This morning we woke up early around 5:30 am with a splendid day and a wonderful view from where we had pitched the tent surrounded by the sea and the free and wild beach, certainly in the high season it would have been a different type of view from a beach resort. In our case it was a pearl-like paradise.
The first stretch - Arturo, while he was making a coffee with his Italian coffee maker, noticed that the rear tire of my bicycle was punctured and kindly helped me to repair it, it was my first puncture of the trip. After a good coffee and good biscuits, we said goodbye to the couple of people from the small cottage on the sea near the Kiosko "our camping corner".
The second stretch - After leaving our corner of the campsite, the coast kept us company for a couple of kilometers and from a crossroads on the SR562 road, (Regional Road ex Strada Statale 562) we took the Provincial Road 17b which was definitely inland which took us up the hill kilometers uphill reaching a height difference of 370 meters from the sea with beautiful views on a road with little or no traffic. We passed through the towns of Podera, Celle di Bulgheria.
The third stretch - Afterwards we cycled on the state road (SS 18 Tirrena Inferiore) which descended towards the coast passing through the towns of Policastro Bussentino, Capitello, Villammare, and finally we cycled into the town of Sapri, surrounded by beaches and the surrounding mountains. It is located in the extreme south of the province of Salerno in the province of Salerno in the Campania region and on the border with Basilicata.
The fourth stretch - Once we arrived in Sapri which overlooks the Gulf of Policastro my friend Arturo had some friends who owned a supermarket who had invited us for lunch and then I would have to continue while Arturo would stop for a night in their warehouse. Unfortunately the weather had changed with thunderstorms and then it was getting late for me to continue on to my next destination and so I had decided to hang out with my friend and his friends for a night.
The fifth stretch - Since it was quite early I had the great idea of taking the train from Sapri station and going to Matera and visiting the surrounding area. His friend had taken us to the station with his small blue three-wheeler produced by Piaggio (Piaggio Ape) sometimes improperly called Apecar from the name of the model introduced in 1971.
The sixth stretch - From Sapri station was a short 10 minute train ride to the Historic Village Maratea. It is the only small mountain village overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea in the Basilicata region. The Maratea Coast extends for just over thirty kilometers on a strip of land overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea between Campania and Calabria.
We walked from the station on a small path and arrived at a little square where there is a an harbour, a small restaurant and a lot of nice boats docked and you can walk to the beach.
This location is a bit isolated, quiet, in some ways remained "stuck in time" and preserves a wilder nature and I recommend it for those who love nature and tranquility. There wasn't much to do, so it really made a great stop in the middle of our day. The mountain with the statue of the Redeemer was spectacular, the beaches were beautiful and the village of Maratea was very cute.
We would have liked to see the statue of the Redeemer located on the mountain up close but as it was low season there was no bus service and there would have been the possibility of taking a local service like UBER but the price was definitely too expensive. We could have also gone up on foot as we didn't have time available and so we saw the statue a short distance away overlooking a blue sky after a storm of thunder and lightning.
The seventh stretch - After catching the train and returning to Sapri we had dinner at the house of his friend and his partner who owned some vintage Vespas. The Vespa is of course a distinctive Italian luxury brand of scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio.
The last leg - Finally we went to sleep in the large warehouse not too far away from walking from the village center. Then we fell asleep in our tents that we had already set up inside.
BLOG I DAY 13 I ITALY'S FOUR SEAS: A cycle tour along the Italian peninsula
September 26, 2023 Palinuro, Campania - Sapri, Campania I 45 Km
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