Greetings from Pontecagnano!!
After leaving Naples we decided to take the advice of our Roman friends, confirmed by the Neapolitans, to visit the Costiera Amalfitana. We certainly could not have passed through Campania without having visited this spectacular landscape.
Nevertheless, we didn't head straight there (we don't take short-cuts, hehe). Instead, we rode all the way to the very tip of the pennisula where we were able to see the sun set behind the island of Capri while camping in the gardens of a church we found on the cliffside.
We continued along the coast, passing through Sorrento, Massa Lubrense, and Termini until we got to Sant'Agata Sue Due Golfi where we could see the first glimpse of the Costiera Amalfitana... Three days of sunshine and warm weather lay ahead of us, we pulled out the shorts and t-shirts and hoped to never take them off again until next winter, but alas, it is January afterall and the rain has come again.
As usual, the coast proved to be a difficult place to practice wild camping but, also as usual, we were successful in finding spectacular campsites:
With left the beautiful these beautiful lands and headed to Salerno. There we busked for a bit along the boardwalk, planning to leave at a decent hour to have time to find a place to sleep before it got dark, harder to find in bigger cities. We would also like to note that our work, though it may not appear so, has its risks and hazards. A couple of overdemonstrative young boys tried to break our cool, not able to wait patiently for their turn at the bubble wands. They were unable to shake us until one of them threw a rock at our backs from the beach behind us. Luckily, no one and nothing was hit but it obviously wasn't thrown with good intention. In the end, his father realized what had happened and brought his son back to apologize. We hope he learned something that day, if only not to mess around with strangers.
Today we were planning to continue our southward journey but the weather was not permitting and using the internet tends to eat up the entire day. We also enjoy a good rainy day indoors, of course.
We would like to share our excitement in having found someone in Sicily who is willing to host us for a time near Messina. There we will have more time to update everything, help on the farm and finish all of the projects we have hanging, most importantly, where we plan to head next...
Finally, we would like to thank the bar "Al bivio" in Pontecagnano who has allowed us to work all the afternoon and part of the evening on their wifi, even when they closed the blinds at mid-day. We're inside the inside here in Italia!
Cheers everyone!
Colleen y Jose
After leaving Naples we decided to take the advice of our Roman friends, confirmed by the Neapolitans, to visit the Costiera Amalfitana. We certainly could not have passed through Campania without having visited this spectacular landscape.
Nevertheless, we didn't head straight there (we don't take short-cuts, hehe). Instead, we rode all the way to the very tip of the pennisula where we were able to see the sun set behind the island of Capri while camping in the gardens of a church we found on the cliffside.
We continued along the coast, passing through Sorrento, Massa Lubrense, and Termini until we got to Sant'Agata Sue Due Golfi where we could see the first glimpse of the Costiera Amalfitana... Three days of sunshine and warm weather lay ahead of us, we pulled out the shorts and t-shirts and hoped to never take them off again until next winter, but alas, it is January afterall and the rain has come again.
As usual, the coast proved to be a difficult place to practice wild camping but, also as usual, we were successful in finding spectacular campsites:
- A small tin shed right next to the road, the floor of which we had to repair a bit, the yard overgrown with sharp-edged grasses, but which had a spot just below that was perfect for making fire and watching both the sunrise and sunset.
- A cliffside citrus orchard (very abundant in this area) with more than 20 terraces creating steps going down at least 50 meters (160 feet) towards the sea. Again, we were able to see both sunrise and sunset from the same point, with a fire made inside of a wheelbarrow and a refreshing and much needed cold shower from the spigot.The next morning, we woke up before sunrise in order to have breakfast, pack up and head out early in case the owners came on a Saturday morning to do some work. Nonetheless, there they were at 8:30 in the morning! The man was extremely kind and had no problem sharing his property with us. They want to turn it into a campsite as the citrus trees aren't very profitable and we had unwittingly been his first guests.
With left the beautiful these beautiful lands and headed to Salerno. There we busked for a bit along the boardwalk, planning to leave at a decent hour to have time to find a place to sleep before it got dark, harder to find in bigger cities. We would also like to note that our work, though it may not appear so, has its risks and hazards. A couple of overdemonstrative young boys tried to break our cool, not able to wait patiently for their turn at the bubble wands. They were unable to shake us until one of them threw a rock at our backs from the beach behind us. Luckily, no one and nothing was hit but it obviously wasn't thrown with good intention. In the end, his father realized what had happened and brought his son back to apologize. We hope he learned something that day, if only not to mess around with strangers.
Today we were planning to continue our southward journey but the weather was not permitting and using the internet tends to eat up the entire day. We also enjoy a good rainy day indoors, of course.
We would like to share our excitement in having found someone in Sicily who is willing to host us for a time near Messina. There we will have more time to update everything, help on the farm and finish all of the projects we have hanging, most importantly, where we plan to head next...
Finally, we would like to thank the bar "Al bivio" in Pontecagnano who has allowed us to work all the afternoon and part of the evening on their wifi, even when they closed the blinds at mid-day. We're inside the inside here in Italia!
Cheers everyone!
Colleen y Jose