were very sophisticated mathematically, having developed the concept of zero (something the Romans never did).  They also developed a calendar as accurate as ours.  Although they abandoned their large cities around 900 A.D. Mayans still exist today in several Central American countries. Incidentally the Mayans preceded the Aztecs.

Our driver and our pure lineage Mayan guide were very pleasant and helpful.  Upon returning to the van after a couple of hours of walking in the heat we were presented with ice-cold beers to sip on our drive back to the ships.  When we ran out of beer the driver stopped in the middle of the highway, ran across the road and purchased more cold beer.

On Saturday evening we had another great meal at Jacques.  Our four dinner companions were what Trump calls Coastal Elites.  The political discussion at dinner certainly had a different tone than that at the meal I described in my earlier blog.

HARVEST CAYE:

We thought we were going to visit Belize on this trip.  However, it turns out that our stop was at Harvest Caye, an island off the coast of Belize that is owned by the cruiseline.  Despite the disappointment of not seeing anything of the country, the day turned out to be very pleasant.  The island/caye is quite beautiful, the weather was sunny and warm and the 7 km beach had enough umbrella-shaded lounge chairs to serve a dozen cruise ships.

We spent most of the day on the beach returning in time for an enrichment lecture which was followed by a Captain's reception.  We ended the day with a dinner for 10 made up of on-line friends with whom we shall be touring in Costa Rica.

CENTURY CLUB:  I went on line to see if Betty and I were eligible to join the Century Club (not the one for really, really old people, but the one for travellers who have been to at least 100 different countries).  Not eligible, we miss the critical number by 4.

MARCH 2017 CRUISE


FIRST DAY:   In order to make our flight connection (Halifax/Newark/Miami) we rolled out of bed just before 3:00 a.m.  There were so many people catching flights that the shuttles were stuggling to accomodate.  However we got to the airport as scheduled, and from there to Miami all went smoothly. We made the ship in time for a late lunch of Kobe burgers and Mexican beer.  After our luggage arrived we unpacked in time to go to the compulsory lifeboat drill (boring).  This was followed by a small social event organized by an Italian couple with whom Betty has been corresponding on e-mail.

We then had a magnificent supper at Jacques' (the ship's French restaurant).  Everything from the Foie Gras to the Crepes Suzzette was delicious.  With the exception of Betty's starting glass of Champagne, however, we drank Californian wines throughout the meal rather than French.  We hurried from the table at 9:25 and rushed to the theatre and managed to find two seats in the second row just as the curtain rose.  It was not long before the two of us were quite asleep and I hope the spotlights sufficiently blinded the singers so that they were not aware of our boorish behavior.

KEY WEST: I always wanted to visit Key West but never made it until this trip.  I hope the other places on my bucket list are more interesting.  The island of Key West is about 2 x 4 miles and has a population of about 25,000.  The only employment is tourism.  We took a hop-on-hop-off open bus and got a good tour.  There are lots of hotels and restaurants but only two small beaches.

We had planned on walking along the main shopping street, but decided that there are only so many tee-shirt shops that one wants to visit.  If I purchased all the tee-shirts for sale in Key West, the entire Chinese army could be outfitted without making a dent in the supply.  Perhaps I am being unfair in picking on tee-shirt shops.  After all there are just as many places that offer sunglasses.

CUBA: This is the first Oceania ship to be allowed into Cuba.  There are lots of Americans onboard who are very excited about being allowed in Cuba.  As both Betty and I have been to Cuba on several occasions we were less keen.  Not all of the Americans are/were so positive.  Several were upset with what I thought was an even-handed enrichment lecture on Cuba's history.

We had dinner with one guy who refused to get off the ship at Havana.  But, then he told us that he would like to see the United States invade and annex Cuba.  I bit my tongue and didn't bring up the Bay of Pigs.  He also told me in no uncertain terms that one couldn't get modern health care in Canada.

It has been a few years since we were to Havana.  Driving around the city on a hop-on-hop-off bus showed us that Havana is less decrepit than it was a few years ago.  There are still abandoned buildings but there are many that are being carefully restored.  As well, the streets have the classic cars from the 50's but intermixed are now newer Japanese and German models.

