Tues. Oct. 11

I still seem to be one day behind in my efforts to catch up on our trip. Anyway, yesterday did begin with another wonderful breakfast with 'real' boiled eggs from Francesco's chickens on the farm next to us. The plan for the day is a short walk, a lunch at a local restaurant known for it's great tasting cuisine and an early return home. We are off as Rolf skillfully rolls us down the rollercoaster road to the seaside town of Scario.

Scaria waterfront

Bettina points out our destination to a cave about 2hr. walking distance from here.

The dragonfly's are out but we have not seen one mosquito so they must be eating other things in Italy.

Italian designed Dragonfly

This view along the trail shows the beauty of this rugged coastline where the water is a turquoise blue reflecting the bottom underneath the water.

We return via an orange orchard where Rolf snags some low hanging fruit and we taste a delicious orange right off the tree.

On our way to a spring delivering clean fresh water where we fill our water bottles we pass a group of horned cattle with bells on.  The bells create a delightful, continuous melodic sound as the cows move along munching grass.

When we arrive at the restaurant the air is filled with wonderful aromas which indicate Bettina and Rolf have made a good choice.  The ante pasta and homemade pasta prove to be every bit as delicious as the smells indicated. 

Our next stop was at an archaeological dig where structures from 300-400 BC were under investigation from a team from Perugia and University of Montreal. This area was very helpful in understanding the life of the Lucanian people who settled here with influences from Greece.

Lucanian rock wall from 300 B.C.

A lovely man met us at the site and guided us through the ruins and then invited us to his home just above the site and gave us a glass of wine made from the grapes growing over his picnic area.

This man owns the land that was under archeological investigation.

Lynne tasting the grapes.

Someone breathed the word gelato and we travelled over another roller coaster road to the town of Sabri where, not only did we get gelato but Cathy was able to purchase some new knitting needles.  The sun was setting over the Mediterranean as we drove back to our home.