November 12
Charlotte:
We slept in today because of our big travel day. It was also rainy and very windy. Mom volunteered to go out and pick up something for our lunch. She found a little cafe and bought back focaccia (it’s bread that is soft like a cloud with herbs on it – it’s so delicious), eggplant parmesan, and breaded chicken.
In the afternoon, the weather got a bit better, so we went outside to explore the town a little. We found that they have a ceramics museum because Vietri-sul-Mare is known for ceramics. I think there are about 30 ceramics shops in this little town.
The streets in the town were so cute! Everywhere there were tiled murals and benches. Each house and shop had wall art. There were not many cars (there roads were cobblestone and very narrow) and many people stood and talked with each other in front of stores.
In the middle of the day, most of the stores close for a couple hours so it’s hard to go shopping. They don’t all close at the same time and they don’t post their mid-day closing times. Also, they have lots of grocery and food shops, but all of them are tiny. They have fresh fish and seafood markets in the streets each morning.
November 13
Sam:
Today we took a train to Salerno, a nearby town. When we got out of the train station, we were told by a city guide to head down the main street to get to a bunch of cool things.
We started to walk, but by then we were hungry so we decided to have gelato for lunch (we were allowed because our town doesn’t have any gelato now – they think it’s too cold). It was raining, so we ate under umbrellas.
Across the street from the gelateria, there was a mall and Charlotte saw a toy store inside so we went to check it out. The store was pretty cool, but we couldn’t stay all day so we left to find the archaeological museum. It was very nice and we got in free. It had some items that had been dug up around the town like currency and some pots.
We then went to a place called the Duomo which is a big church and as soon as we walked in, it opens into a magnificent courtyard. Inside of the church was beautiful.
After seeing the main sanctuary, we decided to descend to the crypt of St. Matthew, one of Jesus’ disciples. It was made out of gold and marble and it was very detailed.
Charlotte:
Later we went for an afternoon snack at a cafe. We each got a slice of pizza (Mom and I got the same kind). Then we caught a bus up to a really old castle that was built in the 6th century.
When we got there, we met a nice couple who were also from Canada (BC). Their names were Candice and Jack, and Jack kept saying, “Look, there are the dragons!”
The castle was very, very old and very pretty. It wasn’t as big as many of the other castles we’ve been to, but it was fun to climb around and it had great views.
Afterwards, we realised there was a little museum we could go in. It was so hot inside, it felt like a sauna!
We got the bus back downtown and went to a grocery store on the way to the train station. We wanted to shop in Salerno because the stores in Vietri-sul-Mare are very small and don’t have very many choices.
Mom made dinner of gnocchi with pomodoro sauce, crispy pancetta and parmigianno reggiano cheese. It very tasty and filling. Gnocchi is little cloud-shaped noodles made of potatoes. We also ate bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip, and roasted broccoli and tri-coloured cauliflower. We had limoncello and cherry gelato for dessert. I loved both flavours.
Sam and Charlotte take on the world! 