Salerno February 2026

Tuesday February 17
We drove south to Foligno. The station there had much better connections for some reason. They have a relatively cheap parking lot. We were meeting our friend Jen who was going to stay in our apartment with the kitties. We gave her the key and we went to catch our train. When we got to the platform with about 4 minutes to spare I realized I had left my hiking stick in the coffee bar. Darn. I use it when I’m doing a lot of walking, which I will be on this trip. But there was no time to go get it. Sigh.

We went to Roma Termini terminal, the main one. We arrived in just two hours. We had a bit of time to kill and then we saw our train was also arriving late so we had about an hour. We decided to grab a sandwich there. I got the porchetta . It was pretty good. 

Our train arrived, the Frecciarossa, red arrow, Italy’s high speed train. Off we went to Salerno with a stop in Napoli. I love the Frecciarossa. We always get business class and always the area silenzio. I love that it is silent. They bring the drink and snack cart just like on the airplane. We had a white wine each. They gave us snacks and water too. We arrived about 4:30. A half hour late. 

Finding our hotel, called the Leucosya Luxury rooms, was not easy. It was just 150 meters from the station, so we were walking. We had been warned by our friends Gary and Susan whom we were meeting there, that it was not obvious. We called and Gary came to our rescue. 

We checked into our room. What a strange room. It has more gold that the Oval Office. No joke. There is the biggest bathtub I’ve ever seen in the bedroom. It has golden tiles and a golden filigree over it. A golden Roman chair. Two golden small tables. Many golden statuettes and and incense burner. The wallpaper is Versace. Maybe the room got lost on the way to Vegas? I KNOW you want pictures 😉

See what I mean?

We went looking for a bar for drinks and snacks. We found a great pedestrian only shoppingstreet. It was lined with bars. It was spitting rain but no place had indoor seating. All was outside with covers, some with glass walls, some with heaters. We finally gave up after walking the entire street and went in one that had plenty of places, under cover. They turned on the heaters. Our waitress was super. We got a bottle of red from Sicily and then a platter of cheeses and meats which came with a few other apperitivi. And we ordered two plates of fried anchovies to share. Perfect. And it rained hard while there but stopped before we walked back. 🙂

Wednesday 18 February
We woke to brilliant sunshine! Wow. It has rained constantly for weeks. First thing was take a shower. It is a space age thing with jets, squirters and a shower. It is always an adventure to figure out the fixtures in hotel bathrooms. This particular shower was a great example. I turned the dial to the picture of what looked like a shower. Suddenly the array of jets up the entire backside of the shower shot out incredible gushes of water right into my face. And across the whole bathroom. I slammed the door but that was no solution since I had to open it to figure out how to turn it off.  So I bit the bullet and jerked the door open reached over while these jets of water were dousing me and everything else. Finally got it off. Dripping wet I got all the towels and tried to mop it all up. Then I tried to figure out which thing to turn the dial to to get the shower. With a bit of experimentation, the shower came on. Adventures in plumbing. 

We were headed to Paestum and would be walking around so good weather would be appreciated. We were served breakfast in our room and met to go get the train. It was leaving at 9:30. It took just half an hour and dropped us right at the Archaeological park. I have been twice before so this was the first time on a train and I hadn’t realized where the train stopped.

We walked through the gate and headed up the road to the old Greek city. The history is interesting. In 600 BCE it was settled by Sybaris, a Greek settlement in the south of Italy and named Poseidonia. In 400 BCE it was seized by the Lucanians. Romans took over in 273 BCE, renaming it Paestum and establishing a Latin colony. Later, its decline ensued from shifts in trade routes and the onset of flooding and marsh formation.

The Greeks built three enormous temples to the gods. Neptune, Hera, and Athena. They were built about 550 to 450 BCE. We entered the park. We bought our tickets and walked in. The two temples of Hera and Neptune were just a little walk away. They are amazing. Almost entirely intact after 2,700 years. I’ve been to other Greek ruins and none can compare with Paestum. We walked down to the amphitheater, then over to where the forum used to be. It was the center of town, center of government and center of life in Paestum. Then down to the far end of the city to the Temple of Athena. It was such a beautiful day. This was a real pleasure.

We asked in a Bar for them to call us a taxi. Patrizia came to pick us up and took us to the Caseificio Barlotti, a mozzarella di bufala farm. This has been a long time wish of mine to visit the bufala. We had a very nice tour by Andrea. He showed us the first corral which held the 160 cows giving milk. They were milked twice a day. The next one was the females who were pregnant, some were giving milk too. Then across the way was the corral with the young females. Two years old. They were now able to be bred. They don’t inseminate, they just put the bull in amongst the young females. Then the next barn is the newborns. All females. The males are sold to another farm who will raise them for meat. They are allowed to stay with their mothers for only seven days. So sad. They were very sweet.

After the tour we had lunch and a continuation of the tour to explain the process of the cheese making. They milk the cows at 6am and 2pm. The cheese making begins at midnight and goes all night. They make cheese fresh and completely by hand for consumption at the Caseificio and for purchase in the shop. They also export a lot of their products all over, even in the U.S. They make some out of pasteurized milk (for US) and others from unpasteurized. They make other types of cheese. And also buratta. I asked about the buratta. He said the outer case, making the distinctive bag that encloses the creamy interior, is of mozzarella di bufala. But inside, that is cows milk cheese. It would be too rich if it were all bufala. Anyway, I learned a lot and enjoyed the tour. 

