Photo Class on the Amalfi Coast

A few weeks ago, I took a trip to Sorrento that was also a photography class taught by Renee Williams and with Beth Moskal assisting her (to all my D.C. friends, Beth is moving to D.C. in a few weeks and will be setting up her photography business - she's fabulous, so keep her in mind for your family photos - click on her name here to reach her website!). Nathan and I upgraded our camera soon after moving to Italy, and we both love to take photos of our travels. I have a part time job just sorting, editing, and labeling all the photos we take...and boy am I behind right now! Below are a few of my favorites from the trip...

And just for fun...in case you can't make out the words on the blue part...this is a Titti Dispenser - and only 1euro, too!

Lost on the Amalfi Coast

I'm not sure how we ended up lost on the Amalfi Coast. It's pretty much only one road down the coastline, but I think we've proven that if it's possible to get lost, we will. I had planned to take Ma to see Positano, the popular, Amalfi town that was so popular with both of her daughters on their Italian sojourns earlier this year. Ma and I set off on a sunny, warm day two weeks ago now, driving through terrible traffic, past Pompeii and Ercolano, through a tunnel cutting out several small towns and their corresponding, small streets, bypassed Sorrento, and came to a screeching halt just a few kilometers before the coast road actually becomes the coast road. Perplexed, I sat there staring at a big, road closure sign. Sadly, the sign had no details - as in, closed for only a few kilometers, closed for a few hours, closed for construction, closed due to accident, and most importantly, no "closed and here's your detour arrow." Knowing through painful experience just how useless my GPS would be in actually providing an alternate route, I used my incredible powers of navigation to drive us onto the tip of the Sorrentine Peninsula looking for the long way 'round...and promptly got us stuck onto a serpentine, donkey path no wider than the car (we were thankfully in the car with side mirrors that fold in!), at which point I reached full panic mode in thinking I was going to have to back the car out of this predicament. This is Nathan's forte, NOT mine. I remember muttering over and over, "This is a nightmare." There may have been some hyperventilation involved. The sheer relief when we exited into a parking lot the width of two of my cars - well, I really just can't describe it.

Once we managed to get on a road that gave us at least five inches of wiggle room, I determined that I was done searching for an alternate route. The town of Sorrento won by default. Of course, this was after I spotted a road sign pointing the way to Positano and excitedly followed it for five or ten minutes before realizing the route was taking us right back to the road closure sign. Yet another U-turn and we really were on our way to Sorrento. I like Sorrento okay, but I haven't been in love with it like many Americans here. I don't crave a visit to Sorrento. But this trip, for the first time, I really, really liked it. The sky was so blue, and I took a good, enjoying look at the colorful buildings that were oh-so-Italy. Corals and yellows and ochers, pretty balconies, palm trees waving, the sea sparkled at the end of the town's dividing gorge. Naturally, we'd arrived at riposo. A few shops were open, and there were just enough open to enjoy the pedestrian zone, but not so many as to be overwhelming. And glory be, we found gelato! Bad morning salvaged.

 

Mom's Visit

While I have taken my mom to some of the same places we've taken our other guests, like downtown Naples, Herculaneum, and Positano, we've also done some things new to me as well. Such as finally getting Ischia right (see previous post) and finally visiting the Baia Castle, home to an Archaeological Museum. The Baia Castle was a biggie to visit because we can see it from our house. And yet, nine months in this country with no visit to the museum that's almost literally in my backyard.

Baia was a big deal among the Roman emperor crowd. They had parties that would have put 1980s Hollywood bashes to shame. And they partied in villas that once lined the shore, but now provide some supposedly fascinating diving since they're all underwater after years of the earth shifting in this volcanic region. The museum holds some of the things brought up from those villas, but most of the exhibits we saw were treasures found at the Cuma settlement and other artifacts from the Campi Flegrei region. And yet again, I've seen how underutilized these amazing archaeological areas are. While there was a large crowd of schoolkids on a field trip, other than that group, Mom and I were it for visitors. We headed to a different floor than the kids and had the entire museum to ourselves. The exhibits have well done, English translations, they show a variety of ancient life (from a bit of jewelry to statues to funerary urns and beyond), and they even have a cast of an Egyptian wadi (like a grotto in the desert near water) that is home to about 80 pieces of early graffiti (dating to about 4th century BC). Why would that be in a somewhat obscure museum on a small peninsula in Italy? Because the oldest graffiti was done by the freed slave of one of Pozzuoli's wealthy residents, and he apparently discovered, by happenstance, a really awesome trade route between Ceylon and Aden. This was a big deal, and so, his graffiti lives on. So next time you see, carved into a wall, "John + Lara were here, 2gether 4ever" with a big heart around it, don't be so quick to turn up your nose. One day, that might be important.

