I thought long and hard about a heading for this chapter, and "OMG" just kept popping into my head. This was our long-anticipated "Amalfi day," and we could not wait. We said good-bye to our original driver and bus, Marco, the night before. The bus was too big to drive on the Amalfi road, and they rely on local drivers who specialize in navigating the very challenging drive. Plus, with six of us not continuing on to Rome, they did not need the large bus anymore, so Marco headed to Rome with the bus, and another tour. A smaller 40-passenger bus greeted us this morning, along with a local driver. Johnny would serve as our local guide. We were on an honor-system of rotating where we sat on the bus to date. On most of our previous Gate1 tours, the guide had drawn up a daily seat-rotation map, which ensured that everyone had an opportunity to sit all around the bus, plus we get to sit by new people each day. On this trip, especially with so many "first-timers," Johnny did not enforce it, and many people gravitated to the same seats. K and I, however, had been rotating, so I had no qualms about getting to the bus first and snatching two of the coveted front seats, as they would afford the absolute best views of the drive. We had not yet sat in the front-most seats. Johnny did tell us that half way through the drive, we would have a rest stop and people on the right side of the bus (with the best views) would switch to the left side, and vice versa. Not knowing what to expect, I grabbed the front right-side seats. As we settled in and started to pull away from the hotel, two police cars drove up. The woman who was being tracked was sitting behind us, and I heard her say, "I'm sure they're here for me." We nervously laughed it off and Johnny told the driver to proceed. About 10 minutes later, Johnny did get a call and, yes indeed, the police had been there looking for the woman. Evidently they were tracking the license plate of the bus, and their automated plate system had tagged the bus north of Naples, which did not track with our itinerary, so the police were dispatched to investigate. Johnny was in the front jump seat, directly below us, so I could hear his very animated conversation in Italian. He then, very deftly, walked back to the woman and quietly told her about the call. I could, of course, hear everything. He explained the situation with the license plate, gave the police the tags of the bus we were on this day, as well as the plate for the other bus that would come down to bring folks to Rome in two-days' time. The woman was understandably upset and cried a little, for which I cannot blame her. In speaking with her at length the following day, it would appear that someone stole her identity about 10 years ago and get themselves in trouble in France. She had no idea this had happened until she entered Italy. She was advised to follow-up with Interpol and her local police when she got home, but she was understandably stressed, and was already worried about the scrutiny she'd get when she left Italy in five-days' time.
While I was familiar with the images of the famed Amalfi drive, which is along a precarious, narrow road carved out of the cliffs overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea, I was still surprised at the beauty. The route stretches back to Roman days, as they were the first to create the pathway, which grew into the road. The road itself stretches 50 miles, from Sorrento to Salerno. It is very curvy and each time we made a turn, the front of the bus would essentially hang over the edge, while the driver navigated the very narrow road. It does run two ways, to which I was incredulous, as it was challenging for two vehicles to pass, even on the very rare straight portions. The weather was perfect, with very long-distance views available and spectacular vistas. Johnny did a great job explaining what we were seeing, and talking about the history of the area. There are no places to pull over, so he would slow down when possible, but we were going rather slowly anyway, so getting good pictures was not a problem. We did make a stop at a ceramic studio, to stretch our legs, use the restroom, and make the seat switches. We were then on the left side, but still had massive views out the huge front windshield.
Waiting outside our hotel ahead of our "Amalfi Day!"
Sharing the road
View down to Positano
We drove through several tiny towns along the way, and the bus driver did an outstanding job of navigating around other vehicles. He knew every inch of the bus and made it squeeze through spaces I would have thought impossible. Johnny had jokingly warned us that we'd easily be able to pick out the tourist with rental cars, as they would be completely intimidated and get themselves into trouble. He said that many a couple go to Amalfi for the romance, but end up divorcing after a stressful day of yelling at each other in the car while trying to safely drive the road. All I could say was that I was VERY happy to be the passenger.
At the entrance to one small town, a policeman stood at the entrance, next to a hairpin turn. He had a radio and Johnny explained that there were patrols on both sides of the city, and they were to regulate the cars going in each direction, particularly as trucks and buses could not pass each other inside the village. We had to wait about 10 minutes, while the policeman let scooters and small cars through. We were finally waved ahead, but very quickly we started to encounter larger vehicles coming from the other way. I honestly do not know how our driver got through this stretch. At one point, a smaller truck coming the other way ended up within 1/2 inch of the side of our bus, while we saw and heard him scraping along the cliffside on the other. When we exited the opposite side of town, we saw a policewoman there, and our driver opened the door and yelled some very excited and angry words toward her. I had no idea what she said, but she yelled right back, with a lot of stereotypical Italian hand gestures. Johnny explained that the driver was chastising her for not controlling the cars, to which she said she was allowed to take a break from time to time. Only in Italy!
