09-27-2018 Day 3 The Amalfi Coast

A classic image of Positano from the ferry as we departed from the dock for our short cruise down the coast

Deanna and I woke this morning to a lovely pastel sky.  We both noticed after a few days with this view that the pastel colors were something that we don’t often see in our world of the west.  Dramatic sunsets are not unusual, but pastel skies with so many colors are more rare.

Another walk to Positano wasn’t something we cared to repeat. Instead we decided to walk to the square and wait for the Mobility bus scheduled to run on the hour.  The bus was half an hour late, something we discovered was quite common. We bought several tickets at the grocery store, making sure we had enough for the next few days on the coast.

The weather was gorgeous in spite of the strong breezes.  Brilliant sunshine lit up the sea and the colorful houses cascading down the cliffs.  The bus passed us on the way to Nocellle, a few kilometers up the hill, turned around and traveled back our way and we boarded for the trip down to town.  It was almost noon by the time we actually made it down to Positano Spiaggia (beach).

Enzo had warned us, “Don’t even think of taking the Sita bus to Amalfi, it is much easier and quicker to go on the ferry, and only 8 Euro.”  The square was a bit crowded with long lines for the various ferries, but we got our tickets without a problem.  We chose only one way tickets so that we could experience the wild ride along the coast in the Siti bus.  These buses are a bit larger than the local mobility buses, and the cost between the town of Amalfi and Positano was just 8 Euro, exactly the cost of the ferry.

We were happy to see that the ferries were operating since they had been closed the previous day.  We had to wait about an hour for the next ferry to Amalfi and that required another gelato.  This time we chose the cup since gelato is very soft and melts very quickly in the warm sunshine.

One of the advantages of taking the ferry is the chance to view all the charming cliffside towns from the vantage point of the water.  Priano lies between Positano and Amalfi, but there are a few other small towns dotting the hillsides. 

We sat on the top floor in the warm, bright sunshine.  Deanna and few other passengers managed to get the shades closed so that we had a bit of protection from the glare.

The trip only lasts about half an hour and in the beginning the winds were slight.  However, before we reached Amalfi, the winds shifted and great gusts began throwing the boat around and lots of spray reached the decks. As the ferry approached Amalfi we looked up to see huge clouds of smoke billowing from the hillsides above town. 

With the high winds the flames looked frightening and we could hear sirens.  The emergency vehicles have a terrible time trying to get anywhere with the narrow roads and all the tourist traffic.  We read later about these fires that have been plaguing the Italian coast this past summer and much like the western US, there is a drought and lots of dry fuel to burn in terrain that is terribly difficult to manage.

Once we landed in Amalfi we were inundated by throngs of tourists, even more so than in crowded Positano.  With our offline Google maps we attempted to navigate a bit and found the main square in town and the lovely cathedral. 

The town of Amalfi didn’t seem as charming to us as Positano.  There were many side roads with many shops and a lot of people, however it didn’t seem as clean and was much more touristy.  We thought perhaps that with more time to wander the back roads it may have seemed nicer but those roads seemed to go off in directions that were much farther than we wanted to walk.

The cathedral Duomo di Sant'Andrea is quite lovely and as is often the case in Italy there is a charge to enter. I think we paid just 3 Euro and it was well worth it. The exterior is dramatic and colorful although the colorful marble and colored stone façade was refurbished in 1891.

From Wiki:

“The first church, now the Diocesan Museum of Amalfi was built on the 9th century on the ruins of a previous temple.^[2] A second church was built to the south in 10th century, and this is now the Cathedral. By the 12th century the two churches formed a single 6 aisle Romanesque church, which was reduced to 5 in the 13th century to allow the construction of the cloister of Paradise, in the Arab-Norman style.

The remains of St. Andrew were reportedly brought to Amalfi from Constantinople in 1206 during the Fourth Crusade^[3] by Cardinal Peter of Capua. In 1208, the crypt was completed and the relics were turned over to the church.^[2] It said that later on manna issued from the saint's bones.^[4]

The bell tower was constructed between the 12th and 13th centuries in front of the first church, topped by an elaborate crown decorated with marble and majolica in the Arab-Norman style, also seen in other churches in southern Italy in this period. The chapels inside are variously Gothic and Renaissance, with the nave decorated in the Baroque style in the 18th century.

In 1861, part of the facade collapsed, damaging the atrium. The whole front of the church was then rebuilt to a design by architect Errico Alvino in a richly decorated manner drawing on Italian Gothic and especially Arab-Norman styles, similar to but more ornate that the original, completed in 1891.”

