{"id":4599,"date":"2016-04-30T01:54:59","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T15:54:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/?p=4599"},"modified":"2026-05-12T07:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T06:59:11","slug":"to-laura-to-dino-and-some-old-greek-ruins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/2016\/04\/30\/to-laura-to-dino-and-some-old-greek-ruins\/","title":{"rendered":"To Laura, To Dino And Some Old Greek Ruins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blessed are the sunny wash days.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"The
The Tomb Of The Diver, a painting inside the lid of a stone tomb<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be silly\u201d, I said. \u201cThat is far too far to drive in one day in Eileen\u201d. \u201cI\u2019ll be tired, she\u2019ll be tired, we\u2019ll all be tired\u201d<\/p>\n

But we did.\u00a0 555 kilometres in all.\u00a0 On Tuesday.\u00a0 And all that time, the main thing we noticed was the number of vehicles that sway around across the lanes and on to the hard shoulder.\u00a0 Almost every time, when I checked the drivers as we overtook, they were on a mobile phone.\u00a0 Although one enterprising Bulgarian driver had his paperwork spread across the steering wheel and he was having a good read.\u00a0 We\u2019ve decided that to pass your driving test in Italy, you must have to prove you can talk and text on a phone at the same time as driving. Oh, and speed limits are definitely to be ignored, they are obviously just decoration along the side of the road.<\/p>\n

\"Tuscan
Tuscan hilltop village en route<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

At 3:50pm we finally turned off the motorway and headed down the coast road to \u2026\u2026.wait for it\u2026..Laura !!!!\u00a0 I have a village named after me, though I never saw a road sign when we arrived or left. Camping Villagio dei Pini was just a little further down the road at Paestum and we arrived there just before 5pm.\u00a0 So including a quick picnic stop, a short refuel stop and a speedy supermarket dash for some rock hard Italian bread, we had driven from Florence in around 7 \u00bd hours and paid another \u20ac36 in tolls. At the campsite, we parked right next to the beach and the only sound that should keep us awake is the sound of the surf drifting in from the Gulf of Salerno.<\/p>\n

\"Rodney
Rodney en route to Paestum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

All morning was spent hand-washing all the sheets, towels and clothes; there was too long a queue for the one washing machine; we would have waited all day.\u00a0 But at least the sun was shining and with everything strung out on plastic lines between Eileen and various trees, it all dried beautifully.\u00a0 Then the bikes were unhooked to cycle down the road to Paestum, aka Poseidonia, where we found a good museum and a field full of amazing ancient Greek ruins.\u00a0 It\u2019s all definitely worth a visit if you\u2019re ever down that way.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Temple of Athena, or Ceres<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The
The Temple of Neptune, or Poseidon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The
The Temple of Neptune and the Basilica, or Temple of Hera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The
The Temple of Neptune<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We are a little concerned that we have travelled right through Campania, which is apparently a major producer of buffalo mozzarella, something we really enjoy eating with ripe tomatoes, sprinkled with salt and covered in olive oil and creamy balsamic.\u00a0 Sorry, where was I?\u00a0 Oh yes buffalo mozzarella, there\u2019s loads of it for sale around Laura, but in all our travels in Campania we have not spotted a cow, let alone any roaming buffalo.\u00a0 They must have all headed for the hills for the summer\u2026..<\/p>\n

\"
The Temple of Neptune<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"On
Rodney strolling on the beach at Paestum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to do motorways today and I\u2019ve found a really good \u2018yellow\u2019 wriggly road that follows the coastline\u201d, not sure whether that statement pleased Rodney.\u00a0 But that was the route we took on Thursday.\u00a0 Road subsidence, pot holes, \u2018falling rocks\u2019 signs, one lane-width in places and broken tarmac that occasionally was just hanging over the sea, were not quite what I had anticipated, but it was an interestingly lovely route.\u00a0 The Mediterranean Sea\u00a0was flat calm. Giant agave, Cyprus pines, prickly pear and bamboo filled the hills around us, as the road wound around endless bays and through numerous tiny, terracotta roofed villages.<\/p>\n

\"Vehicle
Vehicle width restrictions, Italian style<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Pisciotta\"
Pisciotta<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The
The coastline and blue sea near Aquafredda<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

But by the time we reached Palinuro, Rodney needed a break from the wriggly road, so we turned left and found ourselves in the Vallo di Diano.\u00a0 Because we were following a river, the road was still wiggling, but gosh it was a fabulous gorge.\u00a0 From the top of the gorge, the main road was no longer designated as a picturesque route, but it should have been, it was beautiful scenery. From Sapri, we were back on another winding road that clung to the edge of the Gulf of Policastro.\u00a0 \u201cHang in there Rodney, we\u2019ll stop soon\u201d.\u00a0 And we did, just south of Praia a Mare, close to the Isola di Dino.\u00a0 Yes Dino, you have your own island!!!<\/p>\n

\"On
On the road near Maratea<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Love
Love in a layby near Maratea<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I will not mention the bathrooms at Camping Mantinera, apart from saying \u201cDon\u2019t go there; definitely the worst I\u2019ve had in all our travels.\u00a0 I wished we hadn\u2019t stopped there and it was not a good way to start Friday. Details on request, but you’ll wish you never asked……!<\/p>\n

We plugged on south along the coastline, with an interesting police diversion through the narrow streets and sharp bends of San Lucido.\u00a0 Then in a panic to get to the next campsite before they closed for a two-hour lunch break, Rodney put his foot down when we joined the motorway.\u00a0 We got to Villaggio Camping Mimosa near Nicotera at 12:55 only to find a solid gate shut in front of us.\u00a0 Dang! \u00a0But no, the owner appeared, opened the gate, directed us to our pitch and then said “I don\u2019t really bother shutting at lunchtime”, despite what the book said\u2026.\u00a0 We now have a private bathroom and we\u2019re very close to the beach; this has to be an improvement on last night.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s stay two nights and get all the washing up to date\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Now
Now he’s happy in his shorts and sun hat….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blessed are the sunny wash days.   \u201cDon\u2019t be silly\u201d, I said. \u201cThat is far too far to drive in one day in Eileen\u201d. \u201cI\u2019ll be tired, she\u2019ll be tired, we\u2019ll all be tired\u201d But we did.\u00a0 555 kilometres in all.\u00a0 On Tuesday.\u00a0 And all that time, the main thing we noticed was the number […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4599"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8237,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4599\/revisions\/8237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}