The Amalfi Coast

Boat Ride * Atrani Beach * Amalfi * Paper Mill * Bus Ride along Amalfi Coast

14,379 steps

Our day started off with some anxiety as Eric tried to get our car out of a parallel parking spot on a steep hill.  He couldn't get enough power between the clutch and gas to get the car going backwards and the car kept slipping forward within inches of the car in front of us.  Stuck and without a solution we decided to abandon our plan A for the day, which required a car, and move onto plan B.  We said a little prayer that we'd come up with a solution - or that the car in front of us would be gone by the time we got back.

We headed to the town of Amalfi via boat taxi from Salerno.  The coastline of the Amalfi Coast was beautiful from the ocean and a few times our boat got close enough to the shore that we could see the rocks and caves on the steep mountainside.  We arrived in Amalfi and decided to ditch the crowds and walk 15 minutes to Atrani.  We walked up some stairs, through some narrow alleyways, around a seaside side walk with drops into the sea and down some more stairs to the free public beach.  (Along the way we changed our clothes in a mostly private area of the walkway - better than on the beach though).  We enjoyed the beach for a couple of hours, but without boogie boards or cousins, there wasn't a lot to do.  The "sand" was really rocks and the beach dropped so quickly that the water was deep fast.  We napped and relaxed and enjoyed the perfect sunshine.

Back in Amalfi we toured a paper mill that was built in the 1300s and was in operation until 1969.  It is "powered" by water and the mills still work if the right doors are opened.  The kids got to put the paste onto a screen and make some real cotton paper.

Our ride back to Vietri was via bus along the twisty, windy, steep Amalfi coast.  I was anxious as I thought of the headlines back home "Bus full of Tourists falls into the Mediterranean".  I can't believe the buses can go that close to the edge on one side and cars on the other and not hit something!

Back in Vietri Eric had the brilliant idea of putting big rocks behind the back wheels of our car as he gunned the gas and clutch and slowly backed up our car 3 feet - enough to pull it out of the parting spot.  However, since there are not other parking spots in town - we left it there, hoping no one would sandwiches us in as we need to leave for church at 8:30 a.m.

Boat to Amalfi

Amalfi Coast

Atrani Beach

Somewhere between Amalfi and Atrani

Amalfi Cathedral

Paper Mill

Day 6 - Sorrento, Pompeii, Amalfi

             Our hotel had a wonderful little patio breakfast area that felt very European.  We enjoyed having breakfast ready for us rather than getting it from the corner grocery store or fruit stand.

Breakfasting with Jodi and Rich

          We had an early start (as usual) as we needed to get back from Pompeii by 11:30 for out tour of the Amalfi Coast.  We jumped on the Circumvesviana train headed back towards Naples, but got off at the Pompeii Ruins.  A short 5 minutes walk and we were at Pompeii.

Mount Vesuvius framed by the arch

Pompeii Ruins

It’s hard to believe that the Naples Bay use to reach this port city AND that it could be completely covered by volcanic ash preserving it miraculously.  The map was really hard to follow and even though we tried our best to do a self guided tour, we got lost many times in the labyrinth of tiny streets.  At one point we lost Jeff for a long time.  We stumbled into a well preserved Roman house, complete with frescos on the walls.  It was easy to visualize a family living there.  We saw their church, their forum, the homes of the rich and the homes of the common man.  It wasn’t overly crowded and we really could have used another hour just to cement Pompeii into our minds. 

Getting lost and consulting the map

Unfortunately we had an appointment and to the credit of our tour guide, he was there waiting for us when we got off of the train back in Sorrento.

           

Amalfi Coast

         We had decided to hire a driver to talk us along the Amalfi Coast so we could enjoy the scenery and also so we could explore some cities without needing to worry about parking a car.  Bernardo was our guide; a round, happy, energetic fellow that became my best friend as soon as he learned I spoke Italian.  He would start his sentence in English so the group could understand, but two words in, he would switch to Italian and ask me to translate.  He handed me the microphone and let me play tour guide.  His favorite thing to say was “A cosa importante” and then proceed to tell me either something on the tour or that I needed to open my own tour business and get rich.  The next favorite thing he liked to say was “Allora” which I later learned everyone though he was saying my name over and over and everyone just laughed and laughed in the back of the bus.  He loved to point out the fancy villas and homes of famous people, he made several scenic stops and pullovers, every view was stunning.  The road itself is intense and Bernardo did a great job of maneuvering the tight turns and oncoming traffic. 

Our fist stop was lunch at a romantic, cliff-side restaurant over-looking the Mediterranean.  The food was beautifully present and served.  We had mashed potatoes and flying squid, a mild fish skinned and boned table-side, and the a sea-food dish with pasta.  It was pleasant to sit and enjoy something fancy with such a nice view. 

After lunch we continued our scenic drive until we veered up the mountain to a small town called Ravello.  There were no cars allowed in the center of town, which was tiny.  We were given an hour or so to just wander and get lost.  There were stairs everywhere nand the further we wandered down we saw signs with directions to other towns along the Amalfi Coast.  Back in the day before there were streets for cars these people must have had the strongest legs in all of Italy as they walked up and down stairs all day long in their own towns and to get to other places.  There happened to be a funeral in the little church at the center of town.  We caught the processional just as we were leaving.

Getting off the main drag in Amalfi

            Our next stop was Amalfi which claims the church of Saint Andrew and supposedly his bones as well.  We enjoyed the church but skipped the extra fee to see some bones, I guess we were done with relics after 3 ½ days in Rome.  Amalfi definitely had the stores catering to the tourists.  We tried to avoid the main drag, getting lost in the side streets.  Our drive back to Sorrento was quiet and peaceful, Bernardo even turned on some beautiful Italian music that I wish we could have gotten a copy of all the songs.  However, just as we returned to town Bernardo wanted to talk Italian/American culture and politics.  My Italian only gets me so far and politics is not a good conversation for me.  Oh well.  It was a good day and I got a real Italian baci on the cheeks for it.  I told my friends that I wanted to start greeting them each morning with a bacio, but I generally forgot.  That’s a custom I miss and could get use to doing again.

Bus Tour with Bernaldo

            Our evening was a quiet stroll through town.  Eric and I found a small salumeria and got prosciutto Sandwiches after which we walked down to the ocean overlook.  It was dark, so we couldn’t see much, but it was beautiful.  The evening was finished off with a nice gelato before bed.  I can get use to this living.