                                       KUALA LUMPUR TO CANADA

KUALA LUMPUR:  The ship docked at Port Klang, a hard hour's drive from the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.  We had not arranged a tour with others, but had simply booked a bus tour from some on-line site.  When we walked off the ship there was no bus but rather a man holding a sign "Mr. Betty Johnson."  Apparently no one else had booked the bus tour so the company sent a car and a driver to give us a private 7-hour tour for a very, very small price.

Our first stop was at the King's Palace where we happened to be for the changing of the mounted guard.  By the way, the Malyasian King is elected every 5 years and must be one of the 9 regional Sultans.  The Palace and grounds were spectacular; sort of making Buckingham Palace seem like subsidized housing.

The crowds were mostly Chinese tourists who stood everywhere taking selfies.  At one point I was waiting for Betty outside the womens' washroon and a young woman took a selfie as she entered.   I hope she doesn't frame it.

Kuala Lumpur is a very beautiful city of 1.8 million with architecture that reminds me of Shanghai.  In addition to the Palace we visited the National War Memorial where they equate the 1948-1960 war against the Communists with WWI and WWII.

We also visited the National Mosque, where we had to don robes, and a Batik factory where all of the silk materials are hand-drawn and hand-painted.  The feature site in Kuala Lumpur is the Petronis Towers, the world's tallest twin towers.  They are very impressive.  We went into the shopping centre on the first 6 floors, but did not buy any Rolexes.  Rather we had a lunch of mystery things at the food court.

MEDICAL EMERGENCY:  Last Wednesday night during dinner the Captain announced that the ship would be stopping due to a medical emergency.  One of the guests, with whom Betty and I had had dinner a couple of nights earlier, was then transferred to a small police boat (we had sailed from Penang about 3 hours prior to this).  She was unconscious when placed on the open boat, and as she was alone on the cruise she was accompanied ashore by the ship's nurse.  I don't know her age but she is one of the younger passengers.

The next day the Captain announced that she was now "able to speak" and was expected to be released from the hospital in a few days.  Malaysia is a centre for medical tourism in southeast Asia and has many modern hospitals.  Perhaps it was good that her health crisis happened while we were travelling along the coast of Malaysia on our way to Singapore.

SINGAPORE:   Singapore cannot be described as particularly exotic; it can be described as particularly wealthy.  One out of five men, women and children is considered to be a millionaire.  Everything looks posh.  Perhaps in a country where possessing chewing gum is illegal and where possession of a small amount of heroin gets one the death penalty, making money is the most pleasurable pursuit.  The government discourages car ownership (costs more than $ 15,000. for a license to buy a car and there is a fee everytime one uses it).  Subsequently traffic is not what one might otherwise expect in a city/state of 5.8 million.

We visited the world heritage orchid gardens, walked through Chinatown, and took a ride to the top of the Sands Hotel for the views.

 At lunch we went into a random restaurant where we were given a laptop on which to order our meal.  I hit the Tiger beer icon a couple of times and a couple of other random buttons.  In less than a minute our cold beer and our steaming hot mystery meals arrived.

NOVA SCOTIA:  We left the ship at 8:30 a.m., took a tour of Singapore and were dropped off at the airport at 5:00 p.m. (being very sweaty after a day at 100% humidity and a temperature of 33).  Unfortunately our plane was delayed and we didn't depart until midnight.  An overnight flight took us to Seoul, Korea where we had to wait until 5:00 p.m. for our next flight.  We might have gone into the city for a tour, but it was snowing and I was wearing shorts.  A 12-hour flight took us to Toronto.  We got to Halifax at 11:00 p.m. and stayed overnight at an airport hotel.  It is now 59 hours since we left the ship and we still have to get to Antigonish.  Fortunately Colin is driving down to pick us up.
In any event, no more blogs until the next trip.  I do hope I have encouraged you to put Africa and Southeast Asia on your bucket list for places to travel.