A much better day with plenty of warm sunshine as we left Pompeii and the hustle and bustle of neighbouring Napoli behind and headed a little further down to the coast to just south of Salerno.
The drive was a little tedious as the non toll route took us through a string of outlying suburbs, full of Sunday drivers reversing in and out without a care in the world, stopping starting and completing U-turns, pedestrians stepping out without looking and clusters of cyclists thrown into the mix. We then had to venture up into the hills with narrow winding roads, more cyclists and randomly parked cars, so it took us several hours to complete a relatively short journey!
Hey ho though, we arrived in one piece and were soon settled at Camping Lido di Salerno just a few short steps from a lovely sandy beach….
Without further ado we set off to explore our new surroundings and embrace the warmth of the sun (now down to an acceptable 22-25 degrees) and cool gentle breeze.
Not a very deep beach so Tilly was not a great fan as the waves were crashing a little to fiercely for her!….
A breath of fresh air (literally) after the last couple of days on the edge of a city.
Quite a bit of rain overnight and light rain throughout the morning and some pretty torrential downpours, however, we have a plan and so late morning we made our way the short distance to the train station just as the heavens opened….
and caught a very busy (standing room only) clanky old train into the heart of the gentile town of Sorrento….
A gap in the rain allowed us to wander the busy streets lined with eateries and soak up the the atmosphere….
Find a little respite from the crowds in the Cloisters of San Fransisco….
And walk down the quieter back alleys…
The sun came out right on cue for us to enjoy the amazing coastal views, spot the crusie ships in the bay, accounting for at least some of the visitors and the turquoise seas and the smidge of sand that is Spiaggia de San Fransisco…
After a bit of ferritting around we did also find the forgotten ‘Valley of the Ferns’ with its derelict old Mills which were cut off from the sea in 1866 when the main Piazza Tasso (first photo above) was built and closed down by the 1940’s because of rising humidity and industrial obsolescence….
Having had our fill of wandering around the town we headed back to the station and is still relatively early bought bus tickets to visit Positano. However at this point our luck ran out as the queue was quite shambolic with people jumping in where ever they felt like it, no actual pavement to stand out of the the way of arriving and reversing buses, Tilly having to be carried to prevent her getting trodden on or run over, no indication of when the next bus would arrive and to crown it all, a half and hour in the rain came – seriously!
We gave it another 15 minutes by which time it was nearly 4pm and we were both soaked and there was a return train just after four, so we hurried back to the station and luckily managed to get a seat on said train.
Slightly disappointed to have not made it to Positano but thankful to be out of the rain and in the warmth of the van by 5, we settled down for a nice cosy evening.
Today’s stats:
Miles walked – 7
Train / bus tickets (which I did get to use in Amalfi) – £8.99
Thunderstorms again during the night and a rather wet morning as we left this little gem of a location taking a last walk along the beach before heading south again….
The road hugged the coast for a while, but for the most part any views down to the sea were obscured by trees, though we did manage one quick and rather wet stop to look down on the old town of Gaeta and it’s beaches….
After one accidental wrong turn leading us down into traffic chaos in Napoli which was very much a case of just nudging our way into the traffic in order to get back onto the correct road and cost us a good half an hour of sheer stress and then somehow ending up going through the same toll booth twice costing us 2.40 euros a time we arrived on Camping Zeus, a pleasant enough site, if a little impersonal, right by the entrance to Pompeii….
As it was only early afternoon and the skies have cleared we decided to head straight out and visit Pompeii….
As I’m sure you are aware, Pompeii is the ancient roman city frozen in time as it was buried under 20 feet of ash from nearby erupting Volcano Mount Vesuvius on 24th October AD79. Excavations began in the mid 18th C and are still ongoing. Between 10-20K people were believed to have been living in this wealthy city and historians believ some 2000 would have perished therein. The vastness of the area surprised me and it took us a good 3 hours to just wander around roughly the perimeter….
The theatre and Ampitheatre are impressive structures largely remaining intact….
A project to restore a vineyard is underway with Mount Vesuvius visible in the background….
