A&K Adventure 2019

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...Les mer

So quite a few months back I was at Nespresso Emporium buying more coffee pods, when I got chatting to the girl making my free coffee. The coffee was piping hot and I was the only one there, so had to engage in some small talk. It turned out that she was Italian, and after mentioning our pending trip to the Amalfi coast, suggested a hike for us to do - Il Sentiero degli Dei, or ‘The Walk of the Gods’. I drank my coffee, thanked her for the suggestion and thought little more of it.

Now let’s fast forward to us arriving on the Amalfi coastline - I had booked us into pretty Praiano, knowing that it sat directly below the Walk of the Gods route, between its starting point in Bomerano (accessibly from near Amalfi) and and its end in Nocelle (a mere 1500 steps uphill from Positano). So naturally, we had to walk at least part of it...

Rising early to beat the heat, we had decided to walk directly uphill, past a Basilica to a trail connection about a 1/3 of the way along from Bomerano. This shortened the walk slightly, but our entry point is when all the views west toward Positano and Capri become present. So we essentially got to see the best bits! We just had to first walk up stairs for an hour to reach the trail. After ten minutes of starting, and still in Praiano, we both needed to stop and have a breather. It seems the non stop travel is starting to wear us both down a bit - or perhaps it’s simply the extreme heat. Either way, once we got over our initial hurdle and became warmed up, the rest of the hike was a breeze.

We tracked along the trail, high above the alluring azure waters of the Amalfi coast, curving in and out of rocky faces and diving cliff gullies. We passed stumpy tough and silvery oak trees, admired the spiked blue flowers of native Eryngium and savoured the smell of Rosmarinus and wild fennel as we brushed passed it with our dust covered walking shoes. It was a walk of beauty affording wonderful views of this historic coastline.

A few hours later, we reached the town of Nocelle where a middle aged man in the little piazza in front of the local church approached Kate. While I was in the loo, I’m told he said a few words in Italian then jiggled a set of keys in front of her as he gestured towards the church. As I came out of the bathroom I caught up as he unlocked the little church and we entered, with him poking our arms as a signal of ‘come, follow me’. We walked in, and he flicked on the lights from the main power board. It was a gorgous little church, very well kept. He pointed out paintings of St Francis of Assisi, Ave Maria, Jesus and a statue of seeming significance, embedded in an alcove in the wall behind a perspex screen. This he explained slowly to us in a mixture of Italian and pigeon English, was a statue of Madonna which had its centenary in 2010. It clearly took pride of place there in the middle of the church. Further hand gesturing saw us move into the vestry (or similar) where he showed us a book - it was about 10cm thick and included snippets of the church’s history over the past decade. This appeared to be a personal project of his, recording key events over the years of his involvement (we believe he is the priest, but can’t be sure! All we know is, his name is Pasqual). He gave us a printed copy of a photo of the Madonna statue with blue all around it. This he explained was in fact a ‘naturale’ photograph - they had taken the 1910 statue outside in 2010 to photograph it amongst the sea and sky. The photo is amazing, as the sun and sky merge in a haze at an indecipherable horizon. It looks photoshopped, but it’s not. It’s naturale. On the back of one of these cards was a prayer and on the other was a hymn, to which he proceeded to sing out loud an entire verse! It was a magical moment, and hilarious all at the same time.

We left feeling humbled, with our photos of the Madonna, and a few little pewter pins with the Madonna and Jesus on each side.

1500 steps (who’s counted them, I’m not sure...) later, we arrived at the main road about 1km from Positano. As the bus whooshed straight past us, we decided to walk into town, ducking in between cars and walking quickly over the bridges as all modes of transport approached us at frightening speeds.

Positano was ‘good from far, but far from good’... in my opinion. Busy, overpopulated by people with more money than sense and full of tourists including the large groups following umbrellas and other devices. It was here we walked the main street, then took some time to call home. Technology has come a long way compared to my first European trip over a decade ago, when the internet was hard to come by and I collected rolls of film full of photos. Now, we’re up to 5000+ photos on one memory card and can video call home at any time. I wonder where we’ll be in another ten years time?

We headed back to Praiano for a quiet afternoon of sunbathing, writing this journal, scrapbooking and other life admin. We drank a beer and a few premixed Aperol spritzes on the balcony before dinner, which we enjoyed at the Pizzeria I found last night. And what a dinner it was. Old Italian men serving and cooking, no fuss or a white coat in sight. A delicious eye fillet steak for me, cooked over coals directly from the wood fire pizza oven - just perfect after last nights epic fail. Katey ate some really nice spaghetti alla vongole, and capped off the meal with a limoncello. We left with happy bellies and content minds. Tomorrow, we begin the first of three travel days to reach our next major destination - Turkey.Les mer