Amalfi - Chi non conosce Amalfi, non conosce l'Italia.

Who has never seen Amalfi, does not know Italy - O. Sitwell

He is right! I (Dorte) has been to Italy many times, but never to Amalfi, and it is stunningly beautiful, the simple pleasures thrive, and life is lived in the slow lane. 

When we entered the regional train towards Salerno at Naples station, we couldn't understand why there were 4 conductors on the platform. But we got the explanation a few minutes later, when from the train we watched several Italians and African people arguing with the conductors about their tickets, trying to scam their way onto the train. At some point one of the conductors tore apart a train ticket. Others had tickets but hadn't validated them, so they were sent back to stamp the ticket - no free ride for them. This obviously happens often since the staff was prepared - we enjoyed watching it.

The train ride from Naples to Salerno took just over an hour, and the beautiful bus ride to Amalfi 1.5 hour. The bus was full, and it seemed like every Italian in the country was on their way to Amalfi, made worse by the fact that this day was a national holiday! It was a beautiful drive along the coast on winding roads with view of the ocean and villages tucked away in the mountains.

At one point some passengers on the bus started shouting, and it turned out that the hatch of the luggage compartment under the bus had opened, and some luggage had fallen out! So out went the driver and some passengers to get the luggage, while the other staff on the bus directed the traffic around the bus on the narrow road. Our luggage was still on the bus!

The Tourist Information didn't offer accommodation services, so we walked up the main street looking for a hotel, but found a real estate agent who had one apartment left for rent 2 km outside Amalfi in a small town called Vettica. It was expensive and not ideal as it didn't have internet, no shops nearby except for a fish market and a corner store, and we would have to rely on busses or our feet to get to and from Amalfi, but it had a wonderful view of the ocean and the coastline, and looked fine on the pictures. So we took it.

The real estate agent called a friend, Antonella, and she was going to take the bus with us to the apartment. Service. She suggested she and I went shopping before we took the bus as we, otherwise, would have to take the bus back to Amalfi to shop - very practical lady. So I went shopping with her while Andy did the paperwork. It is fun shopping in Italy with an Italian. It seemed like she knew everybody in town, and I said what we needed, e.g cheese, ham, bread, eggs, butter, vegetables, and she ordered the best local food at the butcher, in the supermarket and in the vegetable store. And of course she recommended pasta! And she insisted on carrying all the bags! A very memorable experience for me.

So on the bus we went; us with our luggage and Antionella with our shopping bags chatting away to everybody along the way. The view from the apartment was amazing, and the apartment very nice.

We had been looking at the ocean all day, so now it was time for swim. Unfortunately the path to the beach closest to our appartment was blocked off as part of the staircase had fallen into the sea, so we had to walk another 10 minutes to the beach. The only challenge....

There are 473 steps (yes, I counted them!) down to the beach and, ta daaaa 473 steps back up to the road!

After a week of doing this once a day we will be fit for hiking in the Himalayas!

Alora, it was such a pleasure to be back by the ocean again - and well deserved too. 

Dinner (and all other meals that week) took place on the balcony, and it was wonderful to be eating home cooked food again. 

We found it easy to adapt to the cycle of life here. Get up, go for a swim after breakfast, buy local food and wine, eat gelato every day, go for walks, or just hang out on the balcony and read.

One day we got up super early to beat the heat, 

and to do the famous Amalfi mountain hike known as Sentiero degli Dei (Path of the Gods). It started in the town of Nocelle and ran about 7.5 km to the town of Bomerano. There were countless beautiful vistas along the way. 

Our second last day we took another hike from Pogerola to Amalfi known as Valle dei Mulini (Valley of the Mills). It was around 7 km and not well marked from the Pogerola side. Luckily we met a German woman named Andrea, who is a member of FreeRamblers.com, so they guide hikes for free. Andrea insisted she would walk with us part of the way to Riserva Naturale, which had a lush forest and a beautiful waterfall.

The walk back to Amalfi from Riserva Naturale was full of old abandoned towns built away from the sea as protection from pirates and invaders. Italy has so much history and, unfortunately, only so much can be preserved. 

On the way back, Andy visted a paper mill museum. Andy and two of his brothers, Robert and John, both worked in a paper mill to pay their way through university. This paper mill was about 400 years old and last produced paper in 1969. Andy got to see how paper was made from Egyptian cotton, how to do a watermark, and how the waterwheel powered the mill.

Our daily walks from Vettica to Amalfi were always an adventure. The roads were winding and narrow and definitely not room enough for pedestrians, scooters, buses and cars. We made sure to hug the side of the road when we heard the bus horn as it rounded the corner. We always laughed when we saw the no horn blowing sign in front of a fancy hotel, because it was routinely ignored by EVERY bus! 

Most days on our way back from Amalfi we stopped at the corner store and had gelato as a reward for our two kilometre walk!

By know some of Andy's Italian lessons were starting to pay off. He could say "Vorrei una cafe americano con latte caldo aparto" and get a coffee with hot milk separate every time!

Every night we made sure to be back to our apartment before dark, and to have supper as the sun was going down. It was always the highlight of our day to recount what happened over a glass of wine on the balcony. Dorte got quite good at making bruschetta and it was usually our appetizer.

Sadly, after a week, it was time to leave Amalfi for new adventures.