Trips

Sun., 7/5/15 – Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast
            Today we visited the Amalfi Coast.  The road was narrow, steep in places, very curvy and right on the edge of cliffs into the sea.  The other side of the bus looked at the steep hillsides and deep ravines.  Part way down the coast Fernando had us switch sides of the bus so we all got a chance to look straight down into the sea.  We had a new bus driver and a smaller bus.  It still sat 40 passengers and it was amazing how he could squeeze past oncoming traffic and around sharp U-turn switchbacks.  No wonder nearly every car has scrapes along their sides.  Cars park on the edges of these narrow roads making it even tighter for cars let alone when one bus passes another.  We got through unscathed.

 

Along the Amalfi Coast	Along the Amalfi Coast
Along the Amalfi Coast	Along the Amalfi Coast - Cemetery on a cliff
Along the Amalfi Coast	Sirenusas or Gallos islands            In one of Ulysses’ labors, where the two sirens tried to entice his boat into the rocks, he had himself blindfolded and tied to the mast and his ship sailed through okay.  The sirens turned into the two islands.  Rudolf Nureyev bought the islands and when he died he gave the islands to Russia.  Eventually Italy was able to buy them back and now they are UNESCO heritage sites.
Huge lemons!	Huge lemons - all rind
Along the Amalfi Coast - tile church steeple	Nativity scene along the road
Along the Amalfi Coast - Piccadilly Ceramic Shop	Along the Amalfi Coast - tight squeeze and lots of traffic!
We finally got to the town of Amalfi and Fernando took us on a short walking tour.  In the 11th c. the Amalfi Maritime Republic covered southern Italy, the Middle East, Egypt, and North Africa.  They used galleys with sails and six or eight oars and traveled at 15 MPH, the same as current cruise ships.  The Amalfi “Rules of Navigation” were created in the 11th c. and 90% of them are still the rules of international navigation.  These people perfected the use of the sextant and compass for navigation and a local man, Bussola, invented the compass used on ships.             In the main square in front of the steps of the church is a fountain of St. Andrew with the X cross he was crucified on.  The water in many of the fountains in these small towns is drinkable tap water.  Two of these had water coming out of a woman’s breasts in St. Andrew’s fountain!
Amalfi Cathedral - Cathedral of St. Andrew	Amalfi Cathedral - Cathedral of St. Andrew
Amalfi Cathedral - Cathedral of St. Andrew - Bell tower	St. Andrew’s Fountain
Town of Amalfi	Town of Amalfi
Fernando arranged for our entire group to take an hour-long boat ride along the Amalfi coast to see the towns and caves and cliffs from the water.  It was cooler on the water and an interesting ride.  We looked at Sophia Loren’s villa and tower and the Pirelli (tires) tower from the sea and several old monasteries that are now hotels.  We turned around at a huge cave up on a cliff with the road and houses passing over the huge cavity of air!
Our boat	Boat ride along the Amalfi Coast
Boat ride along the Amalfi Coast	Boat ride along the Amalfi Coast
Boat ride along the Amalfi Coast	Boat ride along the Amalfi Coast
Boat ride along the Amalfi Coast	Boat ride along the Amalfi Coast
Boat ride along the Amalfi Coast - house covered with bougainvillea	Boat ride along the Amalfi Coast
From Ravello	We ate lunch at Si Tonio up on a hillside in Scala and looked across a ravine to Ravello, the oldest village and named the “Town of Music.”  Richard Wagner wrote most of Parsifal while staying in Ravello and now they hold eight months of music festivals and built an ugly cement music hall.  We walked into Ravello after lunch to have a free gelato from another of Fernando’s friends.
Ravello Music Festival Sign	New concert hall
Ravello	Ravello - Italian school bus
Mon, 7/6/15 – Sorrento             Our morning was free and we opted out of the optional tour to Positano in the afternoon.  We wanted a break and a chance to see more of Sorrento.  We got up at our leisure and then we took a walk through town and down to the Marina Grande.  It is a small marina with fishing boats and pleasure boats and a swimming area with black sand and restaurants and cafes.  We decided to come back this afternoon so I could swim.             We walked back to Da Franco Pizzeria and got a Margarita pizza (for 3.50 Euros!) and took it back to our room for lunch.             Then we walked back to the marina and I swam in the sea while Marge enjoyed two biera (beers) at a seaside cafe.  It was very pleasant.
Sorrento - Fishing nets	Sorrento - preparing mussels
Sorrento	Sorrento - Marina Grande beach
Sorrento - Marina Grande beach - Gale wading in	Sorrento - Marina Grande beach - Gale floating about
We had a second GC voucher for a 3-course meal at one of five local restaurants so we went to Refood on Giulliano Street.  Marge had mussels and fried prawns and squid and I had grilled vegetables with ricotta cheese and spaghetti with clams.  They treated us so well.  We even had a half glass of Champagne, a hot hors d’oeuvre bite, beer, bread, and a lemon parfait dessert.  It was all wonderful.
Marge with mussels	Mussels

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