The Lost Southern Italy Files Volume 4, 9 giugno

I don't know if I'm depressed to actually put together my presentation for the conference on Friday, be on this bus for the next 6 hours, be leaving the South (again), or have to run around Europe by myself again for the next few weeks. Or a combination of all these factors.
Last night in Eboli we had dinner at a pretty low key pizzaria until the chef brought out what I'm pretty sure was a karaoke machine that "fell off the back of a truck". He insisted that Americans loved karaoke, and a few people in our group got up to sing just to stop him from singing. Really terrible, but also really funny.
Another early morning to a coffee roaster in Salerno called Castorino. It's impossible (and very bad planning) to do a tour through a translator in a roasting and grinding warehouse. I couldn't hear anything that was said, but it was thankfully short and I had two much needed espressi at the end. From here, we went to the ancient Minerva gardens, used to grown tons of medicinal herbs and flowers built into a building that looks like it could fall off a cliff overlooking the sea. Based on ancient humoral theory, the garden is segmented into the different "humors" and the herbs and fruits are planted accordingly with temperature and light. We had some refreshing infusion tea sitting at chipped tables overlooking the beautiful town - licorice root, rosemary and mint was perfect on such a hot day, paired with biscotti made with hazelnuts from the trees growing under the unrelenting sun.
Lunch was basic pizza, and we strolled to the main Basilica in town, complete with the requisite Padre Pio, the favorite Saint of Southern Italy, and one of my favorites. We are now on what might be one of the longest bus rides I have ever been on in addition to being incredibly unnecessary when Italy has such an extensive and well connected rail system. I understand it's hard to organize trains with transfers for such a large group, but I hate wasting nine hours sitting on a bus. Our professors though are good spirited about it. Lisa bought sfoiatelle filled with sour cherries, my favorite Italian pastry prepared in a way I've never tasted. I didn't know it could have been any better. We passed around wild strawberries, small and sweet, and drank cold prosecco out of plastic cups from the Autogrill (the most amazing rest stop in the history of highways), listening to music and planning out the rest of our summers. Joe said it best - it's just nice to have made friends with a group of people who are so obsessed with food and dining in NYC as we all are. I hope we actually do half the things we've talked about. It's shaping up to be quite a fantastic rest of the summer.