Summary - Wed - bus to Messina, ferry ..Train to Consenza - Thu - Nice hostel so stay an extra day - Fri - leave ..get to Greek ruined city of Paestrum - Sat - Onto Salerno - disappointing Wed - Train to Consenza - OK I read upto about the Deep South and decided that only 2 places were worth trying : Cosenza for it's untouristed old town and Sappi for its cave houses (but it's off my route to Napoli). So bus to Messina 30 minute ferry to Villa San Giovani, 2 hours trying get transport info, train upto Paola and to Cosenza. - Walked 2Km from the station through the new town to the old town. Got to youth hostel, a good one. - People are particulary friendly - met Giovanni (Italian who used to live in Manchester), Francesco Martorana (Doctrate and street actor his web) and a woman who showed me around the women of the revolution exhibition. - There was a student staying at the hostel cos he can't stay at his girlfriends house, with such old values is a wonder that on CS there are negative for Italian men being pushy on foreign women. - Thu - I decide to stay another night at the hostel. €15 is more expensive than recent free camping, but saved €2 cos free wifi, and another €2 cos can cook and make tea/coffee and breakfast is worth another €2. I went to the National Gallery and bemused the guards by going around the whole lot in 5 minutes ..art means nothing to me, I enjoyed the supermarket, then went up to the castle which of course was chuiso ... Good views, just wandered around. - Back to hostel for tea and internet. Went into new town at night, bumped into Joy a teacher CSer, but it was her last night in town.

Fri - Full Days travel, Greek City and Sleep all for 7 Euro - I picked Salerno as the next place to move to as : not too big, nor too touristy and has old town and castle, and there is another hostel. - Bit of a bargain day.. I left late and as I rushed to board the train, the ticket machine would give change only a credit note. Then the train got cancelled, but they couldn't change the ticket instead they let me travel all the way to Paestrum ruin of the walls and temples from an ancient Greek city. Since it was culture week museums and archaelogical sites are all free or 9 days. - They are crap at raising revenue, not only do they not charge pensioners who can afford to pay, their normal prices are too high so put a lot of people off. So instead of having one half price day to get the spendthrifts in they have this 9 days during which a lot of rich people who were expectingnto pay get in for free. - Anyway by the time I got out of the museum the site was of course chiuso early .. Didn't bother me much as I could see the big columns of the 3 temples through the fence. Camped nearby and got the first train in the morning. Sat - Salerno a bit disappointing - When I got to the hostel it was nowhere near as good as the last one. No kitchen so I had to throw away the food I bought, no free wifi, and no good atmophere just noisy German school groups. - Walked around old town , the museum was chuiso for renovation, then the garden was chuiso, then the footpath upto the castle was chuiso .. So I jumped the fence anyway. When I got up to the castle it was free to visit, but mostly just a place for views. At night I walked around the 4 stages of a mini-Spring music festival alone as no CSers wanted to meetup.