Port 59 Salerno, Italy

by Ed · May 1, 2022

Buono giorno once again, my good friends!

We came in to Salerno on a hazy Apr 27th, 2022, morning. We typically say “Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning” for rough weather ahead. But I think this is probably related to a mild polution problem. (The day was beautiful! Just saying…)

As we enter the harbor the mountainside pops to life! The cross at the top of the mountain is beginning to catch the sun! Cars and trucks speed by on the arched bridge! A long high-speed train whizzes by on the lower bridge! And cars and people begin showing up along the waterfront. Buono giorno!

Joy and I have an excursion together today! We’re going to see “Amalfi Coast Panorama & Pompei.” We walk through this space-age terminal and down this ramp that we thought was for skateboarders when we saw it from above on the ship! Pardon the glare from the bus windows. I took this photo as we pulled away.

An hour later Mount Vesuvius came into view!

We arrive in Pompei and the first stop is to a company that specializes in making cameo jewelry. We get to watch a master at work carving a very finely detailed cameo. Amazing! Of course, they then want us to shop and buy something!

The cameo shop is a stone’s throw from the entrance to the Pompei archeological site. Soon we are staring at the old wall of the city!

We learn our guide, Eleni, had the brilliant plan to take us in the back gate. This gave us most of the site to ourselves, since most tour groups go in the front entry and tie each other up waiting to see the same things!

We begin in what Eleni described as the gladiators’ barracks. There was a large field for them to do their training.

On either side of the training field were a handful of doors. These used to be under cover – the square holes are for the beams that held up a roof. These are jail cells for unruly gladiators.

The cell doors are rather short, and they would hold 4 men with very little room for comfort.

Heading north we pass by this little jewel! It is an odeon – that is, a theater with a roof. This one is relatively cozy and intimate! The place is exquisitely preserved! I wish I had a few more minutes to explore – the statue on the left has my interest! But I snuck off from the group to see this, and had to run to catch up! I’m glad I did sneak off!

I catch up with them as they were heading in to this! Oh my! Another impeccably preserved site! This was buried under 15 meters (over 49 feet) of ash!

OK, here’s proof I was really here!

We walked along some pretty rough roads. It was amazing to see the variety of structures that were put together along the road. There were homes, shops, and …

…temples all stuck side by side! This is the Temple of Asclepio!

Streets were typically filled with rainwater, mud, horse droppings, and other yucky stuff, so the gutters were high. Only cart wheels and horse or mule hooves were expected to be on the road surface. Periodically stepping stones cross the roads. These are for people to walk across without have to step in the muck on the road! How clever! But to make this work all carts had to have wheels exactly 120 centimeters apart! This allowed cart wheels to pass on either side of the stepping stones! And people who arrived in town with wares or products to sell but didn’t have an appropriate cart would have to rent a cart to use!

Pay no mind to Steve there – he’s going the wrong way.

I was in awe of the state of some of the buildings! I know some restoration has taken place, but many of the places still stand as they were, only without roofs since the weight of the ash and pyroclastic material collapsed almost all of them.

We step into the Casa del Menandro – a very nice home!

The artwork on the frescoes is fabulous!

This room suggests the decor of the day! Every surface had some form of art on it!

There is a large courtyard with this home, further raising the status of the owner!

The Casa del Cryptoportico has this excellent mosaic tile floor with people swimming.

The long halls with high windows gave this abode the name “Cryptoportico”! Look how intense the colors are on the wall frescoes!

Fountains are common sights along the streets!

Some areas of the streets show how often the roads were used. Cart wheels etched deep ruts in the stone!

This is one of the nicer streets, Via Dell’Abbondanza! Low curbs and flat pavers make this more of a pedestrian way! The lack of stepping stones suggest this didn’t have a lot of “yuck” on the streets. Maybe even horses weren’t allowed?

We learned the secret to identifying which entrances were for homes and which were for stores. All of the stores have grooves in the threshold for sliding doors!

We arrive at the Stabian baths.

The baths have carvings on the wall rather than paintings.

Then we see an example of a person found at the Pompei site. This was a young woman, believed to be pregnant, and likely a slave due the belt that was worn around her waist.

Eleni points out something on the road. This apparently points the way to …

…this – the brothel! You can believe that the ruts in the street stone are deeper here than anywhere else we’ve seen!

The frescoes above the doors form a menu of services.

The women wanted the men to know what they could ask for. Apparently the quicker the decision, the quicker the service, and the more money the women could make!

The beds don’t look very comfortable, or roomy! I hope the mattresses were good!

Continuing down Via Dell’Abbondanza we arrive at the Forum. This statue of a centaur greets us!

We pass through the Forum to the Basilica. This had to be stunning in its day!

On our way out we find this figure of Daedelus is watching what is happening outside the wall of his town. He is huge! That fence is people-sized.

As we leave Pompei to drive down the Amalfi coast we say goodbye to Mount Vesuvius, and wave at the Fincantieri shipyard we are just passing! They are busy assembling another cruise ship!

We are driving down the entire Amalfi coastline back to Salerno! This is a long, scenic, twisty trail that is very tough for a bus driver! But OMG! the views are fabulous!

This is the town of Positano. Lovely! Amazing!

This intersting statue appears at a scenic overlook. They look to be sitting, discussing the latest gossip!

This is a lovely view looking toward the east from a southern point along the Amalfi Coast.

I am amazed at some of these homes! How did someone decide this is a good place to build?

The town of Amalfi swings into view! They have a serene, well-protected harbor, and stunning views!

This little jewel of waterfront masonry popped up on our way to Minori. The steps and the terraced levels are crazy! Why put so much work into something that takes heroic efforts to reach every day? I don’t think that pool is made for high diving! Maybe I’m wrong…

Google Maps tells me that the orange-roofed building on the left is the Ravell Art Hotel, in case you want to look this up yourself!

This is the little town of Erchie, with the Torre La Cerniola on the point.

Finally Salerno comes into view. We’re in the home stretch! Have a look at all of those new cars, and all of the containers that probably still have some of last Christmas’s gifts.

We make it back to the stylish terminal building! After that tour I gave Catelo, the bus driver, quadruple the tip we’ve been giving other bus drivers. He was amazing getting the bus trhough some of those towns and around the sharp hairpin turns! Wow!