Grotte di Castellana: 18 March 2013

OK, so what do you do when you are scheduled to walk a kilometer or more from a parking area and stand out in a field discussing Hannibal and the Punic Wars and it is raining? Well, being SYA we almost did it anyway. But, seeing as I was left in charge when our director had to be elsewhere and no one on the faculty really wanted to do it, we persuaded the trip organizer to divert from the schedule and find something else to do. That ultimately involved a trip to the Grotte di Castellana. The 3 kilometer cave, discovered in 1938, is among the most famous and important in Italy. The caves themselves are a karst formation and feature many interesting stalactites and stalagmites.

The main cavern, referred to as The Abyss, has an opening in the roof some 60 meters above your head through which the rain was falling, so we didn’t miss out on it entirely.

We did the shorter itinerary, spending around an hour being guided through the various parts of the cave. They do not allow pictures except in the principle cavern, so there isn’t much to show.

It was interesting in that it marked the second time this year that we found ourselves underground with a group of 60+ teenagers. What was more unusual is that Amy and I ended up underground again roughly a week later on Gibraltar as I have already blogged. While wandering the area waiting for our tour to begin we happened into a shop where Amy struck up a conversation with the owner. It turns out he had given up a career as a PhD Robotics Designer to return home and take up the family business. He didn’t regret it in the least. Made me wonder what I should be doing. But wait, being a college professor IS the family business!