Paestum

A couple of years ago I first heard of Paestum when two American clients, Ward and Warren, wanted to visit during their Amalfi Coast tour. Using local timetables I found that it was possible to make the 160 kilometre round trip and return by supper time.
Up 'til now I'd not done it myself but was impressed by what I read of Paestum's ruins and history I was keen to visit.Yesterday I set off on the journey south around the Gulf of Salerno. A bus from San Lazzaro to Amalfi then a change to a second bus from Amalfi, around the Capo d'Orso, to Salerno. From there I switched to a train and travelled on down the coast to Paestum.
Walking from the train station it's a kilometre down a local road, amongst other prospective tourists. I emerged from this road to see the ancient town of Paestum spread across the wide flat expanse of grass.

The temples of Hera and Apollo

A ticket costs 7 euros and grants access to the site and to the museum, where 5 euros buys a small book - all you need to know whilst on site. This was turning out to be a good day to visit; clear sunny skies but not too hot, fewer visitors than I would have expected and the southern Italian spring bursting around me. Wild flowers covered the meadows between the ruins which cover several square kilometres. As with Pompeii I had to remind myself of the scale, sophistication and complexity on the ancient classical world.

The temple of Athena

When the Greeks arrived here more than 2600 years ago the area's local inhabitants were the Enotri at the end of the Iron Age. It seems uncertain whether they were indigenous people or earlier migrants from what is now Greece. The new arrivals were here to stay and built a town Poseidonia after their Sea God, which only later was 'latinised' (can that really be a verb?) to Paistom.
There had been earlier settlements on that site but the greco-roman period for the next 1000 years is the one which is best represented on the site.  Most notable to an uneducated visitor like myself are the three huge temples, dedicated variously to Athena, Zeus and Hera (though it seems even these dedications are probabilities).
The site includes the forum, amphitheatre and large swimming pool, used in ritual. There are also extensive residential areas.

Swimming pool with a ramp at the far end to enter the water and a stone structure to support a wooden platform

 As with Pompeii, walking the paved wheel rutted streets brought home to me not only the age of the earliest remains but also the 1000 year duration - I wonder how many of our current buildings will be standing in the year 3000. Paestum was abandoned towards the end of the first millennium, it is thought, because of the arrival of malaria in the swamp-like terrain around.

A street between the forum and the residential district

I was interested to see how some buildings from early Poseidonia were overbuild in later developments by the Roman culture that superseded the Greek.
And, don't miss the museum, full of artefacts from the site, pottery and stone carvings and early fresco type paintings from the plasterwork. Most famous is the painting of a diver from a tomb which was excavated nearby.

(And I made it back in time for a pizza at da Gigino's in San Lazzaro.)

Agerola Again

April and I'm back on the Amalfi coast leading another walking holiday for Explore. It's my fifth year of doing this tour and it remains one of my favourites. Springtime is a good time to be here. Everything's blooming and lush by comparison with the summer.

Oranges

Wysteria pergola: house entrance on Capri

The climate in April is also more conducive to walking - it's possible to walk without sweltering and shrinking from the sun. These photographs were taken on a day trip to the island of Capri, away from the madding crowds of Capri town itself.

Looking from Villa Jovis back to the Sorrento peninsula and Vesuvius on the left.

Lake Como Doors

"Door,  barrier of wood, stone, metal, glass, paper, leaves, hides, or a combination of materials, installed to swing, fold, slide, or roll in order to close an opening to a room or building." Encyclopaedia Britannica (http://www.britannica.com/)

For several years I've been photographing doors wherever I travel - everyone has to have a hobby. Doors are a universal architectural feature essential wherever humans enclose spaces. Every culture and subculture develops its own functional and aesthetic rules for making doors, determined by the materials available and the cultural prestige of the buildings they serve.

On top of that I enjoy my own overlaid aesthetic of the photograph; the colours, the furniture around the door such as the house number, bolts for locking, handles, and even the things placed or parked or growing nearby.

So, here are 10 doors from the area around Lake Como.

Fine de la Guerra - Italy's end to WWII

The quiet towns on the shores of the northern end of Lake Como suddenly became centre stage as World War 2 came to its close in Europe.

