Photos San Remo to near Montecorice, Italy

[Colinleath]

Greetings from near Montecorice, Italy (south of Salerno and Paestum).

Here is my current situation:

I'm fairly close to some houses so I'm hoping i won't end up needing to move tonight. (I'm close to the coastal road as well, so I'm wearing my Sony WH-1000XM4's to reduce the noise. It's not a very busy road fortunately.) Getting out of Naples to the south I've only had one truly peaceful night in some coastal pines. The first night, in an orchard, a wandering dog found me at 3 AM and barked for a good 15 minutes before deciding to move on. And I decided to make that an early day myself. The second night was very nice though a bit buggy and thorny. The third night, last night, was in an old olive grove and some workers had a tractor nearby in the morning and I had to fix a flat before I could leave.

Later, by the beach, I had to fix the flat again because I had failed to find the offending shard of glass. It's also been generally rainy for a week. Today has been the first sunny day for a while.

Here are the new points on the map since last time:

The afternoon after the last post I went to the train station and got a ticket to Pisa. This was not easy, but I made it. I rode into Genoa, got another train out. Got kicked off that one, and finally got on the right one, and made it to Pisa that night. Only certain trains take bicycles. Plus covid travel and getting credit cards to work and finicky touch screens made getting the ticket in the ten minutes I gave myself before the train arrived a chancy business.

(The bicycle car on the newer, bigger Italian trains. The one I got kicked off of was an older smaller one.)

I wanted to try to get to Massa Marittima in time to see my friend there, plus there was a nasty headwind. The headwind appeared to disappear around a few bends in the coastline, but all in all it was a good adventure. I met an expat Canadian, Kelsey, on the train from Genoa to Pisa, and we exchanged Instagram messages and she encouraged me to visit her in Tiblisi, Georgia, should I ever head that way. She's a long time expat and world traveler, to the point where going back to Canada doesn't feel like home any more (she said). I think she was tutoring Chinese kids in English and other related work. But the Chinese government recently banned that kind of contact with foreigners, she said. So she's looking for new online/remote work.

She also tipped me off to the trusted house sitters app (that link gives you 25% off. . . Better than the 20% off coupon i found on RetailMeNot!). Once you get some good references it appears possible to find places to stay around the world in exchange for taking care of pets! I think she was headed to Rome to care for some cats when I met her.

So that night I get into and out of Pisa.

And I spent that night and the two following ones here:

The bright spot in the bushes in the center is one of my florescent vests. The building is a abandoned ag shed. It turns out my friend in Massa Marittima was having relationship issues so I had to settle for a WhatsApp call instead of a visit. It sounded like he was breaking up with her and taking off to La Gomera (the second smallest Canary island). What intrigued me is that he'd been looking for a cave to live in in Switzerland for the winter and she showed him one near her village and they and a few others stayed there until spring when running water from rain and snowmelt made the cave uninhabitable. This guy helped organize velokarawane.

So now that i had no need to get to Massa Marittima and the weather was perfect and i had good clearance to the south (easy to charge via solar panel) and i was in a patch of rarely-visited beautiful huge stone pines, and i had enough food and water, sort of, i stayed put for nearly three days straight. I arrived late on the 23rd and only left late afternoon on the 26th. Not very healthy to be honest, because I only got out to explore and walk around the first morning.

Cooking polenta. [I usually have an aluminum wind screen made out of the folded lid of a disposable lasagna pan, but i accidentally threw it out. As in California you're not supposed to do this (cook with wood) either ever or during certain times of year. In France, after September 30, it may be ok. . . But i generally assume it's not legal and do my best to hide any trace of having or having had a wood fire. It's made out of a hacksawed IKEA cutlery caddy. The piece the pot sits on (stein I believe) is made from a tin can. The Trader Joe's dolma tin or the dollar general chicken meat can (crimped on top and bottom) or similar work for this. I remove both ends with a can-opener, then find a sawed off tree branch or round fence post that fits inside the tin, then punch through the tin with a lock or fixed blade knife to make the vents. It all fits inside my .9 L evernew titanium pot. With some newspaper for padding so it doesn't rattle around. Titanium tent stakes support the stein.]

