Tuesday in Amalfi Italy

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 - Trip along the Coast of Amalfi

Went downstairs early to find a great breakfast bar laid out for us This place is going to spoil us for the rest of the trip! Weather prediction is for rain so it looked like we are the only ones from our hostel headed to Amalfi. We left about 10 am, packed our rain ponchos and sun hats (ready for the best & worst weather) and headed for the train station, a ten minute walk; stopped along the way to purchase two bananas and some bread for lunch on our trip. Our staple foods seem to be bread, bananas and nuts… cost is low and we can still fit into our jeans so guess we are not gaining weight with this diet. Of course we supplement it on a regular basis with other foods, now and then so we are maintaining our health and my blood sugar stays between 80 –100 without taking any medication. Will be anxious to see what my A1C is when I get home.

We only had to take the train to Sorrento. Then we bought bus tickets to Amalfi ……while waiting to board the bus we Enjoyed exchanging travel stories with a couple from Ohio who had just spent two days at Capri and they said that due to the weather both the Blue Grotto Boats and the chair lifts were closed; we may rethink our plans to go to Capri. We were fortunate enough to obtain two seats on the right side of the bus so that I could enjoy the fabulous views down the cliffs as we drove around the hairpin turns high above the Mediterranean Sea. Martha said she has seen grown men cringe at this view so I was very proud of myself for agreeing to sit on this side of the bus and even took the same seats on the return trip. There were times when one looks down and only sees the water far below as the edge of the bus obscures the edge of the road. The only thing more exciting is if you have the seat behind the driver and have the opportunity to see the bus appearing to be going over the side of the cliff when turning corners. The best part of going to Amalfi is the bus ride there and back. The worst part was that for some unknown reason the bus to Amalfi only goes part way….. then everybody has to get off and walk down, the coastline road to a spot about 20 minutes away. We all walked very fast and then had to wait another 30 minutes or so until another bus came up from Amalfi, turn around, let his passengers off…. So they could walk back up the hill…. And then loaded us for the rest of our trip to Amalfi. It did not help that it rained most of the time we were off the bus. But, we had our rain ponchos with us and it was warm enough that we removed our socks and only had sandals on our feet … remember my sandals are rubber, but Martha’s are leather so she had to deal with wet sandals the rest of the day. The couple in front of us on the bus were from Utah and planned to so some hiking once they got into Amalfi. After about 20 minutes they elected (much to the wife’s dismay) to hike the rest of the way into Amalfi by going over the mountain. We had many other English speaking people waiting with us and it helped the time go faster by talking about our travels. One couple said when they traveled with their mothers in Germany, they even had to take a taxi for the 2 blocks to see the Koln Cathedral, but then they were 10 years older than us…so who knows maybe in 10 years we also may not be able to travel so easy. They were surprise to find that my Pace Maker had just been implanted this past November and I seem to be doing just fine…. But I could not do this without all the help that Martha gives me, especially on Travel Days. But we both agree that I seem to be getting stronger as we go on and especially now since she injured her arm in Nice I have been getting my own luggage…. One bump & step at a time… up and down the train station stairways. Sometimes she even is a big help to me with my journals, kind of like my own personal “ghost writer”.
Yes, on our return from Amalfi we had to again walk between the bus stops and this time it was uphill all the way but knowing that we would most likely have to wait for the bus we took our time walking and found a bus waiting for us at the top but it didn’t leave for half an hour.
At least this time we were allowed to wait on the bus for our next hair raising ride back to Sorrento.
Our time in Amalfi was short; we only spent about an hour because it was raining all the time that we were there and we also knew we had a long return trip to make. We checked on taking a taxi from Amalfi to Positano to bypass the bus issue but fifty euros seemed a bit steep so we decided to take the bus. We walked the side streets, took photos of the church, had a taste of limoncello (the fabulous liquor of this area made from the peel of lemons) and of course a final treat of lemon gelato before going back to the bus for our return trip. We arrived back at the Hostel by 6 pm; a fun day even with the rain and unusual bus trip deviations.