20/1/11

Ascea, Italia


Sunset behind Amalfi



Since I have last posted, I have visited one of the most beautiful places in the world: The Amalfi Coast. In truth, my capacity as a solo cycle tourist makes me downright ecstatic on the warm and sunny days and rather gloomy and distraught on the dark and rainy ones.



Paradise for the cyclist



Perhaps, then, there are more beautiful places out there that I've even come across in my travels (Colorado, Ireland, and the Mediterranean around Genova come to mind); on this day, however, I could not be disturbed by anything, such was my infinite happiness.



And when you smile for the camera...




The day before I beheld this magnificence, I visited Pompeii, which is an amazing place in its own right. These ancient structures are preserved quite well considering their age and what has happened to them (though the volcanic eruption is really what preserved the structures). The amphitheater and stadium were very cool, both larger than I had expected (they are huge) and, in the case of the amphitheater, still acoustically functional.


"Beware of dog"; some things are just universal


As I strolled the rough streets, I'd wander into a building that used to be a baker, or the home of a nobleman that is adorned with geometrical mosaic floors, or what used to be a brothel and is still decorated with images that were designed to, well, spark the patrons' imaginations, I guess. I was especially moved by the shadowy figures of men, women, and even children that were trapped forever in positions of agony beneath the volcanic ash.

I reckon this last stretch was quite eventful, providing views of Mediterranean cliffs, a preserved ancient town, and some beautiful coastal cities: after Naples was Sorrento, then Amalfi, Salerno, and Paestum, with these lovely Greek ruins (the Greeks just loved leaving ancient temples all over the damn place).

Clean up after yourselves before you leave, Greeks! No but seriously this is beautiful.


Finally, all day yesterday I was riding through lush green hills filled with olive groves that lead again to the coast, where I climbed and descended a host of mountain roads, all with a wall of rock to the left and a sheer drop to the right. If only it were sunny, I would have again been in paradise. Today, I can look forward to some rain while I inch ever closer to my next goal of Sicily.


The Amalfi Coast: Bringing cliffs and cities together for thousands of years


I expect to be experiencing again some new landscapes as I ride along the coast heading south. But what will never change is the sense of adventure that is renewed each time I mount the bike again. If anyone asks if this gets boring or tiresome, I'd say that it does, certainly, become difficult, for instance when I am searching for lodging or wandering around a town at night, alone and with no one to laugh with; but as soon as I begin the next day's ride, my spirits soar as I set out on a new adventure, erasing the hardships of the previous day and instilling in me an immense vigor and passion for life and what is to come!