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Showing posts from December, 2018

The Spirit Of Christmas Remains In My Heart

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A few days ago at a Christmas dinner, a lady said to me, "Argh, it was very stressful coming here. In fact, the last few months have been really bad for me. I really cannot wait for this year to be over." Then she carried on and attempted to enumerate the bad things that has happened to her. But I held her hand, tapped her shoulder and I said, "Don't worry, you have made it through (to the dinner and this year). Not quite the latter because we have a few days left before the new year starts but I am confident that she will get through it. What hit me the most during our conversation was when she said that she was going home for Christmas, but she said it will be just as bad. I begged to disagree because to me, going home for Christmas only means that she will spend time with her family- one thing that I have not done in 17 years. But she looked at me without saying a word. Her pain became palpable, I could see it through her eyes. Or perhaps... she was just the

One Day In The Unbelievably Enthralling Ancient City Of Matera

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We were not supposed to go to Matera because we had Altamura on our list to visit instead. However, I came across the city whilst I was planning our route from Alberobello to Altamura. The photos I saw online took my breath away that I was forced to learn a bit more about the place. Suffice it to say that Matera became one of those places that we must visit whilst we were in Southern Italy.  The drive to Matera was over an hour from Alberobello via SS172 then SP106 to SP235. Finding a street parking in the New Town was not that bad from what I can remember. From where we parked (the name of the street escapes me), it was only a short walk to one of the most spectacular places I have ever visited- the Sassi di Matera. Matera is the third oldest continuously inhabited city and until the 1980s, was plagued by poverty, illness and high infant deaths. In 1993, it became UNESCO World Heritage Site and since then, there has been an increasing number of tourists visiting the city. 

An Overnight Stay in the Trulli Amazing Alberobello

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It took me a week before I could properly say Alberobello, a place I have never heard of before. Thanks to Farrah whose idea gave me the opportunity to visit one of the most unique places I have ever visited. So after four days of nothing but amazing trip to the Amalfi Coast, it was time to say goodbye to its best kept secret,  Praiano .  From there, we hired a taxi (£100 for an hour drive) to Salerno to pick up our car from Avis. We didn't explore Salerno as it was not part of our itinerary but it felt like a big city. We grabbed a quick coffee and sfogliatella at a nearby cafe from the car rental then we headed to Puglia. To be honest, I didn't enjoy the 3 1/2 hours drive from Salerno to Alberobello that much because of the numerous tunnels that we had to go through. They seemed endless and some of them were not even lit. Besides, the route that we took  was not as picturesque as I imagined it to be, hence easily forgettable. It was rather industrial and uninteresting.