You'll Never Walk Alone

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June 18th 2011

Published: July 24th 2011

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John Miranda

Ravello

The gardens at Villa Cimbrone

Another big wedding anniversary, but a trip of the magnitude of the last major milestone was never really an option. We need somewhere memorable. A quick check of the fixture finder revealed a full Angolan league programme. It was instantly declined ……… probably with good reason ….. they shoot footballers, don't they? ..........just ask Mr Adebayor whether he would contemplate a return trip. The title of the blog might be the closest we come to a football match. Beirut perhaps? Or how about Libya ……… that one went out the window with the “international” community deciding to increase the national debt by dropping a serious level of high explosive on the Colonel. The objective was downscaled somewhat to avoid a major family party – no fuss required here! One of us doesn't really do fuss. A man somewhere in deepest Sussex is probably laughing quietly to himself at this point. We’ll just go somewhere we haven’t been before. The Amalfi Coast – a walking holiday it is then with a group of people we don’t know. There won't be any fuss on that trip.

After our overnight sojourn in a Travelodge, we rolled up at Gatwick with plenty of time

Ravello

The Gardens at Cimbrone

to survey the prospective other members of the party on the group flight. First clue .............look for the walking boots. The BA flight was pretty full ......mostly of the beautiful people using the flight to Naples as their gateway to the posing paradises of Positano et al. We were heading there too, but we'd have to work our legs to achieve it. Bomerano and the Hotel Due Torri was our base - a working village with a smattering of tourists - high up behind the glamour of the coast and where there remains a sense of reality about just how many Euros you can charge for beer. The hotel was described as nothing more than basic, but was very comfortable and run by an extremely hospitable family. The group came from all walks of life and from far and wide - Cornwall, the West Country, the Scots were well represented (although one had arrived from Madrid via Portsmouth), Northern Ireland, the Thames Valley, Sussex and Frankfurt! The evening meals were predominantly eaten in the hotel - the Italian full works, all of good quality. The ice was broken by carafes of wine priced to sell - 2 Euros per glass

Vespa

or 5 Euros for all you could drink. A bit of a no-brainer decision!

The first walk was to the top of Monte Sant’ Angelo, described as a good chance to stretch your legs. The "stretch" might apply to the gentle stroll to the centre of the village, although the reality sinks in that it is a walking holiday when the climb starts just behind the village church. It was only 9 o'clock, but the temperature was on the rise ............. and there were steps to negotiate ...........this could be a long day! Steps were to become a focus of our lives for the next few days. The objective of the climb was obviously the view towards Capri and the Sorrento Peninsula, but alas the clouds rolled in by mid-morning and a close up of mist was all that was achieved. The Monte was populated only by the odd goat herd or two, out for a Sunday afternoon stroll with their large canine minders. The paths were littered with used shotgun cartridges ..........Mafia shooting practice or just the massacre of songbirds? It was probably best not to ask. We descended for an ice cream in Bomerano's main square. Another

Positano

The relaxing day at the beach

excellent evening meal ensued, after we'd all been invited to the kitchen to see the preparations...........some had used so much energy, they resorted to almost licking the bowl of the tiramisu.

The food without exception always excellent and breakfast was always a good spread to start the day. The only downside was the suspect boiling of the eggs ceremony, which nobody ever perfected in the whole week. The steps came into their own on the third day on our walk to Amalfi. The leisurely to moderate description of the walks was shown to be a complete fantasy on this one. There was a downhill bias as we followed the path down from Bomerano at 700m altitude to the shores of the Mediterranean and the town of Amalfi. It would have been a good idea to count just how many steps that involved ...........so you could make a mental note never to repeat that many steps in the future. The world of aching calves was about to be entered. The sun was out today, so the wonderful views were on full display today ............ but did that sun sap your energy or what? The town of Amalfi was better in

Ravello

the anticipation than the reality. You could see why the British aristocracy had thought it a good place to winter, but it was no Ravello. A number of the group took to the beach, but the thought of paying to sit on a sun lounger on the pebbles didn't hit the spot, so we parted with our 3 Euros and dived into the cool of the Duomo that dominates the main town square. We headed for the little square next door for our refreshments, before catching the bus back up to Bomerano. The Amalfi bus terminal to put it politely is in need of organisation. The order of vehicles is random and so it would appear are the times - it could be 10 minutes early or 15 minutes late - it's best to stay on the side of caution. The buses of the region are quite good value, but are not for the faint hearted. The skill of the drivers is something to behold as they negotiate the hairpin bends that you might consider not wide enough for a Fiat 500. Mopeds and other car drivers overtake with either the skill of a Formula 1 driver or just a

Walk of the Gods

lot of luck - the latter is suspected favourite.

