Amalfi, Italy

As with all athletes, we too scheduled a rest day from our holiday to take stock and re group for the next few weeks. Being on the Amalfi Coast it was a tough ask to sit and read or sleep on the beach or the balcony as we wiled away the hours. After a glorious sleep in til 9am we had brekky then headed out to walk around the town of Amalfi and take in all that there is to offer in this picturesque town.

One word comes to mind……Lemons. They are everywhere. The Italians have managed to make everything out of lemons, hand cream, pasta, pizza, emboldened them on everything from tea towels to fridge magnets to ceramic tiles, whatever is in this town it has a lemon attached to it. The best of all is the Lemoncello, drink this ice cold as an digestive after dinner, in fact any ole time of the day, it is so refreshing. After lunch we headed to the beach, which had smaller pebbles than Nice and was a lot friendlier on the feet.

We watched as a 50 year old tried to engage in conversation with a couple of 18 year olds, only in Italy, but with no success. In the end he gave them what for, how dare they resist his irresistible charms. The girls had taste!! The sea here is a lot warmer and each section of the beach is roped off by a floating line separating the boats from the swimmers.

Our exercise for today was to swim to the line and back, a feat of no more than 200 metres return, enough exertion on a rest day for the both of us. Decided on take away Pizza on the balcony of our hotel for dinner, as it was a beautiful night and the view is spectacular, not to mention the low cost of such an idea.

The Pizza was a major disappointment as we have come to expect they come in only one size and that is super large. Tonight we got the equivalent of a small and when you pay €12 you feel ripped off, so look out Pizza Royal, Hugh is looking for you on Trip Advisor to write his first bad review!!

Never mind, the Italians never fail on the gelato front, so off into town for dessert, followed by another walk around town, before heading off exploring other parts of the magnificent Amalfi Coast tomorrow. Rest day over. Ciao xx