The main altar depicting Saint Andrew

We were impressed with the gorgeous stone mosaics in this cathedral

The bronze doors to the cathedral were cast in Constantinople before 1066

After our visit inside the cathedral we joined others on the cathedral steps to enjoy a light lunch of breakfast leftovers while we people-watched.

By this time, it was getting a bit late in the afternoon and we decided that it was time to make an attempt to return to Positano.  Winding our way through the crowds, we found a tabacchi  (tobacco shop) on the main thoroughfare to purchase Sita tickets for the ride home.  This is where the crazy Italian bus system first reared its ugly head.  There were dozens of buses in the square and many of them had no names in the destination window at the top of the bus.  No one seemed to know which bus went to Positano, or to Ravello, or perhaps on to Sorrento without stopping in Positano.  We did finally discover that we needed the Sorrento bus, but to be sure to get one that actually stopped in Positano.  People were crowding around the entrances of all the buses, but no one seemed to have a clue about anything and the bus drivers were all yelling at each other and gesturing wildly.  Lines mean nothing in Italy and people pushed and shoved to get to the head of a line only to have the bus drivers yell at us saying laggiu, laggiu!!  “Over there” we later learned.  Then all the people wildly went “over there”, willy nilly, with people in the front of the line ending up in the back of the line.  It was important to catch a bus because the next one might leave in over an hour and then be late as well.  We managed to get on the bus but it was definitely a bit stressful

Once on the bus we were in for the ride of our lives.  The road from Amalfi to Positano is narrow and winding and just a tiny bit wider than the little roads on the hill between Positano and Montepertuso.  It took an hour of craziness with amazing views and fascinating exchanges between car drivers and bus drivers, and many contorted negotiations between vehicles and cliff sides.  An interesting trip that I loved doing and wouldn’t want to do on a regular basis.

We were thrilled to at last reach our little town of Positano, getting off the bus at the upper end of town near a restaurant and a water closet.  Have I mentioned that these are few and far between in these small Italian towns?  We had a delightful lunch at a streetside sidewalk table overlooking the sea where we laughed about our day.

We still had to get back home and this required another crazy bus ride.  At first we thought we would walk up to the Mobility bus stop we had seen where the Siti bus also stopped, but decided instead to walk down toward town where we had boarded the Mobility bus the previous day.  This turned out to be a great idea.  We had to wait half an hour or so for the bus and once again do the pushing and shoving routine required to get on a bus in Italy.  It was a good thing we chose the lower stop because by the time we arrived at the upper stop the bus was jammed full and it didn’t even stop!

Winding up the roads on the smaller Mobility bus was becoming almost routine to us by this time and we were incredibly grateful to disembark at the square and walk down the path to our lovely quiet little apartment.

Photos from this day are linked here and include many shots from inside the cathedral with frescoes and more of the crazy bus ride.

09-26-2018 Day 2 The Stairs of Positano

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Montepertuso, Italy, Clear and Sunny  72F  22C

On our first morning in Montepertuso we woke to a brilliant sunny sky.  The night had been incredibly windy and all the beautiful terra cotta pots filled with herbs on the terrace had been blown over. 

With the gusty winds our first lovely breakfast provided by Sara was served inside on the dining table rather than on the terrace.  What a breakfast it was!  The star of the show are Sara’s homemade croissants served with her homemade jam.  Breakfast includes these wonderful croissants, eggs, various meats and cheeses, juice, yogurt, panini sandwiches, sweet and savory home baked breads, and some kind of crispy toasts in a package.  It is always much more than we can eat so we save the paninis for lunches when out walking, the yogurts for afternoon snacks, and the breads are piling up in our bread basket.

After breakfast we decided that in spite of the winds, it was a perfect day to walk the stairs down to the town of Positano.  The stairs are a highly recommended activity when visiting Positano. Most often reviews mention the wisdom of walking down instead of up and taking the bus back up the hill.  We thought that was great advice.

There are about 1,700 steps from our village of Montepertuso down to Positano.  This number seems to vary according to different websites but after reading more we have decided that this is a pretty good number.  The elevation difference, however, is not in question and the 1,100 foot elevation drop from our village to the beach is real, regardless of the number of steps. Our step trackers showed that we walked a bit more than 3 miles. No matter how you count it there is a LOT of down.

Positano is built on a cliff of limestone and the roads and stairs snake along the cliff sides with each turn providing another mind boggling view of the town and the sea to the south. The entrance to the stairs is a short walk from the square in Montepertuso along the very narrow road where we have learned to squeeze against the railing as cars pass.  Traffic along these roads is basically indescribable. You have to experience it.

