Salerno & Ravello

In crossing the Messina strait from Sicily to mainland Italy, they actually decouple the train, cross on a ferry, and then recouple the train. My mom remarked we stopped for a long time in the middle of the night and I explained the process. When I woke up around 4 am, we were still towards the bottom of the boot, but the high-speed train was shooting up the peninsula and actually goes all the way up to Milan.

However, we got off at Salerno, the bottom of the Amalfi Coast. We had survived the overnight train, including Justin. I had gotten the highest class which included breakfast of butter croissant, chocolate wafers, blood orange juice, and espresso which we actually took with us for snacking later.

We crossed the train station plaza and found a small café where we could enjoy the WiFi and kill time as Avis rental car didn’t open until 8:30 am. We enjoyed a chocolate croissant in addition to dumplings and takoyaki or fried octopus balls which were both surprisingly tasty. Indeed, it was an eclectic Asian menu as the owners were Chinese.

After picking up the car, we drove to the Cathedral in Salerno called the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Angels, Saint Matthew, and Saint Gregory VII:





In addition to Pope Gregory being entombed here, it’s famous because it houses the relics of Saint Matthew, the Apostle in the Crypt:



But also in the Crypt, was the beloved Cardinal who was a part of our Korean Catholic Church community for over twenty years. Cardinal Martino passed away in October last year in Rome, but was originally from Salerno. He had served as a diplomat for the Holy See including to the United Nations when he became close with Father Chang and our community. Some photos with our family including when my father was confirmed by him in 2003:





So when I learned he was buried here and knew we would be transferring in Salerno, we made it a point to pay our respects:







Included in our admission was one more sacred site of Salerno. So we opted for San Giorgio church over the museum which has impressive frescoes and was about 500 feet away from the Duomo:



I took this photo of a restaurant’s phone number which includes the Salerno area code Zero Otto Nove (0-8-9). It’s also the name of our favorite restaurant(s) in New York as there are locations on Arthur Avenue, Westchester, and Manhattan:



After picking up the car from the garage, we headed to the Amalfi coast and passed the Salerno port:



Justin drove excellently - there were motorbikes, buses, and other tourists videoing their drive and we even had to turn around at one point, because we missed the turn off to Ravello. I also preferred when they had stop lights to permit one way traffic - this way, you don’t have to worry about oncoming cars:







We finally arrived at our hotel, Gala Residence Villa Giovanna in Ravello which had a clean triple room that was ready (so clutch) and beautiful views - the hills were full of lemon trees:



We showered and napped as the overnight train and drive was tiring. During our nap, it had rained and initially when we left the hotel to find dinner in the town, it wasn’t raining but it started again and this hangry family climbed these steps to Ravello:



My mother was not as excited about the rainbow as I was:





We made into the town center and the rain lessened and the skies started to clear:





We found Cumpa Cosimo where we shared a mixed seafood appetizer, gnocchi, fettuccine with mushrooms, and spaghetti with seafood. We were also treated to tiramisu on the house by a fierce looking nonna:



To walk off dinner, we popped into shops and walked around the town. We passed the Villa Rufolo but it was closed - it supposedly has nice gardens and views of the coastline. Here’s a picture of a tower in the Rufolo complex as we descended the steps:



What a successful transfer day and as we were able to pick up a few souvenirs, see the famous coast, and settle into this leg of our Italian vacation!