Great Day on the Amalfi Coast... Bella Italia

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Geo: 40.678, 14.7659

Forgot about the time change, so got up an hour earlier, didn't really matter as I woke up naturally at the earlier hour... had the chance to lay in bed and upload photos from my phone to yesterday's post, the internet was faster and allowed me to do so at the earlier hour maybe too many users of the wifi at night?

The hostel had a great breakfast, was expecting only a croissant and tea or coffee. They had scrambled eggs, salame, cheese, yogurt, cereal, nutella, toast, juice, milk, fresh fruit, etc... very nice. We then found our way to the ferry station and paid 8 euros to take the ferry from Salerno to Amalfi, beautiful ride, water very calm. Got to practice my Italian skills with a person on the ferry, nice to be able to do so "poco"! very little but fun. When we got to Amalfi we bought a ticket for the bus to Ravello for 1,20 euro, waited maybe 15 minutes, it was then standing room only all the way, probably took 20-25 minutes, the ferry is definitely the way to travel there, the bus o.k. better than walking!!! We were dropped off at the bus stop and followed others to the town ;-), met a teacher from U of W and he and his students were going to do the same hike we were, we never saw them again! We lazily looked around the little square, found a ceramics store and stayed quite a while! made a couple of purchases ;-) beautiful stuff and a charming owner that didn't mind exchanging pottery for a small piece of plastic.

We decided to eat lunch before we set off, found a beautiful restaurant attached to the Villa Maria Hotel, also called Silence Hotel, fantastic terrace overlooking the mountains down to the water, couldn't have a better view!

That finished we found the hiking trail, those of you that know me know that camping for me means the Holiday Inn, and hiking out in the wilds doesn't exist in my world... but as I am traveling with someone that enjoys that sort of thing, and I was determined to get out of my comfort zone, I was game to try! We found the starting point which was Villa Cimbrone, this was where Greta Garbo hid out when she was hiding from the press with a certain someone she was involved with I guess. (FYI, we also saw a plaque in the town square talking about Humphry Bogart and movie crew hanging out here when they were making a movie back in the day.) Was surprised to see that we were to start out taking steps down, o.k. by me. Well, I have photos upon photos, showing the extremely picturesque "wilds" we were in. Couldn't stop taking pictures it was so beautiful and just different than anyplace I've been, I think there may have been one stretch that was dirt, but other than that it was all steps, down a STEEP, mountainside, and we definitely were not in any danger from animals or getting lost out in the wilderness! I will post pics as soon as I can, maybe even tonight .... we'll see how the energy etc, holds out.

We made it to Atrani, which is a small town right next to Amalfi, according to the hiking book that Karen bought there are two ways to get to Amalfi from there, we took the scenic route which brought us back to the starting point in Atrani! I have no idea how that happened as I don't know what turn off we could have possibly missed but anyway we ended up taking the other route also ;-) It officially goes THROUGH a restaurant and paved tunnel! What a hike! definitely my kind, civilized hiking is the only way to go. Though I don't want to give you the wrong impression, it actually was a bit strenuous, my leg muscles were shaky by the time we finished, not kidding we must have gone down a few thousand stairs?? I'm going to google it and see if someone has counted them, surely someone has. Personally I don't think my Fitbit got all the steps in.... somewhere it mentioned 2.6 miles, definitely seemed longer than that ;-) Anyway for this 52-year-old gal it was a lot of steps, but I'm very glad I did it, the views were amazing and it was an adventure to see things definitely off the beaten track. I believe there are lots of hikes like that on the Amalfi Coast, you could probably come and do a whole trip of them, not sure your legs would let you do that unless you are younger, I definitely don't recommend the hike up, it would be a killer! Take the bus up and walk down.

After buying our return tickets for the ferry, naturally we had to refuel with some gelato, (the whole diet thing has totally gone out the window, not even trying anymore....) we asked where a good gelato place was, went and enjoyed a little sit down then did a bit more window shopping before catching the last ferry back to Salerno at 5:45, it's now dark at that time with the time change unfortunately. Met the same person on the ferry on the way back and had a bit of a conversation in Italian, fun when I can actually communicate, very primitively, with someone. I have no idea what I must sound like to them! Fun for me anyway....

On the way back to our hostel, I finally bought some roasted chestnuts, been seeing them in Rome and here, some were good and some just ok, will try another batch another day that doesn't look as burnt. My skin has been sooooo dried out from the cleanser I brought, I needed to buy something a LOT gentler so when we passed a Lush store I went in a bought some there. Used it for the first time and it felt great, supposed to be good stuff, we'll see. BTW, said I'd update you on the Italian toothpaste I bought in Florence, it does have a strong minty flavor as advertised, quite a bit thicker and pasty than whatever we buy at Costco, but it's good, just an FYI as if you're interested in my toothpaste! (or any of my ramblings for that matter!)

When we got back to the hostel, we enjoyed a nice cup of tea while deciding what to do tomorrow, haven't made a final decision as we really need to see if Paestum is actually closed, so we're going to sleep in a bit as Karen isn't feeling well and I wouldn't mind getting a bit more rest so I don't get sick myself. The options are either going to Paestum or Sorrento, it's a win either way!

Am going to work on the photo situation for a little bit and see what happens.

Fit Bit: 19,244 steps which are 8.29 miles (I think I was cheated!)

A Domani!
Wendy

Will post more photos tomorrow, it's now 12 and I'm tired and so off to bed.

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Photos

Interior of the ferry to Amalfi from Salerno
We sat outside on the upper deck to enjoy the view

Comments

[Jim]

Hi honey, thanks for closing the loop on the toothpaste saga! Just kidding, the whole blog has been marvelous. I'm enjoying karen's eating adventures too. I think I had some of those shrimp last time but used my hands. Having a great ti
me with the guys at the ocean. At this point we have 127 crab and are hitting it again in the morning. The salmon fishing has been slow. Your hiking story was very interesting. I can't imagine doing those stairs! Looking forward to seeing you soon. Xxoo