Salerno

Once we hit Salerno, our plan was to bike straight to the train station, hop on a train, and ride to the other side of "the boot." We had reserved a room at a farm outside of the old town of Matera. But by the time we got to Salerno, the bike-friendly train had already left the station (too much lolly-gagging!). The next one wouldn't leave until the next day around 2pm. Note: many people do sneak their bikes on normal trains, but we had three overloaded aisle-blocking cruisers (and we were obviously tourists). Sneaking our bikes on a non-bike-friendly train (without a reserved section for bikes) would have been asking for trouble. Frustrated, we went to a nearby bus station. . . the driver agreed to take our bikes but we had to go to Bari (a big city on the coast), the next morning at 6am, which we weren't too excited about.  So we went back to the train station where Leaf and I argued over absolutely nothing for a few hours while Monet used her phone to change our reservation at the farm and look up a nearby hotel.

Below, Leaf and Mark take a break from their fighting to have a contest to see who can drink more from the public water fountain.

So, we had to kill almost a full day in Salerno. . .  which actually was not too bad. We stayed at a hotel near a pedestrian mall. The people were all dressed very nicely (mainly in black) and we felt like oddballs and more than once, Monet wished she hadn't left her new Italian boots back in Naples. By night's end, we found an excellent pizzeria and some gelato, which tends to make everything better.  The next day we walked through the old city and visited a medieval medical school and a church.  Anyway, here are a few things we photographed in Salerno:

Leaf having a conversion with a mime

A market stall full of "speck"

Leaf taking on some Italian drivers

Monet visiting a stall for one of Salerno's dog shelters (hmmm, maybe we can deduct this trip?)

Mark and Leaf lost on the mall

Real food. . .

Finally, we headed back to the train station. . .

Unfortunately, we had to conquer a few staircases to get to our platform

Here comes our train. . . Get ready!

Monet's Mileage Count:

• Biking from Amalfi to Salerno - a whopping 25 miles!
• Walking around in Salerno  (including Monet dragging Leaf and Mark to a distant pizzeria) - 5 miles
• Cab ride back from pizzeria - 5 miles

Travel Tip: 

Mark says, "When cycling, build a few slack days into your schedule, especially when dealing with trains and buses. But once you burn those days (which we did!), don't freak out.  Try to enjoy where you are."

"It's the journey, not the destination," says Monet.

"Yeah, yeah. What she said."

Next: The other side of the boot. . .