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.

Capri

The trip from Pompeii was somewhat of a "hurry up and wait" experience, with a rather tricky descent from Sorrento station to the marina. Cobblestones do not make a friendly footing for wheeled luggage.
   The ferry ride to Capri was a little rough. One of the crew was walking around with plastic "barf bags" offering them to patrons based on what I am guessing would be skin colour and overall expression. The trip took roughly 30 minutes, ending with a rather chaotic exit from the dock area. Given the option of a 25Euro cab ride or a 7 Euro bus ride we opted for the latter and spent a good half hour in line for the pleasure of being squeezed onto a 8 seater mini bus along with 30 other people and their luggage. The ride to Anacapri was a serpentine route that skirted the cliffs and climbed ever higher above the sea. The bus rolled into the central square around 12:30pm and a policeman pointed us in the direction of our hotel. ( For once, an actual hotel, as opposed to a B&B. ) Anacapri ( meaning Upper Capri) is roughly in the centre of the island and seems to be a little less "upscale" than it's adjacent partner. After a tour of the town we did take a bus ride to Cari town where we spent a couple of hours wandering the streets, window shopping the Designer stores on the main drag, Georgio Armana Leg and Dolce and Banana or whatever the eff it is called. The restaurants weren't much better- 90 euro for 5 courses, accompanying wine another 45. We quickly retreated back to Anacapri for  decent meal at a family run taverna.
 Monday we spent the morning taking the cable ride up to the top of Monte Solaro, one of the highest points on the island and a great viewpoint to see the entire island, A hike down from the top was not without incident as both Susanna and I slipped on wet ground and did a rather rough tumble before regaining our footing. I now have a bruised hip for my efforts and Susanna has a few small puncture wounds from thorns.
 It took the better part of Tuesday to travel from Anacapri to the main harbour then to Sorrento via high speed ferry. Our wait at the bus terminal was close to an hour before we managed to grab seats on a bus to Amafi. It woud be another hour and a hald before we were able to board a bus up into the hills above Amalfi for our stay in Ravello, Set on the side of several steep hills, this town is generally a day trip for most tourists, For us it is a break away from the herds of cruise sheep. The place seems to be one photo op after another and there are several paths along the hills to neighbouring towns, so we may not be in any kind of rush to return to Amalfi.

Vesuveus AND Ercolano

Friday morning we caught the northbound train and got off at Ercolano, the modern city surrounding the ancient Roman site of Herculaneum. First on our list was a half hour bus ride up the side of Mt. Vesuvius to a point about 1000 feet from the very top of the mountain, Over the course of the next hour and a half we hoofed it until we reached the edge of the crater. Unlike the volcanoes I have tackled in Nicaragua this one is, essentially plugged so there is no steam or lave escaping from the actual cone. Down below, on the sides of the volcano, steam can be seen billowing out of various cracks. It was very coudy when we arrived at the top but just before we descended the clouds cleared, offering some impressive views of the surrounding  towns some several thousand feet below. Upon returning to the town it was only a short jaunt before we reached Herculaneum. Most of the site is well below the natural ground level of the modern city so one almost gets a bird's eye view before entering the site. While Pompeii is a staggering 170 acres in total this site is tiny by comparison, roughly rectangular and perhaps 1/4 of a mile across. Laid our in grid form it consists of some 30 odd streets with about 40 buildings that were accessible. Many of the interiors had been preserved or restored giving a good idea of what life must have been like before the eruption. We spent probably close to 3 and 1/2 hours in total before returning to Pompeii around 6:45pm. After a reasonable recuperation period we spent the balance of Saturday night mostly people watching near the main Piazza. It seemed as if the locals were all out celebrating the fact that the tourists had all gone home and they finally had their town to themselves. A pizza for dinner accompanied by a glass of house wine that must have held at least  half a bottle, so for me, sleep was the top item on my agenda when we reached our B & B.

