Policastro Bussentino (Sunday)

Relieved to get away from Casavelino, memorable for a lone night in a hotel which was technically shut, the days of serious climbing started.

At times pushing loaded bike up impossible gradients one continuous climb involved a 500+ meter ascent at very steep gradients. The scenery competing with the Amalfi coastline at times but less known. An unusual German couple, one driving a camping van and the other a motorbike stopped to chat. Other people were travelling with odd arrangements. Cool!

Policastro Bussentimo was convenient for a stopover but had not much else to offer. The apartment was like many Italian places which look poorly maintained outside but beautifully fitted out inside.

Paestum en route to Casalvelino

Unknown to me but Paestum is en route and three almost unworldly Greek temples stand solidly within a ruined Greek complex. This southerly part of Italy once occupied by the Greeks and known to the Romans as Magna Graecia.

This morning I have seen many weekend cyclists flashing past on a flat smooth coastal road. Today is the start of the Giro d'Italia and fingers crossed I view the race further south in a few days time.

Onwards from Paestum the scenic coastal road is beautiful but 'lumpy' and the 'closed' hotel in Marina di Casalvelino a low point!

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Coastal resort near Pontecagnano

Seeing the turqoise blue waters off the Amalfi Coast was a delight today. Smoother surface roads comforting. Staying near Pontecagnano the resorts are mainly closed and its largely deserted. The places ahead on my itinerary are a bit of a mystery heading further south in Campania. 

Masks required at all times in public areas.

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Pompei in Roman ruins

Not too distant from Napoli but  difficult unmaintained cobbled roads make it a very slow journey to Pompei. And good time to explore the ruined Roman city so much more advanced than I had ever realized. Street upon street of well planned sophisticated buildings and Government buildings, temples and Forum.

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Naples and pizza

Alone in the Capua Anfiteatro was slightly chilling in the damp darkness of those tunnels below the arena. Seemingly, lift type platforms could propel exotic wild animals and decorated gladiators into centre stage to thrill and delight the audience. Sculptured stone seating divisions amazingly detailed and for a crowd the size of sixty thousand. Second only to the Colloseum as a full construction this place you can wander around freely. Well, at a small charge anyway and worth much more than two euros fifty!

Naples is a sprawl and on a bike testing with narrow cobbled streets, endless traffic and scooters bursting through from all angles. Signs that this city once a very dangerous place to visit are evident travelling the back alley routes into the centre.

The views of the Bay from Castel San Elmo breathtaking with Mount Vesuvius as a backdrop. And Pizza Napolitano in the city where pizzas originated.

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