May 16, 2023
Salerno to Santa Maria de Castellabate
I get a small chuckle from all this wet riding. We have done our share of it in the past but even then, we had a threshold of three days. Any longer than that and we would find a train to take us where the sun was shining. Back then, we didn’t make reservations so we were free to go wherever we liked.
This is the first time we have had reservations and we are now facing the constraint they pose: we can’t just exit stage left and escape this daily drenching. We had to put on our thinking caps this morning and come up with a plan for the next few days.
When it decides to rain-o, we take the train-o
The Trenitalia runs a train almost all the way to our destination today, so we will take the train as far as Agropoli and then ride the 15km to Santa Maria de Castellabate. If the rain subsides tomorrow we will carry on cycling, but otherwise we will ride back to Agropoli and take the train in the direction of our next destination, Palinuro.
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For some reason, there is always a heightened feeling when taking on the trains. There is so much to think about: Will we make it in time? What track will it depart from? Will it have separate car for the bikes? Where will the car for bikes be situated? When does the next train depart?
The next train departed in 45 minutes, so we dropped in at a local coffee shop for an Italian breakfast en route to the train station. It was a short ride to the train station where the ticket agent told me our train would depart from binario #4.
I was thanking my lucky stars for all the pushups and one armed rows I have done in our online fitness classes because we had to hump our loaded bikes up more stairs today. This time, it a set of stairs to exit the station and another to get to binario #4. Just kid’s play this time. That's when we realized that we had neglected to validate the tickets, so David raced back to do this. In the meantime the binario was change to number 5.
By the time he retuned, I had loaded the bikes on the train and he was the last passenger on board. And just like that, we were on our way through the pancake flat agricultural zone along the Bay of Salerno.
In just 30 mintes the train arrived at Agropoli. Along the way we passed through a successive rain squalls but these had dropped off by the time we rode out from the staion. We visited the main town square for a coffee at a place with a large awning, before setting off for Santa Maria de Castellabate. There, the sky opened again and again but we eventually made the break and headed for the hills.
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1 year ago
The umbrella came in handy today. Each time a rain squall came down, we jumped off the bikes and took shelter under it until it passed. Even so, we got another soaking and were dripping by the time we located the B&B.
Santa Maria de Castellabate is another town that would be fabulous to hang out in if the sun was shining. With its sandy beaches and interesting architecture I’m sure it would see much more action than it did this Tuesday evening.
After a quick stroll we settled in for dinner at a local trattoria near our B&B, the only restaurant that was open.
So ends another day in Italy. Tomorrow we are looking forward to a full day of cycling if the weather permits.
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Agropoli, not Agrigento, btw.
1 year ago
1 year ago