Foggia to Salerno

June 11, 2023

(Apologies for the delay in finishing these last three days of journalling. I let my guard down and picked up a bug on the flight home (not covid). I have been aching, coughing and sneezing for a week. Just feeling better, so here goes...)

Foggia

Foggia is not foggy, not is it on the radar of tourists only because other towns have more spectacular monuments and attractions, I suspect. But, Foggia suited us to a tee. It’s easy to get around, has good energy and great restaurants and it’s a transportation hub of this region. As a bonus, since it is not a big draw, the costs for food and accommodation are a little lower, making it a good value.

We had pre-arranged that we would send Antonio a text when we were ready to retrieve the bikes from storage in the morning. They were under lock and key in a suite next to ours. He hustled over promptly after I Whatsapp’ed him and met us at 9:00 am. He told us we could head to Massimo’s bar two blocks away for breakfast. No vouchers needed here. “Just tell Massimo you are staying at the B&B”, he said.

The bar was a hubbub of activity when we arrived and Massimo welcomed us as though he was expecting us. It was the same routine here. “What will you have? Café or cappuccino? Croissant... marmelatta, chocolata or pasticchio?” We placed our orders and sat back to watch the morning rituals unfold. Patrons do not linger or hang out at a coffee bar. The visit always starts with the all-important buongiorno’s to everyone presrnt, a quick check-in and hearty handshake with the barista and after three sips to down a 1 or 2oz. coffee and they are on their way.

A few minutes after our our coffees arrived, Antonio popped in to say his morning hello, thank us for staying at his B&B and to bid us a good travels. Places like this are the glue of the community.

This patient little JR gave me a face wash after I made a move to say hello. Then, it was game on!

We said “ciao”to Massimo and the coffee crew and headed for the train station about a km away. I did a happy dance that I didn’t have to re-check the map on this one And, no, it wasn’t a straight run 🤪.

David watched over the bikes while I inquired about the next train to Salerno. I was given two options. First, a Frecce (hi speed) train was departing in about 20 minutes which meant we would have to scramble over to the platform and ‘quick fold’ the bikes (quick fold simply means a temporary fold so the compacted bike can stowed away). It’s a great option for situations like this where the train does not accommodate a regular bicycle but, as quick as it is, we didn’t think we had enough time to pull it off in under 18 minutes, and counting. Nor was it urgent to get to Salerno, so we took the second option, a regular regional train which was almost a third of the price. The trip would have two legs, with a train change at Potenza.

Regular trains are clean, up-to-date and on time. This one even had screens with active tracking so we knew where we were.

We crossed the plain and headed south west towards the rolling wooded foothills of the Appenines in Basilicata, saying goodbye to the bread basket of Italy and its fields of wheat.

The brown landscape was gradually replaced with green. As we got closer to the foothills, a landmark mountain of this region, 1326m Monte Vulture (pronounced VOOl-too-reh) came into view. It is actually an extinct volcano, the only one east of the Apennines. No humans were harmed when this one blew its top a million years ago and what it left is a rich soil favored for growing grapes. This is Basilicata’s most important wine appellation, with the varietal dating back to about 700 BC. If you fancy a nice red wine, look for the Aglianico del Vulture DOCG. It’s one of Italy’s best.

Storm systems like the one in the photo below have been common in southern Italy this spring, particularly at the start of our tour. But here we are in mid June and still it continues. Days often start off warm with sunny skies and, as moisture builds up in the late morning, beautiful puffy cloud formations show up against the bright blue sky. We have watched these form on many a sunny day. The leading edge of the cloud looks like a big tongue and it advances and expands quite quickly, while the darkening cloud behind it thickens minute by minute and eventually turns dark and moody. If the system is particularly large like this one, there is often lightening and then a localized downpour. The interesting thing is, you can watch the sky in countryside like this and see roughly where it’s going to rain. This is not new to those of you who live in farm country, but it’s distinctively different to our weather systems on the west coast of Canada where we can’t see it until it arrives.

The scenery on this two hour train trip was fabulous. The undulating green hills were dotted with forests, farms, dwellings and small villages. Plus the occasional wind farm. We were thankful we had chosen the slower train so we could take it all in.

Seeing small roads winding through the fields alongside the train only makes me wish I was riding on them. Suffice it to say, there is much more to explore on two wheels in this southern part of Italy.

Roads like this call out... “come and see where I can take you”.

The train rolled in to Potenza after about 2 hours, where we had to change to a different train. As we waited on the platform, the dark clouds opened and a deluge came down. We were dry and warm and thankful we weren’t riding.

Salerno

By the time we arrived Salerno, another two hour trip, it was dry, sunny and warm. It’s exactly what we had hoped for. We exited the station and rode to our B&B, only violating the one way signs two or three times along the way. I have to say that we’re both ingrained to obey traffic signs and rules, but some days the one-way signs just got in the way 😇. And, as a sidenote, if Google maps suggests a bizarre circuitous route to you, that’s your clue that there are a lot of one way streets en-route.

Our B&B was situated in the cream coloured building just one block up from this ancient aqueduct that was built in the 9th century. At the time, this was the edge of the city and the aqueduct was built to bring water from the hills to a nearby monastery. It’s a wonder that it has not been destroyed in all these centuries as it does not look extremely durable. Add to that, it is a mere 6 blocks from the shoreline where the Allied invasion took place in the fall of 1943 and it even survived that.

We had so enjoyed our meals and experience at Al Dente when we were here a month ago, that we decided to go again. It was a great choice for a do-over and they were open at 7pm.

Once again, we were seated next to two Canadians who we chatted at length with about our respective trips. We ordered the cheese and honey bruschetta and we both had the pasta amatriciana. It is my new favourite pasta sauce. The dessert, we shared.

Spaghetti with Amatriciana sauce (tomato, pecorino and guanciale).

We took a stroll along the waterfront promenade before dinner to take in the sunset over the Amalfi Coast. It was a picture perfect summer evening, one for the memory banks.

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