Roman road sign that means "River ahead"

In other news, we visited Herculaneum (Ercolano), and I took loads more pics of the frescoes so I can begin creating my "Frescoes of Ercolano" album. While I enjoyed seeing Pompeii's frescoes in the Naples Archaeological Museum, there is really nothing like seeing frescoes and mosaics where they belong. Being able to walk on the same mosaic floor or sit in a house and stare at the fresco it's owner commissioned two millenia ago allows us to get a unique window into their lives and stories. We also took a daytrip to Positano, down on the Amalfi Coast. I love Positano in the off season, but it's even better now. We've had limited and expensive food options on our prior trips, but now, charming cafes are open all over the place, and all the shops are going full speed. We'd not left enough time to lounge about on the beach - maybe next week.

Mom on the Amalfi Coast

An Amalfi Easter

Do I even make the cheesy joke...yes: A God on the Path of the Gods

Waking up on Easter morn, celebrating the special day by enjoying the beauty of Creation and hearing the church bells, we were slow in getting out the door for our hike. Eventually, daypacks were filled with water and oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies (very important), Scully was leashed and ready, and we walked out our hotel's gates and directly onto the hiking path, Sentiero degli Dei (Path of the Gods), as it winds out of Nocelle.

"A journey is an occasion which can be renewed as a choice and a measure of an interior wish:

in this sense, it is right to restore the fantasy again, starting from the Path of the Gods, that road suspended above the magic bay of the Sirens, furrowed again today by memory and myth."

Italo Calvino

The Path of the Gods: 7 km from Bomerano to Positano - our guess is the Nocelle to Positano stretch, those 2000 steps I mentioned earlier, are about 1 km, meaning our hike was about 6km each way. Each way because of our dog, cute as he is, can be a problem! The typical hiker will begin at one end, and at the other, take a bus back to the city of the starting point, either Nocelle or Positano or Bomerano. Scully was not allowed on the bus, so we decided early on that we'd just turn around and do the hike back. The most recommended hike is east to west, from Bomerano to Nocelle. We were doing it backwards to start due to our hotel location, but that worked out well for us. As we neared the end, we began passing groups, large and small, of other hikers, going in the "right" direction - so for us, we were out of the pack and had the entire hike to ourselves. The first part of the hike winds around the cliff fingers that stretch into the sea, so for awhile, we hiked along the outer edge, enjoying the ocean view. Then we'd head back inland and pass through shady, cool forests as we curved around to the next cliff finger. Every single step, curve, or new view is incredible. It is one of the best hikes either of us has ever done. Towards the end of our first leg, we began seeing civilization. Whereas the beginning of the hike, we looked down (far, far down) onto the coastal towns, at the end, we passed terraces of wine groves and olive trees, a convent in the distance, some abandoned, stone houses, and then a very small neighborhood. And at the very end (or start, depending on your route), a cliff with medieval animal pens cut into the rock.

Hikers we'd met had told us that the end/start in Bomerano was in a cute town with a piazza and a nice coffee bar. We were excited for this, right up until we started into town and had every stray dog around come out snarling and growling. Not cool, and I wasn't up to the tenseness of having to fight off packs of strays to keep our knucklehead out of a fight, so we elected to turn around, foregoing that ice cold Coca-Cola I'd been dreaming about the last couple of kilometers. Since we had packed lunch, in addition to our oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies, we headed back to a previously passed picnic table with a view - possibly the best located picnic table in the world:

And the best view was at the end of the hike, when instead of facing 2000 down steps to Positano, we were looking at the gates to our hotel. We spent the afternoon on the balcony and then wandered back down to the trattoria for another fantastic meal. The only marring bit to the weekend was when Nathan took Scully out for his consitutional, he found out that Nocelle has it's very own pack of mean strays, and theirs includes a German Shepherd. Thankfully, Nathan was close to the hotel at the time and was able to scare the dogs away to give him enough time to get back, but that meant Scully did not get to go on our walk around town the following morning. Instead, we took a load of luggage, located the pack of strays (who were all napping in the parking lot - how convenient for them to be right near our car), went on a walk around the upper part of town (and found an alternate route to the car), conversed with one of the residents out doing some gardening, then headed home to spend the rest of La Pasquetta (Monday after Easter) napping.

