drianwa (drianwa)

We spent Sunday in Naples. This was right when the trash situated was starting to get some press but other than seeing some smoldering piles along the tracks on the train ride in, I thought the city itself looked actually cleaner than last year. The Piazza Plebescito is beautiful and we had a wonderful espresso and sweet at the Cafe Gabrinus. We took a taxi up to the art museum at Capodimonte. This houses a beautiful collection of mostly Italian art and the grounds were full of families and lovers picnicking, kicking soccer balls, or having a siesta under a tree. We left the grounds briefly and had a classic pizza and giant Peroni at Bruno's, a little corner venue outside the gate. The week we were in Italy was Cultural Week so all our trips to museums and archaeological sites were free so it was nice to be able to leave and come back at will.
So that's the highlights. I know I will return again to southern Campania and still have new adventures. I love how at home we feel in Pisciotta. The shop keepers remembered us, our hosts are now like family, and now I just have to find a way to buy my own Room with a View of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The next night we went across the street from Zi Caterina's to the small family run Trattoria Add' u Mimi. It was great. It was pretty much a fixed price for a multi course meal of antipasta, several pasta choices, and a meat or seafood second course, a wonderful lemon cream tart and a decent vino di casa. We felt like we were dining in their home. Everything was delicious and I think we paid €25 per person.
The ruins of Pompeii were amazing. We hired a guide for 2 1/2hrs. I had prearranged this several months prior based on the recommendation of a frequent ST poster. He was very knowledgeable, his English was perfect (he had lived near Philadelphia some time ago) and he knew how to get around the other tourists. We have some great pictures with no people in them. Amazing! We really liked the town of Pompeii. I had heard about the hoards of teens in the park and pedestrian street in the evening but I found the whole scene perfect for people watching and even on Saturday night I didn't feel overwhelmed by it at all. I bought a very chic pair of eyeglass frames for €80 in Pompeii and we also found some interesting kitchen items in a local housewares shop away from the main piazza. Everyone back home is jealous!

The next day we drove back to Naples, stopping near Paestum for a sac of mozzarella di buffalo and fresh tomatoes from a little man who just happened to be set up outside the cheese store. With some fresh bread from our village, these were the best sandwiches ever.
We dropped Dad and Margaret off at the Hotel Diana Pompeii, returned the car to the airport and took bus and train back to Pompeii. This was very easy and the hotel is literally a two-minute walk from Trenitalia station. I can highly recommend the hotel. Its location was perfect and staff was very nice. We had reserved a room on the ground floor to spare Dad the stairs. This was rather amusing after what he had been doing for the past week!
We had dinner that night a Zi Caterina's. This restaurant is often mentioned in tour books and on SlowTrav but quite honestly I was not impressed. It was 9pm on Saturday night but they didn't have many items on the menu and the waiter was less than friendly and far from charming, contrasting with our experience everywhere else in the south. We did have a great bottle of Taurasi D.O.C. That was the best part.

Friday we drove down the coast to Maratea in Basilicata. The coastline is spectacular all the way and we drove up the mountain where the Risen Christ (second only to the one in Rio) "blesses" this gorgeous coastline. I was a little skeptical about visiting the site but it was quite a view and the road up is an engineering marvel. A wild thunderstorm rolled in while we were on the top with apocalyptic cloud formations so that really added to the drama of site. The sun returned in time for us to stop in Sapri on the way back up the coast for gelati. This is a very attractive town right at sea level. We plan to return and spend a little more time there next visit as it was still siesta time and off season so the town was very sleepy.

Wednesday is market day in Pisciotta so we stayed around that day. Dad was really getting used to the walking and hiking (it was about 60 steps up and down to our apartment from the piazza )so Steve and family hiked for 1 1/2 hrs. down a narrow mule path of sorts through a thousand olive trees to the shoreline and I went ahead with the car to the Marina di Pisciotta to gather some of the beautiful beach pebbles and also provide welcomed transport back up the steep hill. We had a great lunch at one of the beachfront cafes.
Thursday we drove to Paestum. This is a great site to visit and there has already been much written about it so I won't repeat it. We planned our day to arrive just as the site was opening so we had the museum pretty much to ourselves before some tour and school buses arrived. Members of a quite advanced art class were scattered around the grounds sketching so we enjoyed watching them at work.