Earlier, in 1943, the tide of war changed as the Allies landed in Sicily and pushed rapidly northwards, the Italian army unable to mount a strong defence. The Fascist Grand Council met and passed a resolution deposing Mussolini, known as Il Duce (The Leader), and replacing him as Head of the Armed Forces with the king, Victor Emanuel III. Just like that Mussolini was arrested and Italy swapped sides, joining the Allies. The government moved out of Rome, southwards, abandoning the north of Italy to the German occupiers.

A daring raid rescued Mussolini from his captors, who were holding him at the Campo Imperatore Hotel, high in the Gran Sasso mountains in Abruzzo. After a brief visit with Hitler in Germany Mussolini was returned to northern Italy as the puppet head of the newly invented fascist Italian Social Republic.

Less than 2 years later the last act was to play out. On 27^th April 1945 Mussolini fled,along with his mistress, Claretta Petacci, her brother and a few close supporters. They were heading northwards to reach Switzerland and joined a German convoy. Militias made up of disbanded Italian troops and local partisans were more or less in control of the southern alpine foothills through which the convoy had to travel as it moved northwards along the western shore of Lake Como. Briefly halted at Menaggio the convoy was allowed to proceed with the proviso that no Italians were part of the group.

Approaching Dongo the convoy was halted by a roadblock of boulders avalanched down by Partisans as the road passes on the lakeshore below an overhanging cliff.

Showing the road rounding the cliff. In the foreground is the harbour of Dongo.

This is the old road where the ambush took place. A modern day supporter has grafitti-ed a memorial on the left.

This time the convoy was carefully searched and a worn-out Mussolini was identified. All were arrested and taken the few hundred metres to Dongo harbour. A following car was also stopped and found to be carrying Petucci and her brother. Mussolini was spirited away to Germasino, a nearby town high above the lake, for safety.

The following day he was joined by Claretta and the two of them driven southwards down the lake shore to Mezzagra where a decision was quickly taken. Il Duce and his mistress were summarily shot.

Fifteen of the accompanying convoy were executed too on the harbour front at Dongo. I haven’t looked but they say that the steel railings still show evidence of the bullets fired. The bodies of Mussolini and Petacci were taken to Milan where they were displayed to the populace, hanging by their feet from the rusty canopy of a petrol station in Piazza Loreto.

Lago di Como

After a winter during which it seemed a chore to write up my blog I've begun my summer work with leading a new holiday for Explore. This shows where I am.

View north over Dongo to the Alps

From Menaggio with Wisteria in bloom

This is Lake Como in a town called Gravedona for three weeks before heading to Naples to do a week there. I've just completed the first week here with the first group ever to do this hiking holiday.

Pausing for a breather on the way up to Livo

 They were a great bunch of people who really took to the adventure of being the pioneer clients. We managed not to get lost and had a great time in perfect weather. The views are wonderful, the villages picturesque, the walks varied and the picnic lunches all consumed!

On the way to Sorico

Sicilia in August

The flurry of travel blogposts continues as I try to catch up with myself. The summer’s passing in a metaphorical whirlwind, and the way the weather’s been at times I’m half expecting a literal one! After  Chamonix I spent a couple of weeks with my family and then headed off to Sicily. It was supposed to be Amalfi for 4 weeks but I found myself unexpectedly unemployed for the first week. Having booked flights Dianne and I decided that we could recce Sicily as a potential future walking tour venue.

Etna

We used our flight to Naples as a staging point, catching a short flight from there to Catania Airport, a mere 55 minute hop. Dianne had found an Agriturismo, not far from Taormina in the Alcantara valley, called Fondo Cipollate (http://www.agriturismofondocipollate.it/en/index.html). It was an inspired choice. Gabriella, the owner was exceptionally welcoming and the place was both beautiful and practical – we loved everything from the room opening direct to the outdoors through the olive grove hammocks and the airy breakfast room to the swimming pool. It was work, (Jim), but not as we know it.

Dianne and hammock

It was no surprise that the heat was extreme for walking – I won’t be taking a group in August, you can fry on the hot black slopes of Etna, even without the assistance of molten lava.

The north crater of Etna from near Piano Provencano

Before 6:00am we went up the north side to Piana Provencano, the former ski resort at 1900m asl., now buried under a lava flow since an eruption in 2002. As dawn broke over the Straits of Messina below it revealed rough, peat-coloured lava cutting through the pine forests with the bones of scorched white, bark-less trees broken and carried down by the coarse flow. A few, at the edges, still standing on their charred bases.