The ever present mountains of the Appennines running down the spine of Italy providing a backdrop to the ancient ruins and the odd glimpse of life outside the city….
As we wander down street after street, many of them residential and wonder at the stories they can tell….
A few of the properties still retain some of the original interiors which was fascinating….
We wandered through the more sombre exhibition of the casts that have been made of recovered bodies all depicting signs of the trauma they experienced….
Well that was a night that was. Most of the evening we could see flashes of lightening and rumbles of thunder out to sea, nothing too dramatic until we had been in bed for a while and then around midnight the storm had rumbled in from the sea and was now immediately overhead and very loud. Poor Tilly was beside herself and there really was very little I could do to pacify her accept cuddle her in tight. The heavens also opened and the noise was such that neither of us could settle, so I did what any English person in this situation would do, put the light and kettle on sat it out – I think it was gone 3 by the time the thunder and lightening had moved off into the mountains and the rain eased enough for us to both get some sleep. Having originally planned to move on this morning. On waking it was still raining, not heavily but enough, so I made the executive decision to stay put and get another hour or so sleep before joining the day – which indeed we did.
By around lunchtime the weather did start to clear and so we set off for a walk, this time heading along the cycle path away from Sperlonga towards Lake Lungo….
How beautiful with the mountains in the background. At this point we joined the beach just capturing a sight of Spiaggia Di Capratica on the other side of the river…..
And distant views ahead as we turned back towards Sperlonga…..
Enjoying our walk along a fairly deserted beach, still damp from last nights deluge, we continued past the sight and into Sperlonga….
This time heading around the hill top village to wander along Spiaggia Di Levante for a while….
On our way back, once beyond the village, Tilly got some well deserved off lead time doing what she loves, chasing chunks of driftwood….
We also ventured back down to the beach a little later to see if the sun and clouds were going to give us a decent sunset – not really but still very beautiful….
More thunder and lightening tonight but overhead earlier so by bedtime it had passed on through – ah sleep 💤
A few spots of rain during the night but bearing in mind rain was forecast for most of the day yesterday and again through the day today, we carry on being lucky! We are away by 10 and the journey was uneventful, travelling around the ring road of Rome was much better than I expected, less traffic and less mental!
As we head back towards the coast we are surrounded by olive groves and increasingly polytunnels (tomatoes) but as always it is good to get our first sight of the sea and by lunch time we are settled on our site for the night – Camper de Sperlonga on the edge of the coastal hilltop village of Sperlonga.
On site the olive harvest is very much underway and we watch fascinated for a while as they agitate the branches to shake the olives down onto the awaiting nets before heading across the road and onto the beach….
Spiaggia Di Sperlonga, what a beautiful long sweeping sandy beach, the waves are a little frisky and the mountains hold some fairly heavy clouds, but for us the sun is shining and the gentle breeze keeping the temperature just right for walking as we set off along the sand to Sperlonga…..
There are days where photos don’t seem to cut it but today the ‘money shots’ just kept coming as we climbed up to Torre Tuglia, looking back along the beach and up to the Old Town perched above and out to sea….
From Torre Tuglia, originally a 16thC coastal watchtower (though it has been destroyed on various invasions with the current version having been rebuilt in 2009) perched on the limestone headland we wandered up the many steps to the old village, pausing to capture more images (and catch our breath)…..
Looking down on the small marina and Spiaggia Grotta Di Tiberio stretched out to the north of the village….
The village itself – well just enchanting – I’m not sure what else to say….
Pretty murals, brightly hand painted tiles, impossibly narrow archways leading to yet more steps, bars and shops tucked away in little alleyways and incredible views – oh my what a delight….
Reluctantly making our way down we happen upon the little Chapel of San Rocco….
Finally down on the promenade we enjoy this spectacular view of the sea and sky….
I will say whilst I appreciate the wonders and historical value of yesterday’s outing in Rome – this was way more interesting, enjoyable and beautiful – in my opinion of course! Oh yes and no crowds, in fact not many people at all.
I have only planned to spend the one night here as the weather looks pretty shocking for tomorrow but if they keep getting it wrong?
