Palazzo ViceConte, Matera, 14 rooms

We left Puglia and entered Basilicata. We spent one night at Palazzo ViceConte in Matera. It is in the heart of the old city, one block from the Duomo. It is possible to drive there but it is very tricky. The prior night, the hotel sent us an email telling us to drive to a certain point and to call the hotel. My husband took a picture of himself in front of a storefront and sent it to the hotel staff who was talking to him. She then walked over and drove the car thru narrow, twisting streets filled with pedestrians to the hotel. Well done, Carmela. The entrance to the hotel is inside a courtyard. It has extensive public spaces.

We had a suite, one of only two (I think) on the first floor (2nd for Americans). Our suite was very large with a separate living room and bedroom. The bathroom was small, with a shower in the tub. The furniture reminded me of Victorian times, very firm and unforgiving. Staff was terrific and brought a water kettle, extension cord, and so forth to make us comfortable. The breakfast room was on this floor. There was a large rooftop terrace with a wonderful view looking down at the older city and the stasi area (cave dwellings).

Marcella continued her winning ways and sent us to L'Antica Credenza for lunch, roughly an 8 minute walk. Oh, my. It had assortments of exceptional charcuterie plates including fresh ricotta in honey. I wish I could transport it home. It was that good. We had dinner that I had booked at a Michelin 1 star called Vitantonio Lombardo Restaurant. Don't believe your GPS if it teases you by saying it is a 3 minute walk on level ground. Ha! It was roughly 8 to 10 flights of rock steps down to the lower level. It was everything one would hope for from a Michelin restaurant, truly superb.

Marcella booked an afternoon tour for us on a 3 wheel Piaggia scooter. It was 40 euros for 40 minutes, the best way to get thru the crowded city that has considerable distance from top to bottom. Marcella also booked the Covid test that we needed to take to return to the US.

I was already looking forward to seeing the upcoming James Bond movie that is being released in November. We learned that the cast and crew were in Matera for 3 months filming. The first movie filmed in Matera was Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ. Apparently that movie really changed Matera's fortunes from a very poor city to one that has benefited tremendously from tourism.