The rest of this post is for people who want to actually hike the path - logistics and such:

For anyone else who wants to hike the Path of the Gods, we had trouble finding directions that actually made sense. Here's my attempt at explaining where to start, end, and the like.

The main part of the hike is between Bomerano and Nocelle (above Positano). There are plenty of other hikes in the region as well as options galore, so I'll just concentrate on this main part. Every info site I read said you should hike from east (Bomerano) to west (Nocelle/Positano). It doesn't really matter. If you want to go in the opposite direction, just stop and turn around to make sure you're taking in everything. We enjoyed both directions. Don't bother taking two cars and doing the ferrying thing - that takes as much time as just using the local bus system. On the hike, follow the red marks. They are located fairly often, either painted on rocks or red tape around trees. It took us 2.5 hours to hike it the first time and 3 hours the second. This is with several photo-op stops, water breaks, and lunch break.

Bomerano to Nocelle: There is plenty of parking at the start of the hike. Info says there is a pay parking lot in town, near the piazza. I have no idea why one would pay to park further when there is street parking all along the trailhead - maybe it's a no parking area, so I suppose you park at your own risk, like anywhere. In Bomerano, get on Via Colle Serra and drive it to the trailhead, marked with a huge sign and paved path to start. Hike the path. Once you pass the monument (large, needle rock with a plaque on it), you will come to a T intersection with an old stone house on your right. You can turn right here and follow a high path - we didn't do this, so I have no idea where it connects to the main path, if at all. We turned left and immediate right, which takes you down to another T with a sign. Go left for Priano or go right to continue Path of the Gods hike. After you leave this area, your next village is Nocelle. In Nocelle, you will take a left turn onto the paved path into town, then another left turn down some stairs. At the second landing, you are standing in front of iron gates for Residence Villa Degli Dei. Turn right here and follow the alley to a small piazza, across a walkway, and now you have two options: (1) Go past a set of stairs going up. There is a sign that says "Positano" and you will be headed down. Prepare for a long walk down a lot of stairs to Positano, where you can get a SITA bus back to Bomerano - not sure, but I think the buses pick up at the beginning of Positano's pedestrian zone. Buy a ticket in the Tabacchi and ask the guy there where the bus stop is (dov' e fermata per autobus a Bomerano); (2) There are stairs going up that go to a parking lot. At the top of the parking lot (not where the bench is) is the bus stop. We never did figure out if the bus goes all the way to Positano or if it stops in Montepertuso, and there you change buses. You can buy those tickets on the bus.

Positano or Nocelle to Bomerano: Two options again for parking: (1) Park in one of the pay lots in Positano - best ones, if there's space, are either the gas station lot about a block before the pedestrian zone begins or the lot right at the start of the pedestrian zone. These are expensive and crowded in the summer. Parking in Positano means you have to get on the bus to Montepertuso and then Nocelle. We didn't ever get on this bus, so I'm not sure where it picks up, but I believe it picks up at the start of the pedestrian zone. This bus is not a SITA bus, and you should be able to pay onboard, although I'd have correct change. If you don't want to do the bus, you'll need to hike up the steps. Unfortunately, I don't know where they leave out of Positano, but they go up towards Montepertuso, then on to Nocelle.