Now for the degustazione. They brought many platters of food. A big ball of the fresh, made last night, mozzarella. She split it 4 ways. There were also three other types of cheese made there. A hard semi aged one, a brie type, and a super soft very fresh one. There was a small piece that was the consistency of bread pudding. Very damp, wet made of several types of cheese and I’m sure it was baked. Very good. Then several types of cured meats. Finally a plate of roasted vegetables and a bowl of fresh quartered tomatoes. We had been saying we would have pasta but no one wanted any after that so we had desserts. All were made from their cheese. Two got the cannoli to share and two got the pistachio ice cream made from latte di bufala. Wow was that rich. And delicious. It was an interesting and tasty lunch as well as informing. All in all a nice experience.

Then we called Patrizia who came back to get us and take us to the station. Off we went back to Salerno. I highly recommend a visit to Paestum but not in July and August. Patrizia said it is crazy busy with tourists then.

We got back to the hotel and had a couple hours to rest. Then we decided Caserta was not in our future for tomorrow, mainly because it is a two hour trip and the a two hour tour and lunch and a two hour trip back. We decided that was too much especially since rain is in the forecast. Instead we will visit Vietri sul Mare tomorrow.

Susan was feeling under the weather so Gary, Luther and I walked to meet up with our friends Gary and Bill. They have lived there 8 years. I met them through this blog before they came. We have only seen them twice in person in that eight years. But stay in touch online. Anyway, we met up for drinks tonight. They live in the centro and it is a very cool part of town. I think this would be an excellent choice for anyone considering to immigrate to Italy. Right on the sea. Near mountains, main train line. The ferry boats that go up and down the Amalfi coast and out to Capri. The food of the Amalfi coast – delicious seafood. A real city with all services. It doesn’t close up in the winter like the rest of the Amalfi.

Thursday 19 February
Vietri sul Mare is only about ten minutes from Salerno. It was overcast, chilly and breezy. Very unlike yesterday. Rain predicted in the afternoon.

We started out at the top of the town. We wended our way slowly downhill. It is a town of ceramics. Many wall decorations of ceramics. All different. There was a table I adored. So unique. The design was embossed, and the background was matte, not shiny. The theme was the seasons. I would have bought it in a minute had I a place for it. 

We turned off the main corso and went uphill to the Duomo. Interesting. We couldn’t go inside because there was a mass going on.   

We headed back down and stopped in a shop. Gary was on a mission to replace broken spoon rests. He was very particular. Here he found it. And Susan bought a platter. Not to be outdone, I got a trivet. The proprietor seemed surprised and happy to have sold three things. It’s off season. I don’t suppose there are a lot of sales. 

Gary’s Italian teacher had evidently gone on and on about Salerno pizza. Better than Naples she said. So, Gary felt he must try the pizza. Not a hard sell. We all happily helped with this quest. We ate in a nice place back at the top of the town. The pizza was quite good. It seems Florentine pizza is always uncooked in the center. These were cooked through.

Back to Salerno. And home to nap and digest. Later we planned our last day with Susan & Gary. We are staying and touring Salerno. We will meet Bill and Gary for sightseeing and lunch. But a lot depends on the weather. Supposed to rain.

Friday 20 February 
Such a great day. We expected it to be raining but I checked and the streets were dry. So it was game on! We had breakfast and headed out at about 10:15 to meet Gary who would lead us to the elevator up to the gardens of Minerva. The elevator only went so far though. We had a continued climb to get up there. 

We made it and watched a super informative video before entering the gardens. It was all about the history of medicine in Salerno it goes way back. To before the year 1000. It was the first hospital to actually care for people. The science was based on the harmony of the universe. When the balance is upset  it causes illness. They saw life as being comprised of four elements: earth, air, fire and water, which correspond to four qualities, hot, cold, moist and dry. The humors are blood, black bile, yellow bile and phlegm. They have a direct relationship to the four elements. They also took into account count the temperament of the individual, his mental qualities, his state of health. All this is the theory of humors. 

Which brings us to the plants. Just as the body was divided and classified by the humors and elements so too, the plants were classified. This allows each one to be classified for what it could treat in the human body. And also it’s strength

We next went into the gardens. They were pretty with many water features. The plants were in winter mode. It would be amazing in spring and summer. We also met the local turtle. Quite friendly. He had a great place to live. I really enjoyed learning about those ancient methods of medicine.

We headed back down to the flats to visit the Duomo. All the domes on all the churches along the Amalfi coast are made of ceramics. This one is the Duomo in Salerno.

The church was really interesting. It was very big. And very white. No decorations on the ceiling. The painting behind the altar was pretty impressive. There were a few moorish looking tile decorations on a few things. The crypt was, on the other hand super decorated. 

Then we headed to lunch at taverna Santa Maria de duomo. So fun. Us four plus Gary and Bill. The place was in a former church. This was their favorite restaurant. They booked for us. It was a delicious lunch with good conversation. It was all seafood with some most interesting preparations. I will put descriptions on the photos. You knew there would be photos, right!? 😁

Saturday 21 February
The train from Salerno left five minutes late. It was interesting that Gary’s phone app said it was fifteen minutes late. So we waited a bit, but not TOO long. And good thing because when we got there they showed it on time on the big board. It arrived five minutes late in Roma where we only had a 20 minute layover so this cut it to 15 minutes. It was touch and go getting the train to Foligno. That platform was 2est it is a very long walk. My friend Jen, who used the train alot and lives in Foligno assured me the train to Foligno would leave late, giving us extra time. But…miraculously (unfortunately) the train to Foligno was on time meaning we had  NO extra time. We barely made it. We were not alone, thankfully, because the train couldn’t leave while people were boarding. And a lot of us panting people were still boarding.

Adventures in train travel. I’m fine with riding in the train and watching the scenery, but the getting on and off, finding seats, stowing luggage, can all be stressful. The good news…the Bar had my hiking stick! 🙂

That concludes another trip report.

Ciao!