My beautiful profession let me accompany every day travellers from all over the world to discover the extraordinary beauty of my land. But I myself am a traveler. Who said that leaving is a bit ‘to die? Instead it is reborn every time: travel is passion, travel is life. And I try to do it as much as possible, in Italy and abroad, always to discover the beauty and wonders that man and nature have achieved over time. And also to verify how real is that way of saying “how small the world is”. How else can you explain the random encounter in the Parthenon in Athens with the pizza maker from by your house? Or with your high school classmate inside the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris? Or with your bank consultant in the streets of Madrid?
Piazza Vittorio in Matera, the new “navel of the world”.
Of course I imagine it also happens to others and in other parts of the world. Surely now it also happens in Matera. A few days ago I had an appointment with a small group of Canadians, four couples from Toronto: we meet in the hotel where they stay and from there we walk to reach the main square of Matera, Piazza Vittorio Veneto, from where I usually start my tour of the Sassi. Immediate expressions of amazement and admiration, which soon however take on the tones of surprise and disbelief as we approach the center of the square: “Nooo, you too here!!!”. Yes, 7,500 kilometers across the Atlantic Ocean to get to Matera and meet their friends in the square! Kisses, hugs and laughter, in short … like in movie. I’m incredolous more than them and I ask: “Did you even know they were here?” “No, we knew they were on holiday but not where. You know, in Canada schools close at the end of June and many couples who have older children, send them to summer camps and they leave to Europe. But we would never have imagined meeting them here “.
We can say then that Matera is the navel of the world. We come together and start our tour. Both I and them almost forget the unexpected and nice episode. But in the meantime the refrain of a famous italian song resounds in my minda, with the text slightly modified, however (Luciano Ligabue will not take it badly): see you in Matera sooner or later …
