Shannon finds the coolest places to visit! There was a list of potential stops on our drive from Rome to Matera, and this one had the potential to be awesome. We had just picked up the rental car in Rome, to head out for the remainder of our 2 weeks in Puglia. Here’s a video of us, giddy, in our Fiat Panda:

Out of the list of choices, this one had been at the top of my list since he’d told me about it months before. It’s an ancient amphitheater, that was only discovered in 2000. ( This is pretty recent considering that we were 30 years old when it was discovered!). Also, it’s on top of a mountain. We exited the main highway and drove through a small town, through a bunch of alleyways and backstreets until we came to a dead end at the trailhead.

On the other side of the fence beside the trail up we could hear a tractor running, and could hear people shouting over it in Italian. I was super excited to get my first look at an olive grove, and to see that they were harvesting at that very moment! Olive harvest in Italy runs from late October through mid-December, so it seems that on October 25th, we’d hit it just right.

It wasn’t a long hike, only about a mile or so up a mountain that had some switchbacks and wasn’t very steep. We were in street clothes and had no trouble at all.

Even though we knew it was on a mountain, there was just no way we could have anticipated the incredible scenery! It was more spectacular because of the show the sky was putting on. There were rainstorms off in the distance, and the effect was absolutely stunning.

Here’s is the official website for the site , including a photo of how it looked when it was discovered back in 2000. It is believed to be a 4th century BC structure and is said to be very unique due to its position on the tip of a mountain peek (mount St Nicola). There are a lot of big words in that site that are over my head, but there are also some very cool photos of it upon discovery, overlaid with how it may have looked during it’s time long ago. Also seems like they have tried to revive its use, with concerts and plays depicting the time period in which it was active. How it looks in 2025 is pretty incredible:

Temple and theater of San Nicola Is an archaeological site located in the municipality of Pietravairono, in Campania. The best part about its re-discovery, is that it was during a paragliding and hang gliding session! Isn’t that great? The man who discovered it on Feb 4, 2000 is named Nicolino Lombardi who just happens to be a scholar and historian.

It amuses Shannon to no end that I grew up singing and dancing, and he loves to cue me to do some silly song and dance in open spaces, so obviously in an amphitheater such as this, there was the Michelle show. I’m going to spare you the embarrassing video I did not sanction to be taken, however, I’ll give you one silly one of me at the end of the performance, and a few others at the Teatro tempio:

Here is the screenshot I took so that I could remember to tell you in this post that it is in the town of Tramonti.

Whoever is in charge of this place installed a mountain coaster track at some point in the process of restoration and re-discovery. It is unclear if it’s still in the works or if the idea has been fully abandoned – but there is DEFINITELY a coaster track exactly like the one we rode on in Snowmass, Colorado (post linked). If there’s a voting system in place – we vote yes to put one here.

As we finished up exploring the site, it was getting to be lunch time. I was thinking about the fact that on the way in, I hadn’t noticed any places to eat, or any businesses, or any other people really. No hustle and bustle in Tramonti on Saturday morning. As we drove down the mountain we were looking for lunch.

As we came around a curve, we noticed an abandoned house with what looked like an orange tree, full of fruit! Shannon decided to stop and get a better look

We won’t talk about the fruit flies that hatched inside of our tiny Fiat a few days later – but needless to say this beauty ended up in the garbage.

We eventually found what looked like a potential restaurant open. The sign outside said “pub”. We parked and went inside, and found a young man behind a coffee bar. Through my very broken remedial Italian, we tried to ask about lunch. At first the young man said dinner wasn’t until later on and offered us coffee, which we accepted. Guess I may have missed the mark on correct communication. Anyway, a few minutes later something dawned on him (maybe as he saw me rifling through the snacks on the shelves) and he said “you want to eat?” We said; “yes please!” And he showed us to a table. A few minutes later, he brought us plastic plates of steaming orecchiette with sausage and mushrooms, topped with fresh parmasean cheese! It was absolutely delicious! We were thrilled with this, as in our pre-trip research we had learned that this is the typical pasta shape for the Apulian region. The word means “little ears” which is exactly what it looks like:

After we’d finished, our host brought out the pan and asked if we wanted more. It seems that he, or a hidden grandmother more likely, had made this on a stovetop in the back. It felt like we were guests at his house.

Completely delighted with our stop and full of lunch, we headed on to Matera, which I’ve already posted about. When we left Matera, we headed north to the Adriatic coastal town of Bari. I’ll tell you about that next!