Blogs from Salerno, Campania, Italy, Europe

30th July Salerno Located on the south western Italian coast and known as the Pearl of the Mediterranean it is the most important city next to the Amalfi coast, with the famous towns like Amalfi, Positano, Ravello and Sorrento. It’s history is recognised by her old University of Medicine which was first in the world. Recent history, Salerno was the capital of Italy which was moved from Rome in 1943 during WWII, called the “Government of the South” for a few short months. The Old Town is full of art and culture, it was exploration on foot trying to avoid being run over by scooters and small cars in the VERY narrow streets. Some tours headed off to nearby Pompeii and along the Amalfi coast road. So a bit of culture finding ABC (Another B*****y Cathedral) ... read more

Off to Pompeii today :) Took the train from Rome to Salerno - their trains are nice, comfy and at least this route at this time isn't crowded at all. I had four seats to myself :) I loved watching the scenery. My camera was at the bottom of my overstuffed purse so I didn't really take photos, but I enjoyed watching the hills roll by, seeing the vineyards and mountains. Going along the coast was stunning as well - all the colourful buildings perched on the mountainside... that's the only thing I contemplated getting my camera out for. I appreciate their curtness in their English messages haha. In Naples there was a long announcement in Italian followed by "We are leaving shortly. If you want to get off the train, get off now." Speaking of ... read more

Geo: 40.678, 14.7659Well as the title says it's been a very varied day. We started out thinking we would be going to Sorrento, decided last night to sleep in to get some much-needed rest. By the time we got to the train station and heard that the trip to Sorrento would take an 1-1.5 hours with a change of stations in Pompei by bus or walking a couple of kilometers or taking the bus for 2 hours each way we decided to skip it... we didn't feel like doing either of those things. So plan B, take the ferry to Positano, well that would take about 2 hours each way and by the time we got there, we'd have 1.5 hours to look around, that with 4 hours on a ferry plus paying 30 euros for ... read more

Geo: 40.678, 14.7659After packing last night and getting up at midnight and then 5 am, I couldn't go back to sleep but stayed in bed until the alarm went off at 7. Surprisingly it's now 8:30 and I'm not exhausted but am ready bed fairly soon, we'll see how that goes! Our landlady was kind enough to call the taxi for us yesterday and arranged for it to pick us up close to the apt. the service there calls you up a few minutes before the pickup time to confirm and gives you a code of sorts, ours was brescia24, I guess so they don't pick up the wrong person, then you are supposed to press 1 to confirm. Well we hadn't had the call and it was 9:05 or so, so I called our landlady ... read more

Salerno We got into the train alright but the usual baggage compartments zero...i went to the other side of the carriage to put my bag.....no baggage compartment but i did find the train engine...since it was only two stops...we decided one bag would take my seat the other we would put it near the single seat again...and I would go and find an empty seat....Then...this huge fight erupted...due to a dog...yes dogs are allowed in the trains...don't know what the rules are but they can take their dogs....they were all screaming and carrying on...someone had to call the train master.....after more screaming they all got told to sit down .....Lol so funny hearing Italians argue....their hands are going everywhere...after that it was a pretty quite trip ...When we arrived at Salerno ...we had to wait for ... read more