Day 14 - The Amalfi Coast

 Day 14 - The Amalfi Coast

Today we braved the Italian road system with a car tour of Amalfi. First bit of advice. Never do this. Stay as far away from Amalfi as you can. View pictures on the internet and then go to Cinque Terre. Amalfi was picturesque but the auto, biker (don't get me started on Italian bikers and scooters), and bus traffic was pretty bad. It was Sunday, so maybe worse than normal, but... Randy was driving so is certainly entitled to his opinion. He may also just be upset that we didn’t stop at any Etruscan sights on Amalfi. Heather will add that it is very picturesque, but if you can’t pull over to get a picture that doesn’t do you too much good. And parking is pretty close to impossible.

 


We checked out of our Pompei hotel and headed to Salerno, which is on the south end of Amalfi. We had decided to drive from south to north, which is a bit backwards from most tourist traffic. Basically hoping to make Randy, the drivers life easier, and to arrive in Sorento without backtracking too much. The Amalfi coastal road is a twisty, turny, narrow road that snakes along the Amalfi coast. We headed north from Salerno along the road with a first stop at Ravello, one of the many small towns along the road. Parking is a challenge with all the cars and scooters, but we managed to find a spot in a garage with spots so small even our small car didn’t fit in some.  Parking overall in Italy still assumes people drive really small cars, which is not the case. Everyone in a car has to get out before parking, and the driver has to squeeeeeze out the door after parking.  Parked!  We then walked up a set of stairs with lovely views of the area. It is quite picturesque. We were on the quiet side of town and found a lovely wine bar where we sat outside and had drinks and a snack. In spite of all Randy’s complaining above, it was fun.





Shots taken from the moving car!




We then continued on north with the intent of stopping at the actual town of Amalfi. Whoops!!  NO PARKING! Time to move on. We continued on the twisty route and found a cafe for lunch in the very small town of Praiano. We had a lovely view of the bay, and a nice pasta and salad lunch.






Moving on we continued up the coast through Positano, another of the popular towns. We didn't stop again because parking was still a mess. Throughout the trip Cindy was trying to snap photos out the window of the car. Some were more successful than others.

 

More shots from a moving car. 






Chocolate Cheesecake and Lemon Tiramisu 


We ended up in Sorrento, our home for the next two nights. We plan to head to the island of Capri tomorrow.




  








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