Salerno sin touristas!

Although originally planned as a quick overnight before Rome, Salerno turned into a two night stay that has turned out to be quite a nice break from the mad crush of tourists jamming the Amalfi coast. While the time we spent in Ravello was nice, even being a 30 minute drive above Amalfi did not spare us the cruiseship flocks who seemed to come by the busload.
 Our B & B was, some 900 years earlier a Palace owned by a wealthy family. The B & B was built into the original structure and offered a reasonable degree of comfort if one didn't mind the hike up ancient stone stairways. The town itself is a small maze of streets wandering in all kinds of random directions over the sides of the mountain and offers some amazing views of the coast below. From the town there are several walking trails that lead to neighbouring villages on the mountains, or if one keeps going- all the way back to Amalfi and also Minori. Requiring some 45 minutes to an hour the trails wander off in different directions so one can perhaps visit the same town daily for a week without using the exact same trail each time. The town has some 40 eating establishments- a couple being Michelin rated. I think a Michelin two star means a meal costs you at least the price of two tires!
  Getting from Ravello to Salerno, a distance of perhaps 34 km took a change of buses at Amalfi and the entire journey took from 10am to 12:15 with a 20 minute layover in Amalfi. The route between hugged the sides of cliffs some 600 feet above the Mediterranean and with roads often no wider than a typical Canadian driveway required lots of stops and starts as the bus had to wait for opposing traffic to clear.
  Once in Salerno it took no time to find our accomodation. Albergo Santa Rosa was less than 100 feet from the train station and shockingly is very quiet, with little street noise, even though we are only on the second floor.
 Compared to Capri, Amalfi and Ravello meals are cheap by comparison, with total costs being about 60-65 % of what we were paying.
 A visit today to Vietri, some 4 km west of here found us at the very end of the Amalfi Coast in a town where almost every second shop sold Ceramica, from small tiles to giant vases and plates up to 3 feet in diameter. Very beautiful, but a little tricky to ship.
 After making a few small purchases we bused it back into town stopping at the Cathedral with its magnificent crypt and baroque main altar, as well as a rather unique courtyard in front with arched walls and a tall, very old bell tower.
 The archeological museum , our final stop of the afternoon had some interesting pieces, mostly ceramics of greek and roman style as well as a small collection of statues and building facades. Tonight, perhaps our last opportunity for really fresh seafood before we head for Rome tomorrow morning.