Day 6--Paestum

Second Temple of Hera

Temple of Neptune or Hera

Temple of Athena

The drive to Paestum did not have any of the sturm und drang of my commute to Pompeii, but it was longer (nearly three hours) and I had to change buses three times: to downtown Amalfi, Amalfi to Salerno, and then Salerno to Paestum. The SITA line runs from Salerno north, while south of Salerno there are three bus lines. More on that later.

Unlike Notre Dame and Pompeii, the Paestum excavation site is not located in the middle of a modern urban population center, but is out in the country on its own. An avenue featuring the museum, restaurants and souvenir shops lines it, and teenage boys and girls were playing soccer in the road.

Paestum, originally Poseidonia, dates back to about the 6th century BC and was a Greek settlement that was overtaken by the Romans in 273 BC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paestum). It remains mostly as foundations except for the three main temples pictured above. They are among the most complete Greek temples in the world. The remainder of the site is what's left of the Roman settlement. Since this was only a settlement and not an entire urban center like Pompeii, it was easier to cover in an afternoon. Ferdinanda's camera did the trick, as you can see, but I was so paranoid about breaking another camera that I handled it like plutonium.

However, I did take a cue from my post-camera experience at Pompeii, and made sure to look at things as well as photograph them. I spent some time sitting under trees near the temples, reading Euripedes' The Bacchae, communing with the ancient ones. There were tourists but no huge tour groups so it was very peaceful, except later in the afternoon when some tree-pruners along the avenue were using chainsaws.

There was also a wedding going on (see picture above). In fact I saw wedding activity all day long. Apparently Paestum is a popular site for weddings because of its beauty but also because I believe either Athena or Hera give their blessings to marriages.

And like Pompeii, Paestum has many inhabitants, except instead of stray dogs, they are these little lizards (see picture above). They are everywhere.

As I was leaving I looked back at the Temple of Neptune and it struck me just how beautiful it is. Such a pretty thing, I remember myself thinking. And then I surprised myself by starting to cry. Damn, John, I thought. And then I got myself back together, for men cannot cry in Italy, you know.

Getting back to Salerno was anything but peaceful.

Now if you recall I mentioned there are three bus lines from Salerno south: CTSP, SCAT and Guiliano. All three, according to the website, run from Paestum to Salerno. This turned out to be total bullshit.

I decided I wanted to take the 4:30 SCAT so I could be back in Salerno by 6ish and Amalfi by 8. Wishful thinking. First of all, I couldn't determine exactly where the bus stop was, and all the people in the immediate vicinity (a crossroad with a bar, wine shop and tabbacchi shop--a kind of convenience store) couldn't speak English. But it seemed like a bus stop. Problem was there were no buses. By 5 I decided that the 4:30 wasn't coming, so I decided to take the 5:00 Guiliano. By 5:20 I decided that one wasn't coming either. Meanwhile I'm standing there like Cary Grant in North By Northwest, pointing out to wedding parties where the scavi (excavation) is. Everyone tried to help me, but let's face it, I was stressing. You see, SITA is--how does one say--efficient and reliable, and I mistakenly got used to that.

I asked one gentleman who I thought was waiting for the bus, but was not, if he knew when it was coming. He didn't understand English either. Now here's where the language barrier can cause confusion. It seemed like he was telling me that there would be no more buses that day, and I should take the train. I'm not getting back to the hotel till midnight, I thought.

So I decided to go back to the ticket office at the excavation since the ticket person there spoke English, and find out if there was another bus stop, or of any other options. Sure enough as I'm about a quarter of the way down the avenue from the bus stop I hear from behind what sounds like a bus. I turn, and I can see the back of a bus heading down the street in the direction of Salerno. Ah, the ol' 5:00, right on time.

And it was there, in the presence of the goddess Athena, that I dropped the F bomb.

The woman at the ticket counter simply comfirmed for me that the only bus stop was at the crossroads. So back I went, determined to get a bus, no matter how long it would take. No choice.

The woman in the tabbacchi shop said there was a CTSP bus coming at 5:30 (cinque a medza). No bus at 5:30. Now I'm flagging down every bus I see--buses going away from Salerno, private buses, I don't care--shouting "Salerno! Salerno!" All the locals were I'm sure having a good laugh at the freaked-out turista. And then, ten minutes late, the CTSP for Salerno arrives. As I get on the bus the radio is playing The Cars' song "Who's Gonna Drive You Home." It was all I could do to keep from bursting out in a fit of maniacal laughter.

I eventually got into Amalfi around 9:00 and had dinner at a restaurant next to the Sant'Andrea's cathedral. I had steak marinated in olive oil and tomatoes, because after that commute, I needed meat.

Red meat.

I also had a lemon eclair with lemon cream sauce that was almost as religious an experience as Paestum. Feel free to drool over the picture above.

Tomorrow I take the hydrofoil to Capri, if I have the strength.