I’m composing this off line, while sitting on a high speed train from Salerno to Brindisi, about a 5 hour journey. We caught our first connector with ease and now here we are, with not much to do except for look out the windows and admire the scenery. And wish they would wash the train windows more frequently. This train is from Rome and was pretty full when it pulled into the station, so it was lucky that we bought our tickets on line when we did. Guaranteed seating for a long trip is the only way to go, even if Dave and I are in aisle seats, facing each other.
All are welcome on Trainitalia!
Anyway. Yesterday was a 30G step day, and every one of them a joy. We revisited the beautiful shoreline walk in the morning, pushing further along the harbour for quite some time until we ran out of sidewalks. It’s a busy, pretty port, with a couple of gargantuan cruise ships in and many expensive private yachts. The “passeggiata” walk is a sweet Italian tradition, families and lots of dogs join the young and the old on a lazy, relaxed stroll. It’s so utterly non-North American in its simplicity and pace. We eventually wound up St. Mathias church, where the tomb of Matthew, one of the disciples is. Such ornate beauty and attention to detail left me gasping. What a tribute to the hand of man, and what can be created through faith and inspiration.
Eventually we found our way to another church, some ancient Roman aqueducts, and then a courtyard with a sweet little restaurant, where we split an amazing smoked salmon and avocado salad for our lunch. A lazy stroll back to the hotel and an hour to rest our feet - while eating limoncello babas (gift from Enza), and then off we went again, this time up, up and more up to the most glorious views of sparkling Salerno. We could not find the one church that we wanted to, and two more were closed thanks to it being late Sunday afternoon. In our wandering though we did manage to find the exquisite Minerva gardens, dating back to Medieval times. More climbing, more vistas. We did get a little turned around on the way back as the cobblestone streets were somewhat reminiscent of Naples (thankfully, without the buzzing motorcycles), and that managed to add quite a few more steps. Believe me when I say my legs have never been so strong.
Dinner was at Pinocchio’s, a great discovery near the waterfront, and we celebrated the day with spaghetti and grilled fish and veggies. Some sort of wild celebration was going on in the park on the waterside, but unfortunately most of the restaurants were closed. Again, Sunday. No matter, this was a great find and we really enjoyed our meals. It was such beautiful weather, mild and warm, so we decided to stroll up and down the pedestrian way that our little hotel is on. It was buzzing with action and chattering people, vibrant and engaging. It was so tough to finally stop for the night but a long day of travel demanded it, so it was back to our rooms and to a fairly respectable sleep. I’ll miss beautiful Salerno very much.
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