Crazy Roads and Amazing Amalfi

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Geo: 40.6344, 14.6026

We decided to take the city bus to Ravello a town located further up in the mountains. Today it is best known for its music festivals and ceramics. The trip there was very interesting. Twisty narrow roads with only a stone wall separating us from a steep descent to the valleys below. Ravello is a small picturesque town with far less tourists than Amalfi. We took the bus back in about an hour. The transit system is very effective.

Positano was our next stop on the city bus. Along the way we experienced a mountain traffic jam. City buses seem to have priority and at one point three tour buses and the cars behind had to back up to allow passage of the city bus. This exercise took about 15 minutes with cars and scooters zooming by. The city bus driver used a few words which I imagine would not appear in a normal dictionary. Again the road followed the edge of the hills and at one point I realized that part of the road is cantilevered into space as are many of the buildings. Positano is considered one of the steeper communities and it was a long walk downhill to the beach where I took a moment to dip my feet ito the water which was pleasantly cool. We walked around in the village and then took the city bus back to Amalfi with enough tie to go back to our hotel room for a few minutes before heading off on a tour of Amalfi City compliments of the hotel. The 2.5 hour tour gave us a new impression of the area. It is seemingly an old town which attracts tourists. We discovered that Amalfi was between the 8th and 13th century a booming trading community with Alexandria and Constantinople, 150 ships could be seen tied up to extensive docks which stretched 12 kilometers along the coast. The history of this town is one worth looking into. At times the area was excommunicated from the Catholic church because of the close alliances with Arab cultures. Much of the architecture is baroque with a Moorish influence.

The main commerce today for the area is tourism and Lemoncella which is a liquor (30%) made from lemons and is very good!

After the tour we headed back to the restaurant we visited the previous night. The food was excellent again.

So far we are discovering that once out of Rome the cost of food and accommodation is similar and even less expensive than travelling in Canada and the US. Our hotel room is very well appointed. The hotel has 10 rooms which are in an old building which has been updated with modern bathrooms, elevator, etc. The breakfast was supplied and included meats, cheese, croissants and fruit - basically enough to keep us going for the day.

Tomorrow we head for Paestum and then on to Matera.

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Comments

[crw]

Beautiful pictures. Makes me want to travel.

[Carla]

Again, John, your pictures are beautiful. What a photographer you are. The scenery was breathtaking.