The upper part of the stairway is a bit rural with lush terraced vegetable gardens and scattered homes.  The stairs themselves vary in depth and height and the surface is rough stone.  There are railings in some places and not others but you have to be careful if you use the railings because they are often crawling with tiny ants.  Amazing views open up at almost every turn. 

Approaching town we passed some people going up and others going down as we were.  Notably, most of the people going up were young folks with backpacks heading for the Path of the Gods.  This hike is another highly recommended activity in the area and begins in Nocelle which is a tiny village beyond Montepertuso. I would love to talk to some of these folks AFTER they climbed all those stairs and then continued a hike on the path.  The only one I know who could do it easily would be Mark Johnson.

After about an hour we came to “the pink house” mentioned by a BnB owner we encountered on a porch overlooking the trail who was kind enough to give us directions.

Turning left as he said we found ourselves emerging on a “real” street in Positano filled with tourists, shops, and marked by gorgeous Italian ceramic planters filled with flowers.  We got caught browsing for a bit in the ceramic shops but am proud to say that I didn’t succumb to purchasing anything although those brilliantly colored platters and vases have always been a draw for me.

We walked along the road a bit toward the east before turning and continuing down toward the spiaggia (beach).  The stairs wind down through tiny streets lined with shops and then open up into the piazza  in front of the cathedral.  We skipped visiting the interior for the moment and continued down some more stairs passing a few more shops before arriving at the the lovely Positano Spiaggia.

The BnB guy on the path on the hill had told us about the best gelato to be found in Positano and we found it just past the bar at Cove Dei Saraceni as he had instructed. There we had our very first taste of Italian gelato and it is everything we imagined.  How in the world can simple ice cream not taste anything like simple ice cream! There is a method to purchasing gelato in Italy.  You must first pay at the cashier, decide whether you want a cup or a cone, get your receipt, and only then return to the ice cream counter. Only then do you choose your flavor. There are often small tables and seats in the shop but should you choose to sit instead of walk with your treat there will be another charge.  The same holds true for ordering espresso or cappuccino in the cafe’s.

The beach at Positano is quite tiny without true sand and very few folks laying out in the sun.  There were all types of boats moored in the small harbor from tiny rowboats to big yachts, local fishing boats, speedboats, and several ferries to various locations around the coast including the Isle of Capri, sparkling in the distance.

By this time I was feeling pretty tired walking with the stick compensating for the stupid knee and needed a place to sit.  Not far up the street from the beach we found a nice little restaurant called La Zagara where we were seated at a nice window table for two.  We were initially offered one of those tables in a dark corner that they try to give to unsuspecting tourists.  We had a simple and inexpensive lunch of a slice of pizza and lemon granita tea .  It was delightful.  We were grateful for the use of the restaurant restroom as there are not many public restrooms available in Positano.  On the way out we stopped at the bakery counter of the restaurant to purchase a fabulous pistachio cannoli to take home for dessert.  Italian cannoli was another new experience.  WOW! It was nothing like the tasteless things I have tried only rarely in the states.

We walked back up the stairs to the Duomo The Church of Santa Maria Assunta and took time to enter into the quiet sacred space.  Visiting cathedrals can be a bit overwhelming. It takes time and the willingness to go slowly.  We wandered, read a bit, took photos, and did some oohing and ahhing between us before emerging back into the sunlight.  Deanna and I were both a bit appalled at how some tourists seem to have no qualms intruding into spaces where people are in prayer and contemplation with their cameras.  We both made an effort to be respectful but it takes a bit of effort to get decent photos inside a cathedral no matter how many people are inside. 

Leaving the cathedral, we returned to the Fermata Mobility (the local bus stop) across from the Tabacchi (tobacco shop) where we purchased our bus tickets to Montepertuso.  The fare is 1.3 EU each way and worth every cent.  It is 1.70 EU if purchased directly on the bus.

We have found the people in Italy to be delightful, charming and pleasant, except  when they are waiting for the bus.  This particular activity requires fortitude and a willingness to get in the midst of the push and shove of everyone trying to get on the same bus though the same tiny door.  However, once on the bus, the walking stick and white hair are quite an advantage. Everyone from older men to younger women offered their seat to me! I did take advantage and used the “old lady card” and was very happy that I didn’t have to stand all the way home through the winding streets of Positano high up to the village of Montepertuso.

A view of Montepertuso. Our apartment is right behind the church

With our tummies full from our afternoon lunch, dinner was simple and perfect with another glass of Enzo’s delightful wine from the previous night and our gorgeous pistachio cannoli.

The rest of the photos for this day’s post are located here.