This year we have decided to spend our holidays at Metapontum, near Bernalda in the south of Italy.
Metapontum is in Basilicata. Basilicata is an Italian region known also as Lucania. Basilicata has two coasts: on the Ionian and Tyrrhenian sea.
Metapontum is in front of the Ionian Coast, on the part of the Gulf of Taranto, as you can see in the Google map.
This coast of Basilicata facing the Ionian sea is one of the best destination for families who had children. Its beach is long, wide and sandy; the sea bottom is shallow.
We have chosen to stay at Bernalda; so we  are in a little hotel  (Hotel I Pitagorici) with little apartments so we can cook everything we want and are independent. Metapontum is 12-13 kilometers from here.
There is a little market near the hotel where we can buy very fresh fish, local vegetable and fruit, typical cheese and meat.
We like this place. We’re spending slow holidays, far from frenzy of  the modern  life.

Besides it’s a place rich in culture. Metapontum was founded by Greeks in the seventh century BC. So you can visit  some archaeological sites including Tables Palatine, a zone vestiges, a agora, a theatre and a museum. We are going to tell you about these archaeological sites in the following days.

We’re going to test local cuisine in a typical trattoria at Bernalda tonight. Tomorrow we’ll tell you of the traditional dishes.

Greetings from Italy

Carlo & Loretta