I was searching for motivation to move. I looked at the women on bumble in Florence mainly (many are art students with beautiful Instagram photos). . .

I considered trying to join my friend from Marseille who was walking part of the Camino in northern Spain. But she'd already left and that would mean flying and also not heading toward Sicily.

At some point I got back in touch with Kelsey to see if I might visit her in Italy. She mentioned she was headed to Napoli/Naples after Rome and seemed open to meeting there.

That seemed to help me get going. Even so, I spent two nights in the next spot, not very far from where i had been the previous three nights. My main exercise was trying to keep the solar panel in the sun.

(I'm not as motivated to rush when i have coastal pine forests to cycle through.)

Here's the map of the lack of movement in that time. I finally got going as time got closer to try to make it to Napoli on time. Plus on the 29th I got an Airbnb in Naples for the 4-7 of November ($38.32/ night). I also managed to find a spot by the ocean and swim and shave my head and face with my razor comb. All that i had left was to do laundry, which the Airbnb had--

The only wrinkle was that Kelsey messaged to say she might only go to Naples for the day. . . She hadn't been feeling too good.

There is in all of this a kind of negotiation, of expressing need but in trying to be low-key enough about doing so so as not to seem too weird or desperate. So I half expected my, "hey i got an Airbnb so i hope to see you there!" to be a bit too much and as a result i might be there by myself. Which was fine. I had been languishing aimless in the woods, but now, for better or worse I'd be headed into a city again to try to meet someone, if only the hosts of my Airbnb. Turns out "Andrea" is a guy's name in Italy, so my hosts were not two women (Andrea and Naiomi) as I had expected.

And as it happened, i let Kelsey know I'd made the train to Napoli and she said she was headed down there on another train as well and we could meet that afternoon!

A difficulty about the trains is, as far as i can see, there's no way to tell which ones take bicycles unless I go to the kiosk in the station (online ticket purchases don't appear to let me specify that I'm bringing a bicycle).

So i got to the station super early but the first train that would accept bicycles wouldn't leave for two hours. I waited to see if the next train was one of the new big trains. It was, so I got on even though there was no bicycle car apparently. Eventually a conductor came by but said nothing. Didn't even check my ticket. This was a 530am train though. Closer to Rome I had to stand with my bicycle and take it out at each stop if the doors opened on my side to let people get off and then get back on.

The train started to dwell in stations longer the closer it got to Rome central. . . Eventually i just got off figuring i could bike the last bit and see a little of Rome.

So now I was two hours early and i could take an earlier train than i had a ticket for. This worked out, but the conductor made me pay the difference (the earlier train cost more and was faster) plus a €10 fee for doing this ticket change on the train instead of at one of the machines in the station (I didn't know that was possible).

But I made it to Naples.

Not my train. Don't you wish your country had these? I think it is the Frecciarosa (red arrow) ETR 1000. I wonder if it has a bicycle car.

At any rate, I bike from the station in the light rain to Decathlon because the previous night my super light cloud 71 hammock from dutchware shredded in half and I had to sleep on my air mattress on the ground. So I bought the 1-person hammock they sell for about $15, making sure I could return it because I preferred the longer two-person version, which they were out of.

The 1-person version has been working fine for me! It's shorter, lighter, cheaper. This will be my fourth night in it. Had I wanted the two-person version I could have bought it in Salerno.

Then I head to my Airbnb in the Spanish quarter. Naples is a special kind of hell for people who hate engine noise and aggressive car and moped drivers and uneven stone block streets. But i survive all this and meet my host Andrea and get checked in and carry my bike up the narrow staircase to the 4th (5th American) floor. I chose this Airbnb because it looked bright and full of light and had a huge terrace with a view. And all that checked out. The challenge now was to meet Kelsey. Who in contrast to me definitely had a plan or at least more of one:

I manage to meet her at the first place. We eat pizza and then go to the archeological museum. We explore that for maybe an hour or more and then she heads off to work on the rest of the list I think and/or for date number two. There's a chance I'll join her the next day for a food tour she found on Airbnb experiences. She actually found the guide first. All that is to say, Kelsey doesn't mess around and somehow gets referrals to quality experiences. She didn't mention using any particular guidebook. Maybe it's just from friends and online acquaintances.

