The Amalfi coast is one true wonder of the world. This area is beyond beautiful with its lengthy coastline, rustic cliff-hanging homes, windy one lane roads and exhibits the blue Mediterranean as far as the eye can see. We have been extremely lucky with the weather here with not a cloud in the sky. The ocean and the sky blend in to one another making it look like an optical illusion. Our two beautiful hikes we did from Amalfi allowed us to see all of these magnificent views from the highest points on the islands as well as visit many of the coastal towns.
Our first stop was the town of Ravello which was about a 25 min bus ride full of twists and turns as we gained elevation up the coastal hills. In this cute little town we took the time to visit the Villa Cimbrone. This villa consisted of some spectacular views from the "Terrace of Infinity;" gardens full of oak trees, flowers and shapely bushes; beautiful marble sculptures; as well as bronze statues wonderfully tarnished to a beautiful teal green. Now it wouldn't compare to the gardens of Versailles in France but Mama Steps was in her glory and the views were beyond comparable.
From these beautiful gardens we departed on our first hike. Of course we were confused and slightly lost from the get go haha. Our hike took us about 4 hours taking us through lemon groves which covered the hillsides and then the path of the mills, full of very old paper mills which were once powered by the nearby stream. These paper mills were one of the first places paper was printed in European history, so you can imagine how old they were. Many of the walls were almost overgrown by vegetation and none of them were sheltered by a roof. There were many times where our instructions left us confused and we weren't sure if we were still heading in the right direction and like Pompeii some dark clouds were rolling in- this made us pretty nervous. As usual though it all turned out fine and we ended up in Amalfi right where they said we would.
The next day, awoken in the early hours by the nearby church bells, we were sporting some sore muscles. We had a relaxing breakfast on our rooftop terrace with a gorgeous view (again we are spoiled) We opted out of our planned 13km hike up to a nature reserve in Scala and instead decided to explore the nearby towns of Minori and Maiori, with a short walk connecting the two. We enjoyed some delicious gelato and walked the boardwalk before catching the local bus back to Amalfi. Now, the buses! I have been on some crazy bus rides in my time and this one is definitely up there as an experience haha. The roads are quite narrow on the Amalfi coast and the buses would be the same size as city buses back home or the city buses in Vietnam- for those of you reading from around the world :). The roads are FULL of narrow hairpin turns and I did not think it was physically possible for these buses to make it around these narrow points, but they did. At one point we met another bus head on from the other direction and our bus driver had to back the bus down the road at least 100-200m. This may not sound impressive but he had to manoeuvre the narrow roads, the curves of the street plus avoid any parked cars on the streets, it was very impressive.
Day 3- The path of the Gods
I know you must be getting tired of reading by now but I have to touch on our 3rd and last day on the Amalfi coast. We did another 3 hour hike called the Path of the gods and it had earned its name. The views again were beyond beautiful, there was not a cloud in the sky and the cliff faces were pretty amazing (nothing like the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland but these were full of green vegetation which contrasted beautifully with the never ending blue ocean waters. Our hike started from a town called Bomerano and ended in Nocelle. We were in need of a nice refreshing drink after this hike and stopped at the first little spot we could. I opted for a Fanta where my mom ordered a lemon juice. The Amalfi coast is known for its lemons- who would have known!! Anyway she thought her juice would be a nice refreshing lemonade- nope her drink was the juice of 2 whole freshly squeezed local lemons! Can you say sour or what?! The look on her face was priceless! Haha
From here we had two options to travel down to the coastline again to a chic town called Positano-We could catch a bus or battle 1700 stairs... We opted for the lazy option and took the bus haha. So anyway we followed our instructions and walked to the end of a pedestrian pathway where we thought we could catch a bus. We saw the bus pass us going up, aaaand then pass us going down.... Shit! So we walked up the road searching for an actual bus stop. We found one and proceeded to wait almost another hour for the next bus to arrive. Right beside the bus schedule was a little ticket stand, so I bought 2 bus tickets, or what I thought were bus tickets.... My mom and I get on the bus, showed the driver our tickets and he's like that will be 1.60€ please. I was like no we bought our tickets from that stand outside.... Ya that was to pay for parking... Can you say blond moment folks! Oh we had a laugh!
Needless to say each day has been an adventure and has had something unique about it. These crazy moments are creating memories my mom and I will share forever. We aren't always on the same page and at times get snappy at one another but she has the Visa card so I have to be nice ;) I'm just kidding!! I wouldn't want to be here sharing these beautiful places and great memories with anyone else.
We are currently on the Island of Capri and off to Naples and Florence in the next couple days!
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