Alternatively, drive to Montepertuso, through it, and then park along the street. Nocelle has a pay lot - the road to Nocelle ends at it. I don't know who you pay as there was never an attendant nor is there a pay machine. We parked along the street, for free. Our car was there for three days, and we didn't have any trouble, but I have no idea if the spot was legal or not. If you park in the lot, make sure you're in spots outlined in blue. Yellow spots are for residents. Once you're parked, do not take the road that says something like "Alta Via" out of the parking lot. Instead, go to the back corner of the lot and take the stairs down. Turn left at bottom of stairs and follow the path. Go through a small piazza, and when you come to a four way intersection, take the stairs going up to the left (with a sign that says "Sentiero degli Dei." Those stairs end and path goes right. Voila - you're on the path. Enjoy it. The next time you pass an inhabited house, you'll come to a 3-way intersection. Going straight takes you to Priano. Turn left (past the "sink as a water trough") and go down a short alley to a T intersection. Turn left and then immediately right, walking with the falling down, stone house on your left side. Continue on to when the path becomes paved. As you pass the trailhead on this end, you'll see stairs going down and a new looking, paved path. Take that into Bomerano's piazza. Here, you can get a SITA bus back to Positano. I don't know where it picks up, but you will need to get a ticket at the Tabacchi. Alternatively, our hotel suggested we get a bus from Bomerano to Amalfi, then take the ferry from Amalfi to Positano. It's more scenic and fun, but more expensive. Still, a nice option.

To the Mountains

Easter has some beautiful and special traditions here. There are haunting walks on Good Friday, where men (I think it's usually men) carry a replica of the body of Christ, there are choir chants, special robes, candles after dark, the whole bit. We attended none of these. Why? I do not know. I wish we'd made more of an effort, and next year, we hope to do exactly that. Instead, we booked a last minute stay in the tiny, mountain town of Nocelle, located high above coastal Positano.

Scully at the lunch restaurant mentioned below - he loves vacation!

Our trip was due to one of Nathan's co-workers, who asked if we'd like to hike a 7km (4.3miles) trail known as the Path of the Gods, named for it's stunning beauty along the Amalfi Coast. We've wanted to hike it since our arrival, but have had the luxury of being Little Red Riding Hood about our time - not when it's too cold, and not when it's too hot, and not when it's raining. April is perfect. Unfortunately, Nathan's co-workers were going this upcoming weekend, when we're not available, but the seed was planted. At the last second, we found Residence Villa Degli Dei in Nocelle, a town we'd never heard of. The hotel would take our Crazy Dog...and it is located right on the Path of the Gods...and they have a parking lot (paid, but still, parking)...and it is above Positano, a town we both love. Sold!

Saturday morning, we loaded up and headed south, fighting all the other Amalfi Coast traffic along the way. Needing a break, we stopped at Grotta Smeraldo (Emerald Grotto). With only one spot left in their parking lot, we pulled in high above the water, then dragged Scully down a few steps to the elevator. He's terrified inside elevators, so that didn't go well, but it was a quick trip down to the the sea level, where the grotto is located. There, we headed into a tiny grotto, where we got into a five bench rowboat (with Scully - he does like boats, so no problems there). After some more tourists arrived, the rower shoved off and rowed us about five feet to get a better look at the glowing water. It's a beautiful color where an underground opening in the grotto lets in the light. The rower then rowed around the edges of the grotto, telling cheesy stories about the formations and showing us where an underwater nativity has been set up - probably to help us not feel ripped off at paying 5euros apiece. It was actually a really great stop, fun to stretch our legs and do something a little different, and it's quite a bit cheaper than visiting Capri's Blue Grotto!

Back in the car, we continued along the coastal road, my foot pressing the imaginary brake that sits on my side of the car at every turn - every single curve seemed to also hold a massive, tour bus swinging around it! We were starving, but thought we'd get on to our hotel, until we passed a restaurant right along the road but with sweeping views from it's outdoor tables. We've gotten used to beautiful views here, but this restaurant was really something special! After a nice lunch and back in the car for good, we continued on to Nocelle. We had to stop in Positano at another hotel, where we were to meet a man who would guide us up to Nocelle. He was already up in Nocelle though, so the hotel clerk gave us directions up into the mountains that ended with: "Follow this road until it ends, then look for a man in a black shirt." This was when I started to have second thoughts. And up we went. Climbing, climbing, climbing, with the two-way road getting smaller and smaller - and it did indeed end, right at a little parking lot, where not one, but two, men in black were there to greet us.

Good thing, too. What we didn't know was that Nocelle is a pedestrian only town, accessible from the parking lot via a bunch of stairs, then a tree-lined walkway over a gorge, then some little alleys to navigate. We're light packers, but had not packed for this type of haul. The men helped us carry our two weekend bags, two daypacks for hiking, food basket (it being Easter, we had no idea what sort of restaurants would be open), and Scully's bag with food, bowls, portable dog crate, and toys. Oh...and our six pack of 1.5liter water bottles. But our hotel - oh my! And the town! The weekend ended up being one of those perfect, getaway weekends that I didn't know I needed.