Less than an inch from our bus, and scraping the other wall
Approaching Town of Amalfi
The bus let us off in the largest town along the drive, the namesake village of Amalfi. Here we had a few hours to eat and explore, before we reconvened and took a boat down to the village of Maiori, where the bus would pick us up again, and drive us back to Sorrento, up and over the peninsula, and not back the way we came. We had a great lunch of fried fresh fish and really enjoyed Amalfi, but it was extremely full of tourists, to which we kept saying we can't imagine the crowds during the summer.
Amalfi
Duomo Amalfi
Before we went on this trip, we had watched the new Ripley series on Netflix. It was based on the book (and earlier movie), "The Talented Mr. Ripley." It was primarily based in the tiny village of Atrani, which sits between Amalfi and Maiori. The popularity of the series was blamed for a huge influx in tourists this year, many of whom came to seek out locales featured in the series. We asked and Johnny explained that we would see Atrani from the boat, which indeed we did.
Departing Amalfi by Boat
Town of Atrani, of Ripley Fame
Approaching Maiori
For the drive back, we headed inland and drove essentially straight north, over the mountains, until we reached the highway, and we then drove westward, entering the Bay of Naples along the same route we took a day earlier. Essentially, we went in a big circle. On the drive back, we had a quick stop for some "lemon slush." Amalfi is, of course, famous for the Limoncello liquor. We had some already, and we saw the famous lemons everywhere. They are absolutely huge, and more the size of a grapefruit than a traditional lemon. They are also much sweeter than "regular" lemons. Lemon ice is quite popular down here, and it's made by taking straight lemon juice, sugar, and water. That liquid is poured into a metal cylinder, which rests inside a tub of ice. The cylinder is rotated quickly, sloshing the liquid up, which rather quickly turns into frozen slush, which is then scooped into small cups. It was so refreshing, and it was very welcome stop on the way back.
Mt. Vesuvius on the drive back from Amalfi
We arrived at the hotel around 3:30pm and elected to finally break out the swim suits we'd brought along. The hotel had a very nice -- if not chilly -- outdoor pool, and we congregated there with several members from our group. It was a nice way to actually RELAX, which we had not done much on the trip to date.
Dinner was on our own this evening. Again, I had planned ahead and we had a reservation at a small, highly recommended restaurant on the waterfront. In planning, I had realized that no restaurants were in walking distance from our hotel. What I had not expected, however, was the topography, and I did not realize how our hotel sat perched high above the town of Sorrento proper. I has assumed we could take an Uber to the restaurant, but when we arrived, I learned the ride-share services are not authorized in Italy. We could ordered a cab, but you have to order well in advance. Our hotel did offer a shuttle bus service into and back from the town, on a regular schedule. Johnny had paid for a dedicated shuttle for our group, to take any of us wanting to go, down into Sorrento. He was going to provide an impromptu city tour, orient folks, and then recommend restaurants for those interested. We elected to ride down with the group -- which was nearly all of our tour. We took the tour, but then cut off on our own -- relying on Google Maps for navigation -- and started the walk to our restaurant, which was off the beaten tourist track. It was about a 20-minute walk, most of it downward, which didn't bode well for the return walk. We finally reached the secluded beach area, where our restaurant was located, and arrived exactly on time for our reservation. A table alongside the beach was dedicated to us, and we heartily enjoyed our meal and some great local wine. Speaking of which, I wrote earlier about us bringing along that third small suitcase, to carry home wine. We had tried to buy a bottle of wine from each city/area we visited along the way, and in the end, I think we came home with six bottles in total. This region is known for some outstanding whites, and we enjoyed our bottle at dinner.
Deep gorge in the Town of Sorrento
Sorrento
Secluded Beach Where Our Dinner Restaurant Was Located
View at Dinner
It was dark by the time we finished. We had the shuttle schedule and were aiming for a 9:45pm departure. We weren't keen on walking back all the same steps we walked to reach the restaurant, so we went back a different route, which coincidently took us through the famous narrow shopping street of Sorrento, which very much felt like an Arabian souk. We made a few stops along the way, but still managed to reach the shuttle stop right on time, where we found the majority of our group, who had the same idea as us.
Sorrento By Night
While we waited a few minutes for the bus, the sky was lighting up with heat lightning. We heard some thunder and couldn't tell if it was going to actually storm. At the same time, Johnny had mentioned earlier that they frequently light off fireworks over the bay, and that our hotel was a prime viewing area. I only bring this up as, at breakfast the next morning, most people were gushing about the fireworks from the previous evening. We had no idea what they were talking about. Evidently around 11:00pm a fireworks show started. We had been using a sound machine app at night, to mask out any hotel noise, so we didn't hear anything. I do remember hearing some distant booms, but in my half-asleep stupor, I assumed it was more thunder. Oh well, we missed the show, but that did not detract from what was one of the most memorable days of this entire trip.
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