Hello From The Amalfi Coast -
It is late Thursday evening and we’re back from one of the great dinners of all time. The couple from Boston, that we met in Rome, had just been to Positano and suggested trying the restaurant Next 2. We tried it this evening and it was far beyond great. Every bite was terrific.
Yesterday we took the drive from Positano to Amalfi and on to Ravello. Our guide was Rafaele and his Mercedes van was more than comfortable. He lives in nearby Sorrento, a town of 20,000 versus the 4,000 in Positano. His dad was a cab driver and he now does tours during the day (9:30 am – 5:00 pmin our case) and then most nights drives as a cab in Sorrento from 7:00 pm – to 12 midnight. It’s a long day. But, as he pointed out, the Amalfi Coast essentially shuts down during five winter months and he doesn’t do much.
While the photos tell the story, there is no way they can capture the beauty of the Amalfi Coast, and we didn’t catch that much sunshine yesterday. There’s a photo as we were driving out of Positano and another looking back at Positano. Not five minutes from Positano there sits a 5-Star hotel on the side of the cliff. There’s a photo that shows one of many views along the shore. Another photo shows a small fishing village, looking down from the road above. There were any number of interesting rock formations, including the one you see in another photo. By the way, it took about 50 years to build the cliff road along the coast. We stopped at a cave, which involved an elevator ride down from the highway. It was interesting, though the photo isn’t brilliant. Taking photos in caves is far beyond my level of photography excellence. While Sophia Loren was born in a suburb of Naples and now lives in Rome, she has a vacation home here on the Amalfi Coast, which you see in the photograph. She comes and goes via a helicopter and only spends a few weeks each year at this home. And, as we approached the town of Amalfi, we came upon another 5-Star hotel. You see the hotel at the top and then there’s an exposed elevator that goes down to the sea. We have not seen a sandy beach, so we’re guessing there aren’t any. Mostly rocks and occasionally some dark sand mixed in, when there actually is a beach. Most of the coast is rocky.
Getting around the Amalfi Coast is challenging. Folks who live in a town like Positano park their cars along the narrow, maybe two-lane cliff road and drive into their residence on a scooter. Then it’s back on the scooter to the car, park the scooter, jump in the car and drive away. There is a bus every 30 minutes along the coast, but it can be jammed, which is also the case with the little old red bus that travels only in Positano.
We took an hour and went into Amalfi to walk around, then drove way up to Ravello, where we took 2-1/2 hours to eat lunch and explore. That’s all coming up.
The Wilsons
