Looking Back to: Paestum - May 10th 2009
One of the day trips we took from Sorrento in May 2009 was to the Greek temple site at Paestum. This site pre-dates the Roman Empire by quite a long time.
What is amazing it that the structures of the three temples are in such amazing condition and are in a very small area.
Looking at the road map we decided to go the loner way around and avoid the Amalfi Coast Drive (ACD)! The reasons for this are that we had already done it one way as far as Ravello, and the fact that although the view of the sea on the right of you as you head east is spectacular, the road is jammed packed at every town with coaches and the occasional truck!
So we chose a route that would go up through Sorrento, Pompeii and across the top of the peninsular via Salerno. This is actually the way that Google maps sends travellers now.
The first stop was to take in the spectacular view of Vietri sul Mare on the opposite end of the ACD to Sorrento. It was sunny and we stopped briefly on the overlook off the road.
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| Vietri sul Mare |
Our second stop was for lunch at a pizzeria just off the main road after we left Salerno. The margarita pizzas were large and very very thin! And compared to the tourist areas very cheap! I bet they aren't now in 2021!
From there we headed south to Paestum. A local guy wanted a few pence to help us park and I slipped him about 20p. The space he "found" for us was there for the taking.
It was very hot inside the temple park and we wandered around. Opposite the entrance are many souvenir tat shops and cafes. Maybe later!
We toured the entire site in a couple of hours and ended up in the shade of the site's own cafe for a drink and a sit down, before retuning to the car and the drove home.
This time we decided to take the ACD westwards. A mistake? Traffic was still heavy and it seems that cars and bikes/scooters use both sides of the road as they see fit.
We stopped at Positano for a breather and a walk around. We ended up parking way outside the town and walking down.
And then back to Casale Antonietta where we were staying.
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