Pine trees at the edge of a lava flow

Walking NW around the mountain, we traversed up over the cone of Monte Nero to Rifugio Timparossa and from there (once I’d finally found the path) down to Grotta dei Lamponi, a lava tube, created during an eruption when the surface of a lava flow cools and sets leaving the molten lava flowing underneath. The tunnel created then empties of lava when the eruption ceases. Roof collapses allow access. This tunnel is about 4 metres wide and 3 metres high and from the opening you can walk a few hundreds of metres up the tube if you've the foresight to be carrying a torch.

Lava tube

On my birthday Dianne took me on a boat trip to the Aeolian Islands –a big deal for a woman who gets seasick, but she knew I really wanted to go. We drove to Milazzo (not relaxing, especially the parking!) where we joined a tour visiting Panerea (beautiful, and we found somewhere to swim) and then powered on to Stromboli.

Houses on Panerea

After waiting for sunset these tours then circle the island to show you the lava streams, constantly pouring from a vent on the north side.

Stromboli erupting

 These streams course down in bright orange streamers in the gloom of the evening, but are difficult to photograph from a boat tossing on the Mediterranean swell.

Lava streams from the vent

We also visited the Alcantara gorge; the Alcantara river cutting through basalt strata which is cooled into curving columns of cliffs. This is a favoured tourist destination and was rather spoiled by the sheer number of visitors.

In the Alcantara Gorge

Another short walk took up to and around the ruined medieval castello that stands above Francavilla. The short but vicious climb up was followed by a circular walk that led down by the river past the Gurna dell’Alcantara. The Gurna are wide and deep pools worn in the basalt by rocks tumbling and spinning in the river when it floods.

Gurna

We swam in the cold, green water, battered by the waterfalling current.

Apart from this we also found an amazing hotel near Randazzo – an old Masseria used for wine making by the family that has owned it for 200 years. Paolo the present incumbent opened the upper floor as a hotel around 2000. We enjoyed his welcome when we called in while passing. He showed us round, including the ground floor which still has in place the old, massive wine press and barrels. They still make wine, but nearby, in a modern winery.

It was a good recce and I look forward to taking a group there. There’s potential both for walking and for a painting holiday in the bright Sicilian sunshine.

Walking Around Chamonix

After a week of settling in with Dianne my group of clients arrived on Sunday afternoon – I met them at Geneva airport. Once again I was fortunate to have a lovely group of hikers who were looking forward to a week of walking some highlights of the tour de Mont Blanc.

They were undaunted by poor weather forecasts which was just as well as we launched into a few days of rain and cool temperatures. We explored the Petit Balcon Nord, the forests above Servoz to Lac Vert and Prarion, above Les Houches, soaked but unbowed. All of us were immensely grateful to Refuge proprietors who took pity and allowed us to picnic indoors.

Approaching Lac Vert

Walking around Lac Vert

The latter part of the week thngs improved and we had terrific weather for the two most important days, from La Flegère to Lac Blanc and the Tete de Balme, above Le Tour.

We took the telepherique to La Flegère and the path winds steadily up north-westwards with fantastic views of the Mont Blanc massif across the yawning space of the Chamonix valley. It climbs gradually from 1871m to 2353m, arriving at a mountain refuge and a beautiful (but usually busy) mountain lake.

Lac Blanc and a chough

After another excellent picnic watched by red-legged alpine choughs we made our way down steps and ladders to the Lacs Cheserys where a casually bold chamois had been strategically placed by the local tourist office for the purpose of providing a foreground for the photographs of passing walkers.

Posing chamois

The walk continues along lovely paths back to La Flegère, from which a steep descent brought us back to la Praz, just in time to miss the bus.

From Lac Cheserys towards the Mer de Glace

For the walk above Le Tour we cheated, using the Charamillion Gondola and chairlift, which whisked us up to nearly the Col De Balme. The early threat of rain evaporated and left us in sunshine as we followed a delightful grassy ridge which went airily along, switchbacking to the Col de Possettes.

Grassy ridge on Tete de Balme

Time for the last picnic of the week, after which most headed down to the gondola whilst a few climbed a last undulation up to the Aiguille de Possettes. This broad crest passes between cottongrass ponds and rock outcrops to the summit cairn before turning sharply back into the valley and Le Tour.