D42 Italy - Ischia to the Amalfi coast

It was a sad day, for this morning we had to wave goodbye to our little apartment and the island, a place that we didn’t feel content in having fully yet explored. We bumped into Bjorn yesterday evening and he insisted that we wake him up so he could say goodbye, even if it was at 7.30am! So at 7.32am we knocked on their door and he quietly popped out and wished us all the best (in nothing but his European trunk underwear).

We got to the local marina a good 30 minutes before the boat was due to arrive, which meant ample time to find breakfast. Ant ducked into the closest bakery/cafe that looked open and returned with coffee and a bag of goodies. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so entranced by a pastry - but this thing was a culinary masterpiece, a croissant filled with pistachio cream and topped with roasted pistachios. He also got a large sugary doughnut, just in case of dire circumstances. I ate a huge peach - it was beautifully ripe and went everywhere.

The boat didn’t arrive until a few minutes after it was due (“Italian time” Ant is calling it), but within 90 seconds all 15 of us had been loaded and we were on our way! The boat probably held 150 passengers and we were lucky enough to get on at the second stop so we grabbed a spot up the back on the top level, with plenty of fresh air! After two more stops in Ischia, we set off for Capri, and then onto Amalfi. This was an all day excursion, so people had a choice of their destination - Capri or Amalfi/Positano. It took about 3 hours to get to Amalfi, but this was filled with lots of photographic moments (many of which were done by the boat’s photographer and MAY have included a Captain’s hat), reapplication of sunscreen, snacking and listening to the commentary.

Once we reached Amalfi we were able to survey just how many thousands of tourists flock here each day - the amount of boats coming and going was insane! And for good reason, as this part of Italy is just stunning - characterised by the bright, clear blue waters and sheer cliffs dotted with tiny little houses and restored monasteries.
We spent about 2 hours exploring the local area, and pretty quickly Ant surprised me by buying me my first lemon granita! I cannot tell you how grateful our bodies were for that icy, zesty drink that was topped with fresh strawberries. Yum! For lunch, we found a shady stoop and shared a caprese-stuffed panini, an arancini and some other deep fried potato thing. That plus a drink cost less than 10€, which makes it tastes even better.

We had been given information by the most enthusiastic information guide ever earlier on, and we had our bus tickets for today and for Saturday. We lined up at the local bus stop and just managed to squeeze on to the bus with our bags and even managed a seat. The driver was a bit of a speed demon, which combined with the tiny Italian roads and overhanging rocky walls, wasn’t a wonderful thing. In fact, we’re sure he hit the back of the bus into the rock wall on the way. Half an hour later and he yelled “PRAIANO!” and we jumped off not sure whether he would stop again! Luckily, our hotel was just a 5 minute walk up through the main strip, so we didn’t have to fear dodging traffic for too long. We were checked in by a lovely (and very pregnant) Italian lady who gave us all the information we needed for tomorrow’s hike. We also booked into the hotel’s restaurant for this evening, which she highly recommended we do. We were then shown to our room, which is part of a seperate block a further 100m up the road. The view from our apartment is ultimately what we are paying for (we have a direct view westward across the coastline with Positano sitting on the right), but we are going to be very comfortable and even have our own balcony to hang out on. The hotel pool coats an additional 15€ per person, so I think we’ll give that one a miss.

As the shops all close for most of the afternoon, we decided to spend a few hours lying in the Amalfi sun and writing another round of postcards. Later on, we strolled to the small grocery store and grabbed snacks and items for a picnic breakfast, as we aim to leave pretty early tomorrow! We then stopped at a local bar on the way home to enjoy Aperitivo - quickly becoming our favourite time of day. Italians love the ritual of pre dinner drinks out at a bar or cafe, which come with free nibbles (usually chips or nuts, and olives)!

Dinner was an experience - I will just say that in hindsight we should have done our research. It was quite an upmarket restaurant, and when you can only focus on the euro signs in front of you and not the beautiful surroundings then something is amiss. We ate, drank our wine and politely left - poor Ant was still starving so a late night pizza run across the street was non-negotiable.

A few locals had informed us that today is some religious holiday as well as a public holiday when no one seems to work, so a firework display in Positano was due at 11pm. We stayed up in excitement, but when the clock hit 11.15pm we gave up and went to bed. We left the blinds up a tad so when the show finally started sometime shy of midnight, we were able to enjoy the distant glow...Read more