What people say

From the blog of Eliana Viggiani

Today I feel inspired and I’d like to talk to you about Monia. 
I had the pleasure to host her here at L’Albero in the occasion of her birthday.

She has this tradition to celebrate her birthday by solo traveling, somewhere new and see what the universe will gift her with… this time her destination was Matera! Isn’t this a great idea?
Monia worked in the corporate world for seven years, she had interesting jobs, but she got to a point when she did not enjoy that anymore and decided to change life and embrace her creativity.
Monia comes across as a really happy woman and I’m happy too when I meet people who succeeded in improving their life by letting go of what is no longer useful to them.
 Since the very first moment I have been enchanted by her enthusiasm, by her joy of living and the wish to share her experience. Monia has been for me the best example of what we call “responsible tourism”: she is very open minded and followed our tips with enthusiasm… in less than three days she was already part of the community. 
We went together to watch a show at the festival “Nessuno resti fuori” in Piccianello, a neighbourhood out of the historical center of Matera, mostly unknown to tourists but full of history and stories. In Piccianello you can find lots of people to talk with for hours. After socialising with everybody at “La bottega del vicinato”, where we also nibbled cheese and focaccia, Monia decided to stay longer than I did, and came back with a couple of new friends. On her way home, she told me later, she couldn’t resist the invitation of some locals who were improvising a street dinner with “gnummridd” (some local meat rolls), delicious bread and a glass of wine. She enjoyed listening to their stories and taking photos!
 Whenever we met at home, she had some new encounters to tell me about, like the one with “la signora Maria”, a very well known character in our town.
 Eventually, my explosive guest left a sign, not just at L’Albero, but all around. 
When people ask me what traveling means to me, this is one of the answers: fully immersing into a place through its stories, flavours, colours and characters as they are presented by the locals who live and love the place every day. 
Traveling this way creates a uniquely vibrant energy and Monia fully embodies this philosophy.

Eliana Viggiani
Owner of "L'albero di Eliana" B&B (Matera - Italy)