Thursday 3 October 2013

Day 32 03-10-2013 Thu Paestum

We had the most delightful drive from Cosenza to Paestum. Much of the route on the A3 was through beautiful wide valleys with hills then mountains on the sides. We  crossed one pass just over 1000m. The last big valley we were in had a large number of hilltop or hillside towns/villages. And they seem to keep extending these towns as they have a good number of newer higher buildings.

After some hours as we neared our destination we decided to leave the speed and safety of the A3 to strike out across country through what we thought might be even more scenic and relaxed. Mind you the traffic on the A3 had been very light, which contributed to the pleasure. After veering off the GPS tried its damnedest to get us back onto the A3, as if to say “don’t be a fool, go back!”.

We had an idea of the road we wanted but it proved to be elusive - it took us about 20 minutes to find. When it started winding up the mountains we got some great views of the big valley, but then it continued going up and up. This was a very windy road (we must have navigated 300-400 bends) at quite low speeds – straight sections were hardly ever more than 50m, but it was good fun. At one point we noticed cow dung on the road, like in Sicily, but this time we actually encountered the beasts on the road, just at the saddle at about 930m. There were several batches. One was guided and guarded by a beautiful white dog.   

We found our lodgings easily, but it was before official checin time, so we had  quick bite and then headed off the see the Greek temples at Paestum, just 200m down the road. It was a perfect day which displayed the three temples in the best possible light.

Afterward we toured the adjacent museaum. It is amazing how many good artifacts they werestill able to find. One would think that everything would have been lifted centuries ago.

Temples






Temple of Athena




Temple of Neptune










Temple of Hera







Museum

Figurines








Frescoes








Frieze






Jars








Statues


We had an excellent unusual and cheap meal for €15 each, including a bottle of wine, at the cafĂ© run by our lodgings – a very agreeable arrangement.

Afterward we walked back down to see the temples under illumination . Strangely, we were the only people out doing this.

It’s after midnight as I upload this and the locals in the eatery below our room are still going strong – could be long night.

I mustn’t fail to mention that we are now enjoying a temperate climate – low 20’s. Yesterday was quite comfortable too.

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