Now we went into this museum with no preparation. Except that when i went through the doors i realized i had been there before via an app, a sort of game called Father and Son. Which, part of it, takes place in the archeology museum.

Now, since then, I've studied it a bit more to figure out what we missed, which I'll get back to in a bit. For now, here are some pictures from that evening.

(From Pompeii)

This last guy is ptah-pataikos. A protector of craftsmen, found outside a gate to Pompeii.

So I head home via a grocery store after the museum closes.

The next day, i sign up for the food tour ($28?) And hoof it to Piazza Dante at 1030.

It's definitely worthwhile and by the end I'm a lot less oblivious to the culture than i had been. Federica is the guide.

I did not go visit "the veiled Christ" but I did look up images later.

Also, there were many red peppers, many of them gigantic, in front of stores. These were something like the cornicellos, but bigger. As will soon become more clear phalluses were a good luck charm in ancient Pompeii. But when Christianity came in the phallus went incognito in the form of these red twisted down pointing vs up pointing peppers with shiny crowns.

It's funny that the thought occurred to me two days later that so much of our art and image technology is in the service of eroticism, but the images in Pompeii don't reflect that focus.

When in fact, the actual images in real Pompeii did. Turns out they've been removed and hidden away and only shown to select groups.

This was part of my contemplation of how our phones have become our gems (as i reflected on the Farnese gem collection) because few things these days are as bright or color rich and as fine as an OLED display.

To continue, here are some random images of the rest of my time in Naples:

That is Rosa Parks' house. Put there (Naples government palace courtyard) partly from the effort of an American expat, Ryan Mendoza.

There's a way to keep the rain out of your courtyard. I believe this is a local community center. A priest seemed to be leading an awards ceremony for a lot of kids and parents. It was boisterous.

A view to the south toward mt Vesuvius from the fort that sits above Naples, castel sant'elmo. It was cold and windy up there and quite a hike.

I'd spent the day trying to figure out how to get out of Italy. I briefly contemplated leaving for Israel that day. To get out of the rain. And because it was my last day to enter without a booster shot. But there was a form i needed to submit 24 hrs before departure. And it's generally but not always a bad idea to rush around.

I ended up getting a ticket to Dubai from Catania, Sicily for December 11.

Then i packed up and began to hike up the hill/mountain.

The next day I set out for Pompeii. Most of the route was on bone-shaking uneven paving stones. It was pretty bad.

But I made it and got my ticket and stashed my stuff in lockers, locked the bike to a pole and went inside.

Just some photos i still like follow. Again i didn't study or prepare, just walked in. Then used my phone to try to educate myself. I downloaded one audio guide app that was no good. Then did some more searching and went with Rick Steves app. I'm guessing there are better ones, and his was difficult to follow the actual route of due to closures, but I liked it well enough. And I've since downloaded more of his audio and watched his videos on Naples and the archeological museum.

I was very lucky to get get a sunny day that day!!

I don't know what that fruit tree is but i ate some and have survived so far. It's actually okay to bring food into Pompeii to eat. . . There is also a cafe and this very large fruit tree in a very old garden.

Afterward, I biked toward Salerno, and at some point started heading toward some hills to find some woods to sleep in.

Going up a long alley I found a low wall along a dark orchard. So i stopped in there.

Due to the previously mentioned wandering dog I got up super early the next morning and made it into and out of Salerno.

So what else is there to say? Well I missed the "gabinete secreto" in the archeological museum. I searched around a bit to try to find a current map of the museum. But didn't find one. And so far I've just settled for various YouTube videos, none especially good.

This secret room is where alot of the art from Pompeii related to phalluses and sex got stashed where only gentlemen of refined sensibilities and strong moral character could view it or so I've heard.

At any rate if you look up the Ankha video(s) you'll find a modern version of this kind of art.

So what's next? What did I learn from all this?

I may have to save those questions for next time, which may be a few weeks off. Good night!

Add Paestum to the list of cool ancient sites I blithely rode within half a mile of unawares. Or half aware. A previous one was Pont du Gard.

