Off the ship – boo hiss – and off we go to Hertz for the car. Seamless. Port shuttle to the gates, then a 10 minute walk and we have our little car and are on our way.
Out of Civitavecchia we go, around Rome and down South to Campagnia where we’ll spend our first 2 nights at the beach resort south of Salerno. The hotel is awesome! Room is great, pool is beautiful, dining area like a photograph. And a free shuttle into Salerno for the ferries and the train. Can’t beat it.
We cruise into town, looking for a grocery store for beer and an adapter. The darn adapter we have isn’t working so we have internet – but no power! Geez…..after the whole ship thing with no bandwidth, now we’re set but we can’t charge our phones, computer or kindles. Geez!
Salerno is a big town- and we hit it right at siesta. Great! Nothing open but occasional bars and cafes. We walk around a bit, but it’s hot and there’s nothing to see, so we skeedaddle. Found the Carrefour grocery store we saw on the way in and stock up on beer and snacks (I’m still carrying around that darn Black Box of wine, so I’m good there. We end up buying these delectable local treats – well, actually they are all over Italy and are my favorites, but here in Salerno, they have these great flavors – the one we bought was Taralli Napoletani with almonds with salt and pepper. It’s like a flour biscuit – that’s the best I can describe it – but the flavors! Oh! I’m so addicted – and all the weight I lost…yeah…you can blame the belly fat that has reappeared on these babies!
Dinner at the hotel is fabulous. Out in the garden, a table for two, cool breeze, excellent food. Wonderful day.
Next day we are heading to the Amalfi Coast – breakfast is huge – you name it, it’s there! We eat our fill, then head out in our shuttle to the ferry pier. The ferry is great – beautiful day, not too choppy on the water, a sea level view of the Amalfi. Ed stays outside on the front of the boat most of the way, snapping picture after picture…I’m watching him from a little window inside. I’m good when I see his camera arm come up…otherwise, every chop I’m waiting to see if the arm comes back up or we are calling Man Over Board.
After 1 1/2 hours we arrive at Positano, which never changes. The small little windy pedestrian streets leading up to the square. Then climbing even higher to the Amalfi Drive where we can catch the Sita bus to Praiano and Amalfi and Salerno.
We love this place! While the adapter is still our top priority, we still love walking the touristy streets of Amalfi and climbing the hill to the drive for the bus. Although this time, we opt for the shuttle to the top of the hill….don’t ask…just a momentary blip on our laziness quotient. As it turns out though, the shuttle is the right move. We thought we’d have to wait 20 minutes for a bus, but it shows up right away – so we’re in Praiano in no time.
Actually, we’re in Praiano too quickly, because our favorite restaurant, la Bracce, isn’t open for another 45 minutes. So – we go in search h of the adapter! Lo and behold, in this little cross roads (or I should say narrow roads) of the Amalfi Drive, we find and electriche shop with an adapter! 2 Euros later – and we’re in business! YAY!
And we still have time for a drink before lunch! We head off to the little “sports” bar on the side of the road near San Gennaro church, Great vistas from here – plus good beer and wine. Can’t go wrong!
We’re waiting for 12:30 when we can wander up to La Brace for our traditional Amalfi lunch! We love this place! The view is spectacular and not much has changed (except the prices!!!) since we first came here years ago when we stayed in Praiano for a few days. Ed of course had his Octopus and spaghetti vongole – I had grilled vegetables and antipasto. And the wine! It’s a half bottle that comes now in a heavy duty plastic bag filled with ice! How cool (literally) is that? Couldn’t ask for a better meal.
Back on the street we wait for the bus that never comes. For some reason the 1:45 didn’t’ show, but the 2:15 did and we are in Amalfi before 3.
It’s touristy, sure, but we still love this little town. We wander, take pix, buy some more awesome almonds with limoncello and almonds with pear and ricotta, then repair back to the bus stop and sit at a café with beer and wine, waiting to see which bus will take us back to Salerno.
What a people watching opp! OMG - they all queue up, but look like deer in the headlights. Scanning the buses, wondering which one will take them back to Positano or Sorrento. Everytime a bus pulls up, the run en masse to the bus – only to find it’s out of service or going somewhere else. Comedy Central has nothing on this!
Our bus finally “announces” itself – and the groans from the Sorrento people are audible. (grin). We hop on – and are so lucky! We actually get the front seats. Oh man, this is so perfect, we can now watch everything as we make our way for an hour and 15 minutes from Amalfi to Salerno. Our all day tickets only cost 7.20 Euros. This is way more entertainment than 7.20 should buy!!!
75 minutes of achingly gorgeous vistas – mountains, seaviews, houses, condos perched precariously on the side of the cliffs lining the Amalfi. It is the most incredibly journey. AND we are UP FRONT! Watching all the cars that have to back up for us, the death defying precipices out our window, the way the bus driver effortlessly rounds the deadman’s curves and avoids scooters, bicyclists (they are just nuts, totally insane!) and cars as he wends his way through the most incredible drive on the planet. Like I said…the price isn’t even worth the admission….way too cheap!!!
Back in Salerno (sadly!), we find our shuttle and head back to the hotel. Dinner – awesome as usual – and we prepare for our long drive south in the morning.
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