Pompeii Ruins

Compared to the craziness that is Naples, the streets of Pompeii are remarkably calm and the drivers will actually show some courtesy by not attempting to run you down as you cross the road. I found out the hard way that Pompeii has 3 railway stations, two of which face the main square but at opposite ends of the town. I guessed wrong then I picked my station on the map and spent 40 minutes trying to figure out why my map was backwards or if I had suddenly developed dyslexia.Anyway, we ultimately found our B & B  and went thrugh the usual drill- Remove sweat soaked clothing, wash and hang the same then shower. During the afternoon we walked the perimeter of the ruins and traced a route back to the main square before making our way to dinner at Add'u Mimi where we spent 2 hours plus working our way through multiple courses of delicious food and beverages.
 A light breakfast at our B & B at 8 then a short hike to the ruins for our grand tour.
 Pompeii is not for the faint of heart, my pedometer recorded close to 16000 steps over the course of our 5 hour. While I could go into details that you could find anywhere, I will just simply comment that the site is probably one of the largest I have encountered and perhaps one of the more frustrating, since many routes are closed off due to further excavation thus eliminating easy access to buildings in the northern sections of the ruins. We occasionally encountered huge pedestrian traffic jams due to the sluggish speed of extremely large ( mostly cruise ship) groups of 50 or more. A guide would proobably have helped but they would not have allowed us the time or flexibility to cover as much of the ruins as we didi on our own. Clearly some further reading will be required to fully comprehend the intricacies behind many buildings.  But the heavily accented English spoken by many of the guides around us would have also made this difficult.
 A planned trip to Ercolano ( Herculaneum) with details already downloaded  to our phones and pads should make it somewhat easier, the site being significantly smaller.

Last Night in Naples

Do Italians "REALLY" eat Tiramisu and cake for breakfast? Seems so from the buffet this morning- large hunks of chocolate cake and icing- as well as some really healthy stuff, fruit, bruscetta, frittatta and lots of strong coffee, but seriously, chocolate cake?
Anyway, we caught the metro to the Archeological museum because we figured it was a bit far to walk, Considering the 4 floors up and down to the underground station and the wait for the train, walking might have been quicker, but the temperature was already beyond 28 and the humidy was climbing, so NO!
 The museum is the place to see "the stuff that is no longer at the ruins of Pompeii, several collections of paintings, mozaics, frescoes and various wall decorations. As well several rooms containing sculptures of various mythological and real people from  Roman times, bot BC and AD. Like many of the statues that we had seen on our travels in Greece and Turkey, these were often reproductions of statues from other locations and earlier times. So no, knock-offs were not invented by the Chinese in the late 20th century, rather it is a form of flattery or plagiarism that has gone on for thousands of years.
 With perhaps 20,000 pieces on display, I will spare you the details and say that we managed three hours before we decided that food does sometimes trump knowledge.
 A trip into the Historical Centre found us facing block long lines for pizza at the main vendors so we found a side street and settled on seafood pasta.
 Our next stop was a tour of Underground Naples, featuring tunnels and walkways dating back to Roman times. If you've ever been to Marry King's Close in Edinburgh, you'll get the idea, but not anywhere near as impressive.
 Our final stop was the Museo Cappella Sansavero . Built in the 16th century, part Chapel, part family mausoleum, the current structure is an example of ultimate beauty or ultimate, over the top gaudiness, depending on one's point of view. About 30 sculptures line the building, the most famous being  Il Cristo Velato or the Veiled Christ, depicting Christ, post cruxifiction shrouded by a thin cloth, through which can be seen details as the veins and the wounds. The entire piece was carved from a single piece of marble as were many of the other pieces on display. With photography prohibited we felt a little "short-changed" but like everything else "google it" should correct that situation.
 After 3 full days of exploration, we felt that Naples had shown us all it could offer and we returned to our hotel to re-pack for our next 3 days in and around Pompeii.
 Walking out for dinner this evening, I still found myself touched by dozens of vendors on the street. one for every 50 feet of pavement, wares displayed on blankets, their efforts all but ignored by most of the passersby. Naples has always been a city associated with Organized Crime. Could his be part ofthe same? perhaps nothing more than an attempt to launder money back into the system. I guess I'll never know.