Maratea

1/10/2008
Madam GPS led us on some pretty hair raising goat tracks to get to Maratea on the west coast. The area is very rugged and mountainous. We drove some very windy hairpin bend roads to get here. Madam GPS took us off the beaten track as we were on the highway and be directed to "turn left" which we obediently did although we had reservations, as it was onto a narrow potholed unmade laneway. We ended up driving through villagers back yards, across country and a bit of a steep dip before we were back on the highway again. It seemed we had just cut off a hairpin bend in the road. We became very suspicious of Madam GPS after that experience and didn't believe all she told us to do.
Maratea is on the Tyrrhenian Coast south of the Amalfi Coast. It is situated on a rugged escarpment of Mt Blaise and is a cluster of small villages that cascade down the mountainside and along the edge of the sea. We are staying at a small hamlet called Cersuta perched on the hillside overlookng the Tyrrhenian Sea. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch and asked directions to our B & B and the waitress pointed out a pink house and we thought... too easy! And it wasn't... as we had to manouvre down a very steep goat track between 2 houses. Anyway, we got here and our B & B is lovely with our own balcony overlooking the garden and a view of the sea. The pet white rabbit is having a lovely time hopping about freely and nibbling the grass.
We found a supermarket and bank and a good pizzeria at the next village of Fumicello.