Nocelle is a real deal mountain town, but just gorgeous. Not a run down, country town, but charming and serene. It quite literally clings to the edge of the mountain, with lots of stairs going up and down to various houses and terraced development. Pathways are narrow and lined with hand-placed, stone walls, many with flower baskets spilling blooms down them. At the edge of town is a pizzeria (closed during our weekend) and a very, very small, salumeria (meat and cheese deli, light groceries). There is a trattoria, in which we had one of my favorite meals since we've moved to Italy, and a church. There you have it. The entire make-up of the town's commercial spots, other than a few Bed&Breakfasts or Villa hotels. So as far as things to do in town, options are relax or relax. No shops, no bars, no clubs, no nothing. It was perfect.

View in one direction from hotel balcony...

We were in a smaller room at our hotel because it had a larger bathroom - complete with tub and multi-jet shower, which we anticipated needing after our long hike. Since we were on the top floor, we had sweeping views of the ocean, with cliffs spreading out in either direction, the church steeple below our balcony (so we were in a beautiful spot to enjoy the Easter morning bells), a wonderfully appointed kitchenette to make our own breakfasts and lunches, and a bed that faced the french doors opening onto that gorgeous, ocean view. Just because we could, we'd planned to take a local bus (picking up back at the parking lot) down to Positano for dinner. The best thing that could have happened was that the bus never arrived. We'd had much discussion about the fact that we'd only have an hour in town before the last bus up to Nocelle...or face the 2000 stair walk back up to town. When the bus didn't arrive, we headed straight for the one trattoria in town, sat at yet another table with a view, and enjoyed an absolutely fantastic dinner. This restaurant got the portions exactly right - something we've never experienced here. We left full, but not too full, walked "home" along a quiet alley, woke up to the ocean view, and enjoyed our coffee while listening to the Easter morning to bells echo around the mountains.

...And view in the other direction

And then we hiked...

A Day in Sorrento

Wisteria blooming in Sorrento

My aunt and uncle left about two weeks ago, and I've been catching on my blog from both their visit and Paige and Julia's visit before that. In the intervening time, my days have been spent organizing photographs, cleaning, resting, and the like. We did take a brief trip down to Sorrento, on the Amalfi Coast, a couple of weeks ago. We'd started to feel a bit lazy on our weekends, and we don't want to leave Italy when our time is up feeling regret for lost weekends. With potential rain in the forecast, we made a plan to go to either Sorrento if weather was nice or to the Volcano Mall if it was raining. I have no idea what the Volcano Mall is other than a mall in the shape of a volcano. I don't know what stores it holds, if the volcano has mock eruptions, if it's a mall like an American mall, and so on. Nathan told me he saw a picture of it and thought it was a new soccer stadium.

Saturday dawned, and it was quite nice. The Volcano Mall is saved for another day. We elected to leave Scully at home because it's no fun dealing with our dog on a leash and every stray in a 5 mile radius snarling at him. It's actually a bit tense and frightening for me to always have to watch for attacking dogs. Things were going well for our pleasant afternoon in Sorrento...until we reached the turn-off from the Coast Road and came to a screeching halt. We crept along, unsure of how far we were from the main area, and after about half an hour, we passed a train station that I thought was the main one, so we parked in a nearby lot and began walking. As it turns out, we parked too soon - an entire town too soon. Rather than get back in the traffic, we just walked and walked and walked some more. Then we took a wrong turn and walked an extra 1/3 of a mile or so before finally reaching Sorrento's main piazza. I was not in a good mood. Nathan quickly realized he should get gelato into me fast - he knows exactly how to cheer me up!

Much restored, we returned to the main piazza to take in the beautiful vista to the sea. We'd planned to follow a little walking tour we had in our guidebook, but after all the walking we'd just done - no, thank you. Instead, we decided to just wander down whatever streets looked interesting. Sorrento has a pedestrian zone (I cannot tell you how much I love these zones, where I can relax from jumping out of the way of speeding Vespas or constantly be dodging the mass of crowds on the sidewalks and the mass of cars on the roads - and the cars on the sidewalks, since we are in Italy, after all). One little street was nothing but an alley, but seemed to be the main, shopping area. Throngs of people filled the tiny alley, most of them speaking English. When we finally reached a harbor overlook, we could see that there was no cruise ship there, so we never did find out why the mass of Brits and Americans filling Sorrento that particular day. Maybe it's always like that.

