Amalfi, Campania, Italy, Saturday, October 6, 2012

Amalfi

Today starts out as a lazy day. The Hotel Amalfi room is on the small side but nice and it was quiet last night. We get a good nights sleep and take our time getting ready, repacking everything for our move to the apartment. When we get downstairs, Giuseppe Lucibello is there and is ready to take us to our apartment. He apologizes several times for the inconvenience and puts us in a two room apartment instead of the studio we reserved. It is not cleaned yet but there is a closet that locks for us to put our stuff in. He shows us everything and then leaves. We have a small patio but there is no view here but we knew that when we booked.

Arabic Influenced Passages

We have decided to walk over to the next very small town of Atrani about 15 minutes or so the guide says. First we walk down the main drag of Amalfi to find some lunch. We settle on a tomato and mozzarella calzone for Carol and a spinach and olive roll for Charlie. Very cheap and very good. With energy in our fuel tanks, we head down toward the water.
Our path to Atrani starts out along the waterfront of Amalfi and then crosses the road and heads uphill on a series of stairs. We climb and walk through some old streets ( they have names but are really just sidewalks) and then hit a covered part of the neighborhood. These covered areas are indications of the Arabic influence here.

Atrani Private Beach

We get back into the daylight and get to enjoy some pretty nice views of the sea and Atrani in front of us. Now we get to descend down the other side of the cliffside neighborhood. It is amazing that people live in these tiny lanes and I do notice several last names that are the same as we walk and wonder how long these families roots trace back. We reach the bottom of Atrani along a beach area but these are all private beaches which basically means they charge you to sit there, rent umbrellas, chairs, and whatnot. I know there is a free public beach for the locals so we walk on. Another small cliff in our way we climb again and I scout ahead around the bend and see the beach.

The Beach From Above

The good news is it is there, the bad news is it is down about 300 or more stairs. We also have to walk along the narrow road way for a short bit. It has been about 40 minutes to get here.
We do the smart thing and act like the locals! Walk along narrow road while big bus goes by into a traffic jam of buses trying to pass each other and cars on the curve ahead. Squeeze by said stopped bus and reach the top of the stairs. Down we go back and forth along the cliff until we reach the beach.

At the Public Beach

After all that we are ready for a swim. We put our towels from the hotel down and take off our clothes ( not all of them, it’s not the thing in Italy) down to our skivvies. This is how we have been swimming. My ex officious underwear looks like a European suit, not of the speedo type though. Many men. Here are exceeding the speedo limit! Carols just looks like a bikini. We dive in, more like inch our way as the water feels cool after our hot walk. It is really quite nice and enjoyable once we get in. Carol does not like the little fish which are around and seem to like to nibble on your feet if you stand up. I just think free pedicure of my worn out skin. We spend quite a while here swimming and relaxing before we decide to head back to Amalfi.

Hill We Walked Over

Same route in reverse and then back to the room after a stroll through town to check menus and decide on a place for dinner. We also buy a big bottle of cold coke zero and a Heineken to have with some snacks we have with us. When we get back to the apartment they are just cleaning it so we are not happy as we did not want to have to walk more to find a place to eat. I remember that the Hotel we stayed at last night had a rooftop terrace with chairs so we go back there and sit in the shade having our snacks and drinks. By the time we finish and go back to the apartment, it is ready.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Later we head out for dinner at Il Tari. First surprise is we get complimentary bruschetta which is very good. The tomatoes here with olive oil on them are amazing and so fresh. This bruschetta also has some beans mixed in. Carol has decided to try chicken and see if it helps with her tummy issues instead of all the rich pastas we have been eating. I get a mixed seafood with the local homemade pasta called scialatielli. Carols chicken is grilled and drizzled with balsamic vinegar, over a bed of mixed greens and tomato. She really likes it. My seafood pasta has a good mix of seafood and is extremely tasty with the juices do the food making up most of the light sauce. It is soooo good, seafood extremely fresh as the fish market by day is attached to the restaurant. We also get a dessert pastry with gran marnier infused in it.the whole meal was really good and we walk away happy.

Carol is Kissing Me

Now we must take our evening passagieta to walk off some dinner and boost the metabolism. We go back down along the waterfront and stop at a place where there is a pier that extends out. We are just standing there and there is a man hanging out about 10 yards from us. A few minutes later a girl tries to walk down the pier and he stops her and then, fireworks! Are they just in Carols head from my kisses, well that is normal, but these are also above our heads. We get to watch an incredible fireworks show over the water directly in front of us. The noise reverberates off the cliffs making it even more of a sensory experience. Incredible timing and a beautiful ending to a great day!
CNC
“Kilometers are shorter than miles. Save gas, take your next trip in kilometers” – George Carlin

Expenses
3.50E – spinach and olive roll, tomato mozzarella mini calzone, at pizza express Como raffaele. Via p capuano n. 46
38E- grilled chicken with balsamic vinegar, scialatielli alla Saracens ( mixed seafood pasta), bottle of wine,Dessert, 1E coperto, free bruschetta. Great meal.
67E-Residence Casamlfi

Miles Walked – 5 Miles