A STUDENT'S VIEW of
In November 2012 I spent four weeks working as an English teaching assistant at a primary school in the quaint southern Italian town of Matera. As a lover of history, Matera was a good place to be; the town is unique for its ancient cave-houses, known as sassi. Located in Matera’s centro storico, these remarkable buildings – a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993 – formed the basis for the town’s recent successful bid to become the 2019 European Capital of Culture. Beautifully preserved and unquestionably the biggest tourist attraction of the town, the sassi make a fascinating day out.
The town centre is small and a full day is more than enough to explore it all! I am lucky enough to have family in Matera, but despite living in my cousin’s flat, I was very independent and got to know the town and fellow young people well. I discovered that the social life in Matera is very different to that in London or Bristol.
Whether it was the small size of the town, or the fact that Italians are so enthusiastic, it was easy to settle and make friends there. There is an intimate social atmosphere in the everyday life that I have never experienced anywhere else - everybody knows each other! On an evening out, it was easy to make friends with friendly Italian strangers, and it wasn’t long before this ragazza inglese was being dragged about, translating Italian swear words into English.
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One of the major positives of any trip to Italy is the food, and Matera was no exception. I am yet to find something which outdoes the morning cappuccino at the local café, and the evening aperitivo with a freshly made panzerotto [savoury filled pastry, similar to calzone] at Panzerotto Zero. Matera is also paradise for the passionate cheese lover! The mozzarella especially was divine and freshly made in a local mini-factory which I had the pleasure of visiting. It is safe to say that if you visit Matera and do not gain an extra 5 kilos in the process, you haven’t done it properly!
Being southern Italy, the weather in November to December was also far better than what is usually on offer in Bristol. It only rained twice in the whole 4 weeks I was there - a definite plus! Being used to sub-zero temperatures in Britain I took full advantage of the weather and practically lived in t-shirts. I also visited the beaches – just under an hour south of Matera – and as it was the wrong season to be beaching for Italians, they were practically empty. My approach to the weather caused much amusement for Italians – who consider 10-15 degrees to be freezing – and who often referred to me as the pazza [lunatic] who was trying to catch pneumonia.
MATERA
Photography: francesco la ragione - Flickr