In February I found myself in the most wonderful Italian city called Matera. I’d traveled here with two other artists, Zoe and Emma (also from Sheffield) to attend a week long business course for creatives. There were artists from Poland, Hungary, Greece, Spain and Italy as well who were all there as part of the artENprise project which aims to develop and improve artists entrepreneurial skills.
On the first day we had the afternoon off to wander the streets of Matera and see the sights. We started off from our hotel which was set high up above the city. It was hidden from view from our vantage point, even though we were high up. But as we walked, we soon came across gorgeous stone paths weaving through the sand coloured houses.
The city was full of lovely wide pedestrian streets, little footpaths that wove between the shops and houses and roads going up and down the hilly landscape. It has kept it’s historic feel and it has hosted many a movie production team looking for an authentic backdrop to tell their stories, including The Passion of the Christ.
One of the perks of spending Monday afternoon wandering the city was getting the chance to talk to some of the other artists who had come on the course. Below are a few of them pausing for a quick photo.
As part of our little tour we had to visit a coffee shop! I’m not a fan of espresso so I stuck to photographing.
I love this shot with Emma and Zoe and the rest of the group.
Here are the 3 British artists making sure we did the tourist thing. Zoe was great at getting some photos of me too. I love being behind the lens but it is nice to have a few photos of me in them when traveling to new places.
We made it round to this beautiful spot as the light was softening. It was just so beautiful and I got a tad bit over excited by the light!
The rest of the week was spent learning about how to run a successful creative business. It was really interesting getting to hear what everyone did and how they went about running their businesses. I had a huge amount of respect for the other attendees who all spoke English as a second (or third) language but we all managed to communicate well in spite of the barriers.
On the way back to the airport Emma, Zoe and I stopped off in Bari as we so wanted to see the sea. It was totally worth it! And the street we stopped on, overlooking the sea, reminded me a little bit of Sea Point in Cape Town.
I have to admit I really missed my husband and though I had a fantastic time I did love coming home. I definitely feel like there are these 2 parts of me…the traveler who loves visiting new places, trying new food and meeting new people and the homebody who loves making my home cosy and curling up on the sofa with a glass of wine and a good book. 🙂
