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Published: August 1st 2012
We started out at 7:45 a.m. and it was already about 25 degrees...we walked striaght up for 2 hours and 27 minutes. We stopped once for a bathroom break. The views and the challenge became progressively more amazing with each elevation climb. At the top we were over 1000 m above sea level and at the highest walkable point on the Amalfi Coast. IT was breathtakingly beautiful...at our feet the blue-green Mediterranean Sea to our right and below us Positano, and further along the Isle of Capri to our left we could see the coastline near Salerno and all around and below us small villages and other mountain peaks. It was an incredibly demanding hike and I am so proud that John and I did it together and so well! Only 1 other person in our group would do this hike. At the end it was a total of 5 hours of hiking time and we covered close to 15 kms. A great portion was straight up and in over 30 degree temps. I continue to marvel at how well we did, we also drink more beer and wine than the others and we laugh more too, but clearly we are doing something right. I feel fantastic. My feet are a bit soreish but I loved this hike and I love the physical challenge of it and more than anything the reward of seeing this lovely coastline at a perspective that few will ever really have! A treasure for sure. The hike back was somewhat easier but going downhill is always harder on the joints. Going up is a cardio workout but that is a lot easier for us. We have good stamina this way. Down, your knees can start to hurt and your feet but we were okay.
We are showered and relaxing. We have mass at 7:00...see, told you I could convert John to Catholicism! It is Sant Alfonso Day (August 1st) so guess what? PARTY TIME! there is a party tonight after we go to mass. It is an al fresco buffet style evening that will cap off with fireworks. We overlook the coast and the mountain is to our right so it should be a fantastic evening. Many of the local people are invited as it is a big celebration for this small town that we are in. How freaking LUCKY could we get? They were apologising to us that this was important etc. we said BRING IT ON! We are looking forward to this quite a lot! A party on this cliff will be stunning they routinely host weddings here and from the photos we have seen..>WOW!!!
Tomorrow we are taking a day of no hiking but swimming. Capri. I can't wait! We are taking a boat out to the island in the morning and we are on our own for the day. I am hoping a boat ride around the island with a few hours at the beach then home. Friday we do the hike I have been most looking forward to "THE Walk of the Gods" it will be a pretty easy hike for us and I am tempted to start out earlier than the rest so we can have coffee in a small town at the top of the mountian before carrying on. OR...considering just going our own pace and spending more time in Positano. There is one woman on our tour who is a complete IDIOT and has no business being on a trip like this. She is completely out of shape and because of her the first day of hiking became kind of a nightmare. It was very hard on people. On top of that she is just an idiot, sadly also from BC--so makes us Canadians look really bad. Literally she told people she had BOTH a BC passport and a Canadian Passport?! SERIOUSLY.
THis is ONE of the pitfalls of group travel and one of the reasons John and I rarely do anything like a 'tour' we have almost always done our own thing. That said, there are places that are so difficult to navigate that it is easier to just do the tour. Amalfi is such a place. Today the people who opted out of the hike wanted to take the local bus to Amalfi--it passed them by, ignoring them completely--not locals. They called the guide who was with us and he called them a taxi. That will cost them 40Euros instead of 2 for the bus but that is typical and so for those sorts of reasons we opted for the tour. The Galapagos was another place, you simply cannot go there without a registered tour. Interesting fact: the Vatican sees 20 000 visitors a day...the Galapagos sees 20 000 per YEAR. That is the quota. Trust me, the Galapagos is the better option. While I am grateful for seeing the Vatican, it is my believe that God made more of the Galapagos than he did of the Vatican...just my perspective. I will always choose nature over manmade.
Well, we are truly enjoying our time in Italy. It is quite the place! Full of history and geographic beauty, great food and wine and lovely people. I have not said enough about how truly lovely the Italian people are, even in the least lovely spots of the country, like Naples. We went into a store in Naples near our hotel, in the downtown. I think we bought water and we were paying and there was an older man working and I was interested in something and he made great effort to try to explain it to me. At the end he gave us lemon candy kissed me on both cheeks and said to come for coffee in the morning, he would make it. How lovely is that? So kind and so welcoming. The lemon candy is one of my souveniers I like to save random things....here is a random thing, John is dozing beside me, the Olympics are on tv the view out the window is fabulous and tonight we are going to celebrate Sant Alfonso whoever that may be....ciao, nan
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MOM
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Your mass will not be English,but it will be lovley...this hiking is amazing, glad you are doing it all, i could never do that with my fake parts. but i am living it through you...have a nice glass of red for me!!!