Pompeii was next on the agenda. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79 and the subsequent preservation of the city, made sure it stayed on the map long after the decline of the Roman Empire. We had a guide to initially weave us through the mass of humanity that now descends every day - the second most visited attraction in Italy after the Coliseum in Rome. A swift calculation suggested that being a guide at Pompeii is being on to a good thing - ours was probably in a position to pay off the national debt of Greece or Ireland after a 3 month stint. A man between projects could be tempted to look at such things more closely ........why bother with the hassle of running a company? The bus tours were in - including us - and it got busier as the morning wore on. As the summer wears on and the cruise ships disembark their hordes, the numbers of visitors must be insane. The sheer size of the place was surprising - it's a big place. After lunch, we travelled to Mount Vesuvius - the cause of the

Amalfi

destruction and still an active volcano today. The car park was home to an awful lot of the groups who had been at Pompeii in the morning, although a great number looked as though the walk to the top would be beyond them. The exertions of the past few days obviously meant that our fighting fit party would cruise to the summit. We were lucky with the weather and there were views across the Bay of Naples.

A whole new skill set was revealed on the evening, as we once more entered the kitchen for a demonstration on the Neapolitan art of making a pizza. It never entered our minds that we would be asked to follow on from the demonstration - in fact the photographer was paying limited attention at times. We'd somehow let our guard down and revealed our reason for the holiday, the professional video man had been flown in all the way from darkest Sussex and the stage was set. The result was perfection ........ well perhaps not, but eaten by other members of the group without ill effect. All I can say is that, this talent is wasted in the ministry of bus stops.

Ravello

The credit for the Lemoncello dessert sadly goes to another chef.

The next day was another mission to Amalfi - the alternative route via the mozzarello cheese factory, which if nothing else was the perfect excuse for a lift to start the walk in San Lazzaro. There was a mini climb of steps - but hey who are we to complain at this point with possibly thousands under our belt by this stage of the week. We again descended to Amalfi, but this time the route was more gentle on the legs. On the other walks, we had been the solitary users of the path - but we were actually overtaken by a group of Italians and at the waterfall in Valle delle Ferriere National Park, we had to contend with a group of Italian police looking for a cool down place during their 3 hour lunch break. The sight of their guns and holsters hung up on the fence was somewhat disconcerting! Once in Amalfi, we headed for our usual square to take refreshment prior to the bus back up to Bomerano.

The next day was time off for good behaviour day. We opted to head to

Pompei

Herculaneum or Ercolano as the Italians would say. It was a mini - Pompeii ........ this time without the crowds on a smaller much more manageable scale. It was clearly not on the cruise ship regular haunts and all the better for it. The ruins, if anything, were in a higher league than Pompeii. We decamped in the afternoon to Ravello, which is without doubt the pick of the towns in the vicinity. If there is a place on the Amalfi Coast to spend your lottery winnings, then this is it. It was easy to see why D H Lawrence had chosen not to spend his winter in Eastwood seeking inspiration for Lady Chatterley's Lover. The town was a favourite of the arts set. We dined in the circumstances at an extremely good price overlooking the Mediterranean. Cars are banned from all but a small section of town, but it wasn't a surprise to see one that had made it was a red Ferrari. After a leisurely wander round town, we made our way into the 5 Star Villa Fraulo - just to have a look out of their fantastic balcony in the hotel lobby. We made a note that

Bomerano

There is always the opportunity to take in a game ....................

such a friendly welcome from the reception desk was worthy of investing some of the said lotto win, as and when it arrives. We spent the remainder of the afternoon in the gardens at the Villa Cimbrone. Monty Don raved about them and he was right. A relaxing interlude in the chaos that is Italian life. Even 5 Euros for a coca cola, didn't even send me over the edge.

The final day was saved for the ‘Walk of the Gods’, along the ancient mule tracks and paths to the town of Positano. A striking finale to the week with a postcard pretty town like Positano at the end of the day....... and the walk goes past Sportivo Calcio San Vito Positano as a bonus! As with Amalfi, the town is sort of built vertically from the sea in a jumble of white washed houses and hotels. The cafes by the seafront were doing brisk business. As pretty as the town is, the Ravello factor was missing. Why would you want to spend 12.50 Euros to step on a beach and pretend to be a sardine? We came back to Amalfi by boat for another bus ride back to