Paestum
Happy by now to leave the Naples area (whoever said “See Naples and die.” because of its supposed beauty, hasn’t been there recently), we scoffed the Italian breakfast of bun and coffee and hit the road.
With Reggie suffering from a Roman head-cold and Mable suffering from loss of satellite at inconvenient moments (she doesn’t seem to care much for mountains), we drove south along the coast to Paestum. Founded by the Greeks in 600BC, it was part of Magna Graecia for hundreds of years until conquered by neighbours and later by the Romans who settled here and, thankfully did not destroy the magnificent temples on the site. Eventually abandoned due to endemic Malaria the ancient city is relatively unscathed by time. Reputed to be some of the best preserved Greek temples in existence, they give a fascinating glimpse of life by the Mediterranean over 2000 years ago.
The museum houses a treasure trove of objects found in the adjacent cemetery, both Greek and Roman (Maria will recognize the style of some of the vases!).
Paul traipsed about the site, lugging cameras for a couple of hours while Reggie rested (after a Zeus pizza at the Café da la Basilica), following which we hied off to the mountains for a night in the Casa del Sol B&B high in the Apennines. Happily, the B&B had its own restaurant so we didn’t have to face the precipitous mountain road again in search of supper. I believe I’ve flown in some airplanes that didn’t get this high!
Temples of Apollo and Hera
Temple of Zeus or Poseidon
Bronze urns from cemetary
Pottery recovered from site
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