Amalfi Coast--Italy

Bonjourno! 

The next leg of our journey was to the Amalfi Coast.  Amalfi, for those of you that are unfamiliar, is a series of small towns/villages on the west coast of italy, just south of Naples.  Each town is essentially set on a cliff, making for dramatic views and even more dramatic driving.   The first part of the drive across the Italian countryside was tremendously scenic and actually very pleasant---up until we hit Salerno, that is.  Before Salerno, we listened to music, chatted away, checked out the beautiful landscapes and enjoyed ourselves. Once we hit Salerno, all that changed.  The GPS said it was about 12 miles to our destination, which is great when you’re on a regular highway, but the Amalfi Highway is well, a bit more ‘technical’.  The road winds along cliffs and features a series of very tight turns (probably close to 300), up and downhill... So in this situation,12 miles equates to approximately 40 minutes of INTENSE, white knuckle driving. 

For those of you that have driven the ‘Road to Hana’ in Maui, the Amalfi experience is similar, only there are motorcyclists passing like maniacs and full-scale tour busses whipping around corners with a ‘it’s your fault if I hit you, and I ain’t stopping’ mentality.  

Every turn where we made it unscathed became a sigh of relief because you truthfully don’t know what’s coming around the corner until you take it.  Very emotional journey, let me tell ya! A few times, we both had to turn our side mirrors in just to make it past the oncoming traffic.   Jon did all the driving, so he had a reason to be stressed, but I felt like a basket case just being a passenger. I don’t think either one of us really enjoyed the ‘scenic’ drive into Amalfi but, we’re still glad we did it! 

When we got to our destination, the Hotel Aurora, we were exhausted and relieved.  We had found the hotel on Trip Advisor, where it had gotten great reviews and high praises. Once we got to our room, we wondered if we were at the wrong hotel or, if everyone on trip advisor viewed the world through rose-colored glasses. Not sure if it was the cans of Raid in the hallways, view of the cement pier, scent of mildew in the room, or the slate-rock bed, but one night was quite enough for us, so we decided to try our luck in the next town up the road, Positano.   We woke up the next morning, had breakfast, said goodbye to the Hotel Aurora, and headed to our new digs in Positano, the Hotel Pasitea  (great hotel with an awesome terrace/view)!  After some lunch and a little R&R on our patio,  we headed into town to look around and have a snack by the beach, eventually making our way back up the hill for dinner.  The walk up and down the cliff is a REALLY good workout and definitely exhausting - picture the steepest flight of stairs you have climbed and now extend that up the side of a mountain and you will get the idea...You literally earn your meals if you decide to walk ;)

The next day, we took a boat to the Island of Capri.  Boat ride out there was pretty uneventful but, it was nice to be out on the water.   town of Capri was okay--seemed like there was a lot of shopping, which really didn’t interest us much because we’ve had to haul around everything we’ve bought and our suitcases are at maximum capacity (although I could probably justify buying another suitcase if need be). Anyway, the most fun part about our trip to Capri was the boat ride back to Positano!   We met a couple from Vancouver (Denise and Brian) and another couple from NY (Helen and Richie), and had a great time on the boat laughing and chatting with them all the way back to Positano.  Such a good time that we ended up hanging for several drinksafter we got back to shore.  It down-poured outside so, we just kept chatting away.Finally we decided it was time to eat so, we moved on and found a place for dinner called ‘Cafe Positano’.  The food was excellent and the views from their outdoor seating area were impressive as well.  And there it was, another successful night of eating and great company too!

The following day, we agreed to just stay in town and enjoy the day without moving around too much.  We did exactly that and enjoyed every bit of it! We had lunch down the street and found THE BEST Spaghetti Puttanesca around! In fact, after one plate and a pizza, we ordered another plate...  Bummer that we had JUST found this gem of a spot on our last full day in town!  Since it was our last night, we wanted to have a great dinner--so, we made the trek up the hill to have dinner with our new friends, Denise and Brian, and ate at a highly recommended restaurant called Scirocco. There is a reason this is the number one restaurant in this area. It’s truly excellent and the waitstaff is highly entertaining.....a perfect ‘last supper’ to cap off our time in Amalfi. 

The next morning we checked out and made the drive to Napoli where we were off to the next part of our trip.  Now this is the part where I tell you that the next leg of our journey is to Florence, followed by a couple of days in Rome. Well, SURPRISE!   Once we got to the Amalfi coast we decided that 10 days in Italy was enough, decided to change our plans, and booked flights to Spain for our last week of R&R. Oh, the journey! So, we flew out of Napoli, and we are now in Majorca, Spain!

Until next time, ciao!

xx jannine and jon