 

[ali]

Excellent update.

I'm not sure if you have been to Sicily before, but i visited it for a few days and thought it was fantastic. There is a lot of weird half-finished construction that was likely due to mafia influence, but mostly it has gorgeous scenery and a relaxed pace of living that makes you feel like you could stay there forever. The ride from Palermo to Agrigento is pretty great, if i recall (i took a bus). They have a delicious local snack called arancini, which is just a deep fried ball of rice. It's interesting to talk to some of the migrant workers too, most of them speak French better than Italian, not many speak English but some do. They are often ignored or seen as problematic/dangerous by the locals, so they appreciate having a chat. There is some cool graffiti in Palermo, although the streets round there are a bit rough.

If you're taking it slow and you never visited southern Italy before, i can also recommend Puglia and Calabria. To me these places felt a lot more down-to-Earth and friendly than central/northern Italy. To be fair, i blitzed through the whole country fairly quickly on my way to Greece where i had a date with a container ship, but i definitely really dug the southern vibe. Better food too, i think. More spice.

 

[Colinleath]

Excellent update.

Thanks Ali! I've never been past Bologna before, so this trip is partly to see whether I might feel like coming back and exploring more.

So far I'm still loving my memories of other Mediterranean & southern European countries better. . . But I have another month this trip to keep trying. I'm guessing i won't get that far into Sicily, and will miss Puglia but may cross over to the insole of the boot (Catanzaro).

I'm guessing I may keep coming back to Italy until i get a rough idea of the whole coastline though, just out of curiosity.

I also still have southern Greece, SE coastal Turkey and the various large islands left to try if I continue this theme.

I think the biggest challenge and difference from other Mediterranean coastlines is that Italy seems far more occupied and populated. I also have the sense (correct or not) that their land use is a lot more anti-Roma than other countries . . Plus I've noticed a tendency toward a much more brutalist architecture. . . Massive blocks of houses.

But I'm guessing the further into the country/ south I get, the more things will look like other rural Mediterranean areas.

And I've only seen a bit of it, and I have found some pretty relaxing stretches of coastline. But so far, France, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Israel, and to a degree, Turkey all come to mind as less populated and more relaxing to be a nomadic bicycle camper in.

I didn't come here to be totally relaxed though, but to attempt to expand, I suppose, the places I might come to feel relaxed. To expand my home as it were. I'm not there yet. All those other places feel more like home. And of course the mountain areas of northern Italy are comfortable enough.

At any rate, hearing your interest in the country as well as others' stories about what they love about it increases the chance that I'll find my way in as well. So thank you!

 

[ali]

I just went back to read some of my old journaling about when i went to Italy, and i think the reason i loved Sicily so much was in contrast to northern and central Italy, which i didn't much like at all. I found the food much better, more North African/Middle East, and the people way less pretentious and uptight. It's still Italy, so you still have those well-dressed folks who slam a euro on the counter and drink their espresso in two seconds flat, but it's mixed in with a bit more multiculturalism and laid-back Mediterranean vibes. That said, most of the places i visited were fairly built-up because i was traveling mostly by bus. There were a few places in Europe where i hiked from one village to the next, but i didn't have the time for that in southern Italy, so i'm not sure if you'll find the sparsely populated coast you are looking for.

On the anti-Roma thing... i also found Italy a bit intolerant of other cultures and races. That's a problem all over Europe, but it did feel a bit worse in Italy. That said, again, in the south i felt there was a sort of southern pride that almost overrode that Italian chauvinism, and perhaps there was a touch more working class solidarity, with the migrant workers at least. It's hard to make these sorts of generalizations, though, because a lot depends on the people you end up meeting along the way. Taking some of those roro ferries is a good way to meet truck drivers, they can be pretty interesting sometimes.

 

[Colinleath]

Fortunately, I've found what i was looking for and a group of Italian bicyclists from the north (Bergamo) are letting me tag along on their ten day trip so far (it's day two). They were checking a map along the edge of a highway not long ago. That's how little traffic there is. And in the towns many are quite happy to see us and cheer us on. They want to go to the mountains though not the coast. Not my preference but for ten days and some company I'll follow their path for now.