"Wanderlust"

(wŏn'dər-lŭst') def: a strong desire for or impulse to wander or travel and explore the world (Oxford Dictionary)

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Riviera Day 9: Amalfi

Coming back to Amalfi was the day I was looking forward to most on this cruise. I visited here back in 1997 and thought then that it was one of the most gorgeous places I'd seen and I hoped it would still be the same for my Mom.

We dropped anchor around 7am but we weren't cleared to go ashore until just after 8am. We were tantalized by the lovely views not only during breakfast, but even from our cabin!

Today we had 3 villages to see: Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello. First up: a 30-minute ferry ride along the coast to Positano. Arguably one of the best ways to view this area, from the sea, it offered up amazing views of all the brightly colored homes & hotels that dot this coast, as well as ancient stone towers and fortifications reminiscent of medieval times.



Positano is spectacular. A small bit of shore crowded by a tiny dock and a gazillion beach chairs, the town snakes up the hill behind, filled with fancy shops and eateries. We worked our way up and out of town, then ran (!) to catch the local bus back to Amalfi.




The coast road here is death-defying. I think our driver had one hand on the horn and another praying to Jesus the whole time he tackled the challenging drive. The cliff can't really support a dual-lane road so in many places it just...isn't. It's serpentine-y and narrow, with tunnels and blind curves round every other corner. Cars have to back up to let others pass, side mirrors get folded in, and I'm sure insurance claims are the highest in the country. Luckily we were so taken with the views were we didn't have time to get scared!

Back in Amalfi we found a nice cafe on the main square for a restorative pastry and drink, and we sat and watched the people go by for a good long time. The church next door had a wedding going on so the exiting guest's outfit choices provided lots of gossip fodder!


Then we took another local bus up another stomach-testing curvy and steep road to Ravello. Situated high above the water, it offered fantastic views down the Amalfi coastline.  We didn't have a lot of time left for sightseeing so we just wandered around the main square for a bit, before taking the hair-raising ride back down.


We were quite done with people 'n crowds 'n lines 'n noise once we returned to the ship so we tucked into our cabin, poured ourselves a cocktail to enjoy on our balcony, and ordered Room Service to spend a nice quiet evening in with Casablanca on TV.

Tomorrow: Olbia, Sardinia 

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