Tim and I got up when we heard Al's alarm, 0630. We got ready, did the blog and patiently waited for Al. Apparently there was some misunderstanding because Tim believed we were leaving at 0830, but Al set his alarm for 0830. (The first alarm was a preset for working days) This was confusing when all the advice for the 'plan' for the day was to leave at 0700; advice on a time that we understood clearly by end of the day.
At about 1030 Al was ready to go so we set out, with a new plan to just visit Vesuvius, the famous active volcano in Naples. On the drive there, we went under a roman aqueduct!
Unfortunately, enroute the GPS informed us it was closed on Fridays. Crap. We hastily decided to go back to the original plan; Amalfi coast and Paestum (ruins).
It was 130 kilometre, about 1.5 hours, to Paestum. Although far, it was a pretty drive through the snow tipped Italian mountains.
Parking was easy and the site was not very expensive, about 9 euro per person. We explored the museum, filled with mostly grave items.
The ruins were pretty cool. We talked to some undergraduate art students that were on exchange from University of Pennsylvania . A year in Italy drawing ruins; how can you go wrong?
Although the main building was quintessentially roman, a building we have seen imitated over and over in the United States (maybe because of the art student exchange); the remainder of the site was marginally interesting. We had seen enough ruins.
It took about an hour to decide on souvenirs; both Tim and Al wanted authentic style, replica vases.
We set out for the Amalfi coast at about 430; crap, we spent too much time in Paestum. The GPS indicated another 1.5 hours to get there.
The drive was pretty, but by the time we were in Amalfi it was dark. The tourist trap of a city was very expensive. We walked around trying to find a restaurant; either extremely expensive, seafood, or pizza. I guess its was going to be pizza; 7 euro for a reasonable tasty pizza. Not quite as good as the night before. Tim refused to buy the 12 euro beers; I agreed $18 CAD for a pint was a bit much. Al bought one in spite of Tim's complaints of the outrageous cost.
The GPS indicate a 2 hour drive home; dark through the mountains. We believed the coast was “along the way” but it was quite the detour. The drive was insane; especially at night. The road through the mountains was continuous 'switch-backs', swinging us up the mountain on streets only large enough for a single vehicle. It was a tense hour drive through the mountains, every turn and every oncoming vehicle felt like it would be our last. It was a horrible drive to be doing at night; hence the advice to leave early.
We survived the drive, stopped for a couple pictures of the view.
We arrived back to Al's house at about 10pm; beat.
