Amalfi Coast

The Amalfi Coast.

                             Even if you have never been there, you are definitely familiar with both some places and photos of the same, because it is hard to find a ”Most Beautiful….” type calendar, travel book, or Microsoft suggested home page, without a photo of this region.

                             And for good reason.

                             This may have been one of our more anticipated excursions of the trip. My mind’s eye had already satisfied itself, I just needed it to be done for real and for it to be introduced to Paula.

                             But…… (well, not really a but,) although this port started out with a negative/positive aspect. We were supposed to anchor off of Sorrento, which means “Water Shuttle” (Boo). Two days before we arrived, the Captain got on the squawk box and announced that our position would be changed to Naples, where we would dock! (Yay)

                             But…… that meant that all of our arrangements needed to be addressed, which gave us the possibility of cancellation because Naples is a full hour north of Sorrento and not all of these Tours By Locals are geared for that. Plus it added an hour (each way) of “commuting” to our already day-long schedule.

                              But….. it turned out not to be that much of an issue. Our guide-of-record, Peppe, swung us over to Sal who lives in Naples. Peppe lives just above Positano, which is still further south of Sorrento. Sal was right on time (again) and with a slightly heavier Italian accent tainting his monologue we drove off. It was Easter Sunday, so we did not have a clue as to what to expect. Would it be quieter? Busier? Slower? Traffic? Crowds? or no one around?

                                      Yes.

                             We first had a geography lesson on our drive towards Sorrento and points south. One of the advantages of being up in Naples to start was that we needed to skirt the infamous Mount Vesuvius which, on this crystal-clear morning was a treat. Sal informed us all about the Apennines, the mountain range that runs down this side of Italy and its various geologic composition’s.

                             One thing was noted in this region of Italy….

No one goes to the beach.

That’s because there aren’t any!

          The sea pretty much comes right up to the base of these mountains, hills, and cliffs that make this area so dramatic. All of those photos that I alluded to before would not be in existence if there were a “normal” coastline with long sandy beaches and relatively flat surroundings.

                             Instead, it goes like this….

                                      Ocean

                                      Waves.

                                      Rocks.

                                      Cliffs.

                                      Really steep hills.

                                      Mountains.

                                      Sky.

                                      Outer Space.

                   Or something like that, but that’s about it!

                   The way that Europe has managed the terrain for all of these centuries is a sight to be seen. I guess that humanity has pretty much handled whatever hand it has been dealt when it come to living in questionable lands, so this area is not really so much a surprise as it is a delight! Once again, I will let that new camera take over for a while!

                             Driving the Amalfi Coast is quite an experience! I should say “riding in a vehicle” because thankfully Sal did the driving! Not only are the roads narrower, and windier, but toss in a few thousand motor scooter/cycles that all pass in-between you and the oncoming traffic (with surprising ease) and you got a recipe for disaster.

                   But it never seems to come.

                   Instead you get a recipe for some incredible foods!

                   This is because of two main reasons.

1. Everyone drives like a maniac, so this it comes with no surprises, it’s business as usual.
2. They really know their gastro-skills over here, examples a little later!

          Our first stop was the hillside village of Positano. I guess that I don’t need to add “hillside” as an adjective here as these places are all on a hillside, but now you know for sure! If you think that driving here is an experience, you should try parking! Luckily, Sal has been doing this for a while and has figured out all the tricks including probably “encouraging” the guy at the parking area to keep a spot up front for him when he calls with a tour. These parking areas make the ones in NYC look like they are on a prairie in Kansas! Armed with instructions and a time limit we forged our way into the tiny winding streets (?) of Positano. Yes, these are streets because some people have the right to drive (squeeze?) on them, even when there are multi-thousands of “Hey! I’m walkin’ here!” pedestrians. This was “Touron Heaven”, and it was so obvious, but at the same time it was so nice! The weather was awesome, the aromas wafting out of the storefront eateries were incredible, and the colors of everything else were just eye candy for the other senses! Once again, everywhere we turned was another great view…. out to sea, up the hill, or right in front of us, this was the Amalfi Coast Experience that we were looking for!   

                   After Positano we furthered our trip by still more hill-hugging drives on our way to the town that gave its name to this area, that of Amalfi. Amalfi does have a beach of sorts, but nothing like the white sandy beaches of New Jersey! But then, we don’t have the cute cliff-clinging towns of Amalfi either! Sal let us off at the circle in the park at the foot of Amalfi. We went across and entered through hole in the buildings that led us down another “road” and up, and into, the heart of the town. The always present big church was there along with the always present shops. Amalfi was not nearly as neat and tidy as Positano was, may be like comparing Seaside Heights to Beach Haven, but both are great in their own ways  😊

                   Between Positano and Amalfi there are numerous, maybe less famous, but by no means less beautiful, little spots. We chanced a view from a pullout that Sal liked overlooking Praiano, which had this nifty little hotel that I think I want to buy and run forever! Once again, you are all welcome here, we will keep a room open for free, you just need to let us know when you are coming so that we don’t double book you!

          We left the coast after Amalfi and headed up into the hills on our way to lunch, where we were to finally meet our original guide, Peppe. We stopped at a little roadside stand that had a “Dining Room” attached to it. This dining room had a tentlike roof, complete with clear plastic walls that ebbed and flowed with the rather chilly buffeting breezes that were present at this hilltop location.

          We immediately had our doubts as to what was going on. All we could see was a rack full of potato chips and a cooler filled with sodas and Monsters! (I did not have one ☹). Sherry, who is the most vocal one of our group, was not taking any chances so she immediately went to Peppe and asked about our “lunch”. Coming away assured that we were indeed going to receive our “Local Agratourismo” affair that we had planned on, we felt a lot better, thanks to Sherry!

                   We felt even better when the victuals started to arrive. Once again, bound and determined not to be picky, I ate all that was put in front of me, sans the wine. No more multi-glassed events for me! We had some dish that had eggplant, zucchini, and various other unidentified vegetable-type things in it and it was delicious! Sorry, but I neglected to take photos of that lunch, but it was good! During this time we learned that Peppe was the owner of this plastic epicurean haven and that his wife did the cooking.

 All was good until we received the check.

It came to 250E, or 50 Euros per person.

This was about double what we expected and double what it was worth. Now don’t get me wrong, everything was very tasty, but not worth that much, especially considering that everyone split just two bottles of wine. It was even more disturbing realizing that Peppe was the owner and that the plan was to bring us here all along. It seemed a little self-serving. Comparing that experience with the days before lunch in Sicily where we were in a nice restaurant with real walls, no drafts, and multiple courses and multiple wines, which ended up costing less that this day’s (at 45E)…. Well, let’s just say we were not really happy. Once again, our Spokesperson Sherry questioned Peppe about it and was successful in getting our bill reduced to 200E, which was better, but far from acceptable. We racked it up to our inexperience in these parts that requires anyone to first inquire about exactly what one will be receiving and at what price this will be delivered.

Lesson learned!

Obviously somewhat disappointed, but at least sated, we clambered aboard Sal’s van, and we went further up into the mountains to the little hamlet of Ravello, another walled city from a long time ago.

This place was quite nice, a tad chilly as that ever-present breeze was not easing up at all, but all was good, and this village helped ease the smarts still clinging after our lunch.

Sal brought us back home by going over the mountains, as trying to get back through the winding seaside goat paths that brought us here in the morning would have only succeeded in us needing to get rooms at our new favorite cliff-clinging hotel and missing the ship!

Over the mountains we went and Sal (of course) knew of a great overlook that laid Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Mt. Vesuvius at our feet before we traveled back north to Naples and our floating home.