June 9 Trip to Date
Miles Walked 10.1 330.5
Feet Climbed 820 36,450
Song of the Day: Every Picture Tells a Story by the Faces
I moved right out east yeah!
On the Peking ferry I was feeling merry
Sailing on my way back here
We awoke early this morning to catch an early morning ferry to Sorrento. We then planned to either catch a bus or a ferry from Sorrento to Amalfi. The only ferry from Capri to Amalfi is late in the afternoon, so we chose this convoluted approach so that we could spend the afternoon in Amalfi. We were able to catch a 9 am ferry to Sorrento, about a 35 minute ride. We were then able to secure tickets for a 10:30 ferry from Sorrento to Amalfi, which would put us into Amalfi around 11:30 or so....Only it didn't quite work out that way. As 10:30 approached, a man came to tell us that the boat wasn't working, and they had to cancel our ferry. However, they were putting us on a ferry to Capri, but after stopping in Capri to unload, they would make a special trip to Amalfi! So, we got on this other ferry and went right back to Capri, where we had started from several hours earlier. We ended up arriving at Amalfi only an hour or so late, so it all worked out. Sort of reminded me of our Nile Cruise many years ago. It was supposed to be a 7 day cruise down the river. The boat never really worked correctly, and after a couple of days of barely moving down the Nile, they unloaded all of us and we took a bus down the Nile! It's not really the same experience....
After arriving at Amalfi and checking into our hotel (a very charming, smaller hotel), we decided to take a bus to Ravello, and then walk back. Ravello is about miles or so from Amalfi, but about 1500 feet straight up a cliff. The bus ride was one of scariest we have ever taken! The road up is somewhere between one lane and two lanes. When we would approach busses coming the other way, one or the other would have to back up to a wider spot in the road. Then the busses would squeeze by each other with only a few inches of clearance. Keep in mind, we are. Hanging off the side of a very steep mountain. All in all, it was very entertaining and I have a deep appreciation of the capabilities of the bus drivers.
Ravello is very famous for its summer concert series, which will start in a few weeks. We had a terrific lunch at a very nice restaurant. In addition to the excellent meal, one other thing impressed me about the place: this is the first time I have ever seen a cover for the urinal in the men's room! Here it is with the cover up:
Here's what I don't understand. All us married guys understand you put the seat down for you wife. Years of training have taught us that. But who are you trying to impress with the urinal cover? There are no women (that I know of) in the men's room! My friend Bill Klein is the only person I know who has a urinal in his house. Bill, if you are reading this, you need to upgrade that thing to get a cover!
We explored Ravello for a while, and it's a nice, upscale place, although perhaps a bit boring. Here is one of my favorite signs for a store in Ravello:
Here is a shot from the square in Ravello:
The walk back to Amalfic was quite spectacular, with the sea constantly in view. We were often walking through small neighborhoods of homes that are only serviced by very small paths. The logistics of living in these places is always interesting. For example, we passed these two small horses delivering dirt to one of the houses:
Here are some other shots from the trail:
Of course, around 5:30, it started pouring rain. Three days in a row! We got pretty wet before arriving at our hotel. We had a good meal in Amalfi and called it a night.
Tomorrow, we head down the road ambit to the village of Praino. It's about halfway between Amalfi and Positano, where we stay on Thursday night.
No comments:
Post a Comment