In the Home of Limoncello

---

Following our morning trip to Positano I, along with my mom and dad, hopped a high speed ferry south for 30 minutes to the Mediterranean town of Amalfi. Along the way to Amalfi we had a chance to sit back and enjoy this beautiful summer day. The sun was shining brightly, the cool breeze from the Mediterranean kept us comfortable, and we were all in good spirits. Before long we arrived on shore and began exploring the town.

Amalfi seemed more like a functioning town to me than did Positano, which we had visited only hours before. People here seemed to be leading lives that were not totally tied up in capitalizing on the tourist ecomony. There was a bonafide center of this town, with a few fountains, churches, and monuments. Old Fiats sputtered around the streets and everyone seemed to be outdoors. That's not to say Amalfi is not meant to draw tourists, and I'm sure that tourism is a key part of the economy here, it just doesn't seem to be the only part as in Positano.

The town itself is home to an impressive church and main square. These places stand in testament to Amalfi's wealthy past as a prominent Mediterranean port and still attract weathy visitors as is apparent from the line of Ferraris parked side by side near the port when we arrived. Apparently some kind of limoncello sipping Ferrari owners' club was visiting for the afternoon.

Anyway, after a quick walk around the center of the town we headed into the church to take a look around. The architecture and size of the church was impressive considering the setting of the town among rocky hills next to the sea. If you didn't know better you would feel you were in southern Spain given the Moorish appearance of the church and square, and to this day I am still not sure of the deciding force behind the design of the church.

After our walk around the church we sat in the square and had a few limoncellos in the afternoon sun. This was one of the times when food and drink seem perfect for the time and the place. I love this phenomenon. In the same manner as how Coronas always taste the best in Mexico, olives and beer seem to go together naturally in Spain, and hotdogs seem made for the ballpark this was the time and place for limoncello.

As the sun sank lower in the sky we found our way back to the port and caught the last ferry of the day back to Sorrento. On the way back we got one last chance to see the island of Capri and the town of Positano from the deck of the boat. Only one short hour after we had left Amalfi we were back where back in Sorrento where we had started the day.

---