How to sunbathe in Sorrento

While Sorrento is nice, I'm not quite sure what I would actually do there for an overnight or longer term stay. Many Amalfi towns have restaurants with sea views, so if you don't want to do anything in those towns, you sit with gelato or wine or pasta or whatever and just enjoy people and ocean watching. Sorrento didn't seem to have these options. There is a train station with service north to Pompeii and Naples and buses with service south to the smaller, coastal towns, so I suppose it's a nice little anchor city if a visitor wants to see a good bit of the area. And I suppose the pedestrian zone makes for a nice touch, as well as language is not as much of a barrier due to all the other tourists, but...I just didn't find the "wow" factor. It was nice enough for an afternoon, and maybe if we'd been a little more energetic, we would have sought out the sites and been more impressed, but it really just seemed to be a crowded, Disneyland version of an Italian town. We'll have to return in the off-season and try to explore Sorrento's charms a little more.

Sorrento lemons are like no others!

Amalfi Coast, Here We Come!

Finally (finally!), Nathan gets to join in some fun. The week of Mike and Katrina's arrival, I gave Nathan our list of planned activities and asked him what he most wanted to do with us as he'd only be able to join us for one day of touring. He picked going to Positano. Years ago, Positano was a retreat for me. I'd been traveling in Italy with friends, I was tired, and I was backpacking. I've often said that Italy was the single most difficult country for me during that time, on a trip that included most of Western Europe, a couple of Eastern European countries, and Morocco. After some time in Italy, my friend and I retreated to Positano for several days, where we lounged about on our rented beach chairs, took a boat over to Capri, and basically did a whole lot of nothing. So Positano will always hold a place in my heart for offering that calm retreat...and Nathan wanted to see it.

We got an early start as my trip down the Amalfi Coast the previous week had included sitting in traffic for over an hour. I'd hoped that was due to us not leaving my house until 10:30am. As it turns out, that wasn't the problem. I haven't actually looked at a map of what our route should be to get there - I am way too dependent on the GPS - but I believe there is a road that cuts off a lot of the coastal drive. That road is currently closed. So all drivers heading south are forced to drive an extra stretch along the coast road, which meanders through little towns as well as the curvy mountains. Despite the traffic, the drive is extraordinary. Every single curve brings yet another amazing viewpoint. One of our goals was to pick up some Sorrento lemons for our homemade limoncello. Sorrento lemons are amazing. They are huge and bursting with flavor. Unfortunately, the recipe I'm trying out right now is one that takes about three months, so if all goes well, we'll have some limoncello made of Sorrento lemons by mid-summer. I plan to start a second batch soon using a different recipe, one that is a whole lot quicker!

Positano picturesquely climbs the mountain to which it clings, but the beachfront area is pedestrian only and lined with lovely, small shops. We parked our car on the edge of town and meandered down to the beach, stopping at the artisan limoncello shop to stock up. This is the place that makes organic limoncello - I mentioned them in the previous post on Positano, Driving the Amalfi Coast. I wanted to pick up several bottles to keep on hand at the house, and we snagged a ginormous, lemon candle to hopefully help with our anticipated mosquito problem this summer. (Side note: yes, Katrina, before you ask, ginormous is a real word. I looked it up - first known use, 1948! Funnily enough.).

We continued our ramble, stopping in at shops that caught our eye, Mike and Katrina picked up a few gifts, and we finally reached the beach and enjoyed yet another delicious meal, this time at Cambusa's, overlooking the beach and ocean.  With rain clouds moving in, we headed on down the coast to see the Grotto Verduro, which I had just read about on our way to Positano. Disappointingly, we arrived about 15 minutes after it closed. But, I was excited to see the coastline beyond Positano as it was totally new for me. We headed on down to the town of Amalfi, where we picked up a mountain road to cut over rather than returning via the busy, congested coast road. This was a true mountain road apparently. Driving along, we had to come to a complete stop while a goat shepherd wrangled his goats over to the side of the road for us to pass - definitely something I did not expect to see on our Amalfi Coast Day.

