June15 Letojanni to Sapri (Day 262)
This morning we caught an early train to move north to our next destination, Sapri, on the west Mediterranean coast of Italy. We had to repeat our trip to Letojanni backwards; train to Messina, ferry across the Messina Strait to Villa San Giovanni, and train from Villa S. Giovanni to Sapri, a much smaller southern cousin of the Amalfi coast!
Another beautiful day to see the many beaches on the Mediterranean through the train window. We were happy for the air conditioning!
We reached Sapri and had a mile walk to our hotel.
Just outside the train station is the most modern church we’ve seen in Italy so far! Very interesting bell tower!
We headed to the waterfront, the Gulf of Policastro, to follow the promenade around the edge of the Gulf to our destination.
“Sapri is an elegant seaside town located on the border between Campania and Basilicata and set against a backdrop of green hills and majestic mountains overlooking the beautiful Gulf of Policastro. It has been a popular holiday resort since roman times, when Cicero called it “a small gem of the southern sea”.”
We passed this “Observatory” dedicated to science, across from the much older church.
We finally reached our home for the next few days, Hotel Mediteranneo, next to a pebbly beach.
After settling in and showering after our walk, with backpacks on, and a nap, we were ready to explore the town a little more.
We walked back into town along the waterfront and noticed a flotilla of small sail boats out on the water (the tiny triangles of white on the right). They appeared to be in a competition of sorts, tacking around in a big circle with motorboats monitoring them.
We found a grocery store and purchased some fresh lettuce, tomatoes, peaches, balsamic glaze, pear juice and other munchies and headed back to make a wonderful salad for dinner. You can eat only so much pasta and pizza! While we were relaxing we heard booms and pops and sat out on the balcony watching a fireworks show, and it wasn’t even dark out yet!
We never learned the occasion for the fireworks.