All posts tagged: Amalfi

a quick reminisce before the next trip…

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Before we head off again next week to see some of Spain, Portugal & France…here are a few photos from our last trip. Hopefully with another two years practise, and some fancier gear, the shots will be better, and will tell the story of our time away.      Notre Dame will be visited again, and I’m pretty sure we’ll see another of France’s iconic vehicles!               The cafe scene in Paris, to the stunning light show in Reims. One of the highlights, ballooning over Burgundy. Pompeii was breathtaking, a must visit if you’re anywhere near.       There’s quite the art to walking on the beach in Amalfi, and a lot of walking in Rome.                     A strategically placed Vespa in Assisi, and a misplaced Boar in Chianti. In one of the most wicked “butchers/deli’s ever!!     The rugged splendour of the Cinque Terre, and the majestic beauty of Lake Como.      Venice, before the madness …

Goodbye Amalfi, Hello Rome

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Rome, Italy Our last day in Amalfi was pretty relaxed with brekky, a coffee at our favourite cafe, a couple of photos before finalising our packing and walking the 77 steps down to our awaiting driver. All going to plan so far!! The drive back to Napoli was very relaxing as our driver took us the back route through the lovely countryside, accompanied by some lovely Italian music, interspersed with the latest Top 40 songs and a couple of pop songs in Italian, quite the repertoire of music. It took us 45 minutes to get from Amalfi to Napoli and 20 minutes to get from the Napoli freeway exit to the train station, which was only 5kms, the traffic in this city is unbelievable. Dog eat dog when driving. Our train was on time so we made the journey along the platform to coach number 2, of 15 carriages, so we were the second last carriage, and proceeded to board the train, but not before a gentleman offered to lift our bags onto the train …

Last day in Amalfi

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mAmalfi, Italy Lazy start to the day as we needed to organise our train ride to Rome, transport from Amalfi to Naples and from Rome train station to hotel for tomorrow. After this much effort we headed off to our favourite coffee place before finally starting our day at midday!! First things first we needed a pair of sunnies for Hugh, thanks to him donating his old pair to the blue grotto yesterday. Thankfully we found a pair within our Euro price range, albeit a pair that can only be described as ‘Southern Italian Chic’ in Hugh’s words. Next on the shopping list was a bottle of Lemoncello, but from which of the 200 shops that sell it, was the authentic one??? Settled on a shop that made it on site and purchased a bottle that we could keep long after the Lemoncello had been consumed. A bit of solitude and reflection was needed, so a visit to the Duomo Amalfi was in order, €2 at the ready for Rachael’s candle. A lovely church it …

To Capri and back by boat

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Amalfi, Italy Up and at ’em today, with a full days boat trip along the Amalfi coast to Capri. No time for coffee, as we rush around trying to find an ATM that both worked, and didn’t take 5 minutes to process. Success, and off on our 36 foot cruiser with 8 others to see the coast from the sea aspect. We headed back towards Minori, where we walked to from Ravello yesterday, then on to the largest town on the coast, Maiori. Back whence we came past Amalfi, and on to the Emerald grotto for our first taste of the Italian sport of hitting up the dumb tourist for a tip! After paying €7 to go into the grotto and be paddled around the cave by our friendly pilot, who spent half his spiel telling us to remember how good he was, we finished our 10 minutes to be reminded, again, how terrific he had been, and “don’t forget to tip”. Here’s a tip, my fine young friend….’be good to your Nonna!’ The Emerald …

Ravello and Minori explored

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Amalfi, Italy Well rested after a day off the helter skelter of travel, and we are ready to rumble! First port of call was a run to rid ourselves of a LOT of carbs. Now, Amalfi is built into a cliff and flat ground is at a premium, so we did laps of the marina area dodging tourists, nonna’s, and old china’s fishing, for 30 minutes or so in the heat and humidity. Redeemed,we had breakfast, then headed out for a serious coffee. Caffe latte just doesn’t cut it in Italy, and espresso may blow my head off, so we settled on cappuccino…..not bad. Macchiato tomorrow. Bouncing, we booked a bus to Ravello and prepared for a bit of exploring…Amalfi style. Ravello sits up the hills above Amalfi, and is a peaceful area with a small population, offering stunning views of the Mediterranean. In 1996 it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town is just beautiful, with a peaceful piazza, tiny alleyways filled with shops and restaurants, and one amazing villa. Villa …

Rest Day

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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 …

Great ocean road on steroids!

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Amalfi, Italy Welcome to Italy. We stayed  in a delightful hotel in Naples last night, in a slightly grungy area full of people hanging around the local piazza drinking beer. Rachael fitted right in!! Quick pizza last night to fortify us for a busy day today. Up early in anticipation of a full day being chauffeured to Pompeii and down to Amalfi, very excited as we waited for our 9am pick up. 9.15…checking watches…9.30, Rachael getting antsy…9.45, Me realising I may have buggered up…10.00, went back to reception and luckily got another company to take us. Oops, didn’t verify with first mob, so they dumped us. Regroup! Aldo, the life (read ‘Hugh’) saver, came to our rescue….and we’re off to Mt Vesuvius which is about 1 hour away through some of the most horrendous traffic you are likely to see. The traffic in Naples is NUTS. No discernible road rules at all, indication optional. Traffic lights, what traffic lights? It goes something like this, accelerate at high speed, brake suddenly, repeat, hit every pothole, too …