In case anyone is planning to visit Positano, you should be aware of the town's rules for guests, "so that also you will be able to help keeping presentable [their] town."

Driving the Amalfi Coast

Paige and Julia's second day in Naples was predicted to be the prettiest. We decided it was the perfect day for our drive down the Amalfi Coast with a stop in Positano for lunch and shopping. Years ago, I'd taken the train to Sorrento, then boarded a Positano-bound bus so crowded that I couldn't actually see the views out the window. That was probably a good thing. As I drove the coast road in my own car, I found it to be pleasant and beautiful - not so for the bus passengers as I watched large buses careen around corners at full speed. Those passengers probably couldn't even see the wall that protected us normal cars from a sheer drop-off. In fact, the only difficulty in my drive was in not knowing if one of those behemoths was going to whip around the oncoming curve in my lane -  if that happened, giant bus or rock wall were my options, so it was a lose-lose situation.

Thankfully, the road through and over the mountain was cordoned off for construction, forcing my GPS to recalculate. She then took us on a beautiful, coastal drive, through some lovely small towns hanging onto the cliffside. There was quite a bit of traffic, which I'd heard about for this road, but given the time of year and time of day, I'm tempted to think it was more due to the major road construction forcing all the cars onto this one, two lane road that winds through towns. After several picture taking stops, we made it to Positano. Nathan and I have become "early parkers." The stress of not knowing a place and it's parking options, and given the many situations we've gotten into on one-way, dead end alleys with no place to turn around, we're now a little too quick to park at the first available spot. This day, we found a pay parking lot that seemed to be on the edge of town, and I grabbed a spot. Then we walked and walked and walked...and walked...to the real edge of town, where there was a lovely, empty, pay parking lot for the exact same price.

Positano is possibly the most photographed town on the Amalfi Coast. It has houses stacked atop each other as they climb up the mountain, a beautiful dome on it's church that is perfectly situated for photo ops, a large beach, and restaurants with great views. The town has a pedestrian zone lined with shops selling beachwear, Italian style. Rather than tacky T-shirts and rubber flip-flops, we browsed shops filled with flowing, linen blouses and pants, jewel-encrusted sandals, and designer sunglasses. Possibly the best shop in all of Positano is Il Limoncello di Positano- bottles and bottles of their own, organic limoncello. We've only lived in Italy for seven months, so I'm certainly no limoncello expert, but I can say that this limoncello is the best so far - smooth and sweet, it avoids the medicinal, cough syrup feel that some limoncellos have.

Our goal for the day was relaxation while still experiencing Italy. To that end, we made our way down the pedestrian only street to the beach and promptly found a table about 10 feet from where the sand began. While we lingered over our lunch, the couple next to us were downright squatters. They were there when we arrived with wine glasses in front of them. About halfway through our meal, they ordered food. When we left, over an hour later, they'd just ordered more wine. I can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon in Positano than in enjoying the view, sipping a local wine, and occasionally sampling the restaurant's food or gelato. And here's the great thing about Italian restaurants...that is completely okay. Sit at your table for four hours. Do absolutely nothing. Nursing your drink for an hour does not send the server into a tizzy of confusion and ever increasing stops at your table to try to rush you along. On the contrary, when the server has a break, it's more likely he'll return to you for a little chat and some downtime himself (usually a him - female servers do exist, but they're a rare species).

What better way to have lunch with a friend?

After a little more shopping, we headed back up to the car (notice in the pictures how Positano grows up, not out - when walking in Positano, you're either walking up or down, and when you're feet are tired, it always seems to be up). Returning the way we came gave us some final glimpses of one of the world's most beautiful, coast roads.

Vietri sul Mare

One of the best spots ever for the afternoon riposo (nap)

We visited the lovely Vietri last Saturday. Getting a late start, by the time we found parking, our stomachs were growling in tune. In our parking search, we'd noted that Vietri has one main street where the tourists head...and that was our destination as well. Vietri is home to some of the most vibrant ceramics in southern Italy, and that main street mentioned above is home to dozens of itty, bitty shops, each with their own handmade ceramics. In our walk from the edge of town we took a wrong turn and ended up outside a church immediately following a wedding. We lurked about a few minutes to take in everyone's wedding finery, then as we headed out of the piazza, we found ourselves caught up in the procession of the wedding guests down the one, narrow alley exit. A bit embarrassing, but we just smiled gamely at all the shopkeepers standing in their doorways until we could duck off onto another street...where we ran right into Nathan's boss and his family who had just sat down to lunch. (Vietri is VERY popular among the military folks. It's only a short drive away, has a large selection of items that make great gifts and souvenirs for our homes, and you can see from the photo above that the views are spectacular.). We had a nice lunch with them and got to pick their brains for all their great travel recommendations in the region, specifically for a place called Alberobello, where we hope to spend Thanksgiving. By the time we finished lunch, shops were all closed for riposo, so we followed in tradition by finding a comfortable bench to nap for the next hour.

