Next bucket list check-off

After a busy and emotional day in Rome, the next stage of this adventure continues as I headed towards Salerno to attend a four-week course in Italian language. The school, L’Accademia Italiana, recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. It offers classes and private tutoring as well as “extra-curricular” programs in local history, Italian culture, cooking, ceramics, and visits to archeological sites (Paestum, Pompeii), Naples, Amalfi, Casserta, and places where mozzarella cheese and limoncello are made.

I left the hotel by taxi before 9 a.m. and arrived well before the 10:04 a.m. departure on the Frecciarossa high speed train.

I was in second class premium and was pleasantly surprised to find a “beverage service”- water and a piece of (pre-packaged) crostata – better than most airlines in the US provide!

The train speed averaged 295 km/hour (approximately 180 mph for you Americans out there!) and surprisingly this train (unlike most in the Italian train system) arrived ahead of schedule. After eventually discovering how to exit the station (take the stairway down one level to the street), I got a taxi to transport me to the accommodations that were pre-arranged by the school – more on that situation later in the week – oooh, a cliff hanger!!!!!

After unloading the baggage, I tried to get oriented. Salerno is not a big city (about 150,000 inhabitants), so it is quite manageable. It extends along the blue Mediterranean Sea, with a lovely promenade.

Although a bit deserted in the mid-afternoon, it comes to life around 7pm as the citizens come out for the daily passeggiata. Salerno is not on the usual tourist itinerary, although an occasional cruise ship may dock for the day. However, the cruise passengers bypass this charming city, boarding transport traghettos and buses headed for the “glamour” of Positano and Capri or excursions to see the ruins of Pompeii. The L’Accademia has a prime location along the seaside promenade. There is also a fairly impressive historic center with narrow, essentially inaccessible (at least to American drivers), cobblestone streets.