I'm in love with the vibrant colors of the Vietri ceramics.

I'd heard and read about how beautiful the Vietri ceramics are, but I had this vision in my head of something along the lines of South of the Border - a whole bunch of tourist shops selling the same stuff. Wrong, wrong, wrong...or, as they say in Italia, scoretto, scoretto, scoretto. Because each shop is selling handmade items, they all have slight differences. While the bowls, plates, mugs, platters are similar shapes, the actual artwork is subtly different. And there are a few stores that have broken from tradition and have very unique, different artwork on their ceramics.

This shop has an inventive way of showing their wares...and it certainly worked in getting us to head downstairs.

Vietri has a ceramics factory which sells a good number of cast-offs, irregulars, and the like. But the best thing is it's Gaudi-esque building containing the showroom. Despite the resemblance to Gaudi's architecture, the designer actually studied under Frank Lloyd Wright.

Our visit to Vietri was one of the daytrips we've come to really love. We have a morning where we're focused but not rushed - sit for breakfast, check email, read for a bit, then get on the road. At our destination, we don't hurry, but rather stroll along, take the side alleys that look interesting, stop for caffe and gelato. We generally end these days feeling so relaxed, excited that we saw something new, interesting, and different, and glad that we took our time enjoying the surroundings rather than just checking the block off the tour list.

Amalfi Hill Town

View of Amalfi Coast from Villa Rufolo

We have wanted (and asked for) a duty station in Europe for over a decade now. Adding a great amount of fuel to that fire was one of Nathan's prior bosses. He and his family arrived in Key West from Naples, and we had the luxury of hearing about their experiences when sitting around their dinner table, eating pasta with a traditional sauce taught to them by their Italian landlords and drinking wine they brought back to the U.S. with them. One of their favorite places they mentioned often was a little town up in the hills above the Amalfi coast, Ravello. While living in a hotel for months on end (for the third time in six years!) is pretty much a drag, the benefit is that weekends are completely free (maid service every four days is one luxury I will gladly accept!) - no cleaning or home chores weighing us down. This past Saturday, we woke to gray skies and a rainy forecast, but decided Ravello had to be a sooner than later visit. Scully needed an excursion as well. I don't know exactly how long it should have taken us, since we (yet again) made a wrong turn, but my guess is about an hour. After making our way through the approach, which was filled with tour buses, we found a town as delightful as the rumors foretold.

One of Ravello's charming, pedestrian streets

We were in need of a lazy day - a time to just wander and soak in atmosphere rather than a blitzkrieg of sightseeing. Plus, it was drizzling for our first hour in town, so we just strolled around the piazza and alleys, visited a limoncello factory, bought prosciutto sandwiches and ate them in a covered alley, and shopped in ceramic stores. This region is known for beautiful, painted ceramics - I thought I wouldn't really like the style, and Nathan just keeps muttering, "no more stuff" at random moments, as if he's been suddenly afflicted; however, we both were drawn to some of the work - the detail is amazing.

Once the rain cleared up, we visited one of Ravello's few actual sites - Villa Rufolo, built about 800 years ago. There's not really a villa to visit, but there are some beautiful ruins and gardens. Excavation is still going on, and one of the very recent finds is a Turkish style hammam (bath type complex). I just love how so much of this type of thing is underneath our feets here. As a side note, I was with a friend in downtown Napoli today, walking past a fenced off area of road construction. We could clearly see that where the crews have dug down pretty deep is some type of ancient, columned building. This was underneath a major road in one of Europe's densest cities. But back to Ravelo and Villa Rufolo...below are a few photos.

In the courtyard

We're not sure if this is actually a centuries old dog house, but it sure looks like one.  Scully seemed to like it.