Our Walk About Italy!

septembre - octobre 2024
  • Lansers on the Loose ...
I love to walk and was delighted to discover a tour company called "Walk About Italy" that offers walking tours off the beaten tourist path! We are eager to explore the magical areas of Cinque Terre and the Amalfi Coast on foot! 👣 En savoir plus
  • Lansers on the Loose ...

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  • Farewell to Canada for now ...

    28 septembre 2024, Canada ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    Today is the day our new adventure begins! Thank you Lethbridge for kissing us good-bye with ribbons of red and yellow waving through the darkening skyline last night. I will miss the ever special sunsets we get to enjoy in our home here in Lethbridge ... but ... I am guessing, hoping, trusting that Italy will offer up a few of its own as we gaze westward out towards the seas from the Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terra!

    I woke up this morning feeling a wee bit eager for our trip ... despite knowing that it will be a long, long, long day of planes, trains and automobiles before we arrive at our Airbnb tomorrow in Piano di Sorrento! We are spending three nights in the Sorrento area before our walking tour of the Amalfi Coast begins.

    I still have to be the tour guide until October 2nd. And, today will be a very, very long one because it doesn't end until tomorrow! Our itinerary looks like this:
    Leave home at 10:45am Sept 28th
    Ride to the bus terminal in Lethbridge...thank you Sweetie! (15 minutes)
    Flix Bus to downtown Calgary (3.25 hours)
    Uber from downtown Calgary to YYC (30 minutes)
    Flight from Calgary to Rome (9 hours and 55 minutes)
    Shuttle from Rome airport to Rome Train station (32 minutes)
    Rome train station to Naples train station (65 minutes)
    Naples train station to Piano di Sorrento train station (63 minutes)
    Piano di Sorrento train station to Airbnb (8 minute WALK)
    Arrival at Airbnb ... @ 6:00pm (tomorrow!)
    Since the pandemic, we have travelled with carry-on only ... but now ... we are checking one bag as well as taking our carry-on bags. It turns out that geriatric galivanting in the "golden years" now involves trekking poles, knee braces, tubs of medicated ointment for cranky knees that won't fit in the carry-on and pain killers for comfort! These things take up more space than I realized. So ... a checked bag it is. The extra suitcase complicates the ease of train hopping when you are rolling more than one bag, but I have faith in the old boy's "cougar reflexes" to manage the extra suitcase. Fingers crossed that it arrives in Rome when we do!

    I decided to post this preamble to our trip because I don't expect to write again until we finally kick off our shoes tomorrow night at the Airbnb. I hope to catch up with you then on how all the connections went on our 'never-ending' day of commuting!

    Looking forward to seeing you again then!
    ❤️k&j❤️
    En savoir plus

  • The Universe is Conspiring on my Behalf!

    29 septembre 2024, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Our daughter kindly taxied us to the bus depot. I don't think we tipped her enough though! 😘 And, we enjoyed a lovely ride up to Calgary on the Flix bus ... savoring the sunshine and Autumn colors

    Amazingly, we triggered NO bells or whistles through security. That had to be a first! Usually one of us is out of bounds ... 🥴

    We had an ontime departure and got to load in Zone 1. We are learning there are many perks to flying "Premium Economy" including white linen dinner and breskfast service ... lovely white wine ... comfy wide seats with footrests that raise ... blankets that we didn't need because it was warm ... pillows and oodles of leg room!!

    But all of this luxury doesn't hold a candle to the most unbelievable thing that happened so far on this trip ... maybe in my life!  I still cannot wrap my head around what transpired as we were seated in a nice little restaurant sipping some wine and enjoying some appetizers.

    I got up to take a walk and refill our water bottles and when I returned to the table, the old boy was chatting it up with a fellow who had been seated at the table beside us. My hubby never misses a chance to talk with a stranger!! 

    We learned he was travelling overseas alone because his wife had a medical issue just a few days ago. He spoke about feeling guilty for leaving her behind but he had a couple weeks off work and she suggested he continue on without her.

    Before I continue ... a little back story is essential. I am an only child and am grateful I got to know one of my cousins on my mom's side (Betty Anne) ... but ... due to family strain arising from the estate of my grandmother, I never got to know the others.

    I watch my grandchildren enjoying such strong loving relationships with their cousins ..  and ... it magnifies my interest in generating bonds with the family I have never known. 

    So, recently I reached out to Betty Ann and two of my girl cousins (Laura Lee and Cynthia) to see if we could meet for lunch. We have set a date for Nov. 7th. I also have a cousin named Rick Peterson who I have not seen for about 55 years. His mom (my mom's sister Doris) passed away in her sleep about 53 years ago when my cousin Ricky was just 12 years old. He had an older brother, Dell, who was about 14 years older than him. After my Aunt Doris died, my Uncle Ivan and the boys moved around alot. Consequently, my mom's side of the family completely lost touch with all of them. 

    So anyway ... a few years ago, my cousin Betty Ann and I had talked about looking Ricky up. Bette had heard he worked with the Calgary police service ... but for some unknown reason, she and I never followed up on our good intentions.

    Okay ... so back to our conversation in the airport. We learned that the solo traveller seated beside us is currently living in Kelowna but used to live in Calgary. During the conversation. he shared that he retired from the police force some time ago. I knew it was a long shot, but when I heard that, I felt compelled to ask him if he had ever known ... or ... heard of ... or ... worked with someone called Rick Peterson?  

    He got a very quizzical ... maybe hesitant (?)... but very strange look on his face. I filled the subsequent pause with an apology for asking such an odd question ... but ... explained that I had a cousin named Rick and wondered if he might know him.

    At that point, he looked at me and said ... "I am Rick Peterson."

    What??!!???  It seemed too crazy to be true. I asked if he had a brother Dell. He confirmed it to be true! His dad was, indeed, Ivan.

    So, there I was ... looking into the eyes of my long lost cousin!!

    Seriously ... it felt entirely surreal!  He was equally astounded to hear that our mothers were sisters. 

    So ... it feels like some wildly, divinely designed serendipity was at play here. Who finds long lost relatives at the airport while heading away on vacation?!?

    We took a photo and shared a hug before we had to board our plane. I will look forward to sharing my "find" with my other cousins ( who are also his cousins) when we meet for coffee. And, we might have to travel out to Kelowna to spend more time reconnecting with him!

    Isn't that just the best story ever?? My heart was so full as we landed in our spacious premium seats and enjoyed spectacular service and white linen meals. We also slept for about 5 hours too. And, if all that wasn't enough to convince me that the Universe was conspiring to do me good ... we even arrived in Rome 40 minutes early!

    The good juju continued as we were able to take an earlier shuttle from the airport to the train station and then paid a bit extra to take an earlier train from Rome to Naples.

    From there we hopped on the local train and arrived in Sorrento a couple hours ahead of schedule!!. 

    The cab couldn't get us to our airbnb because roads were closed due to a religious celebration! There is a carnival happening outside our door tonight!! The fireworks just sounded too! It's a bit too busy for me but as I am writing this ... the old boy is down getting some authentic street food from one of the vendors! Apparently it's made from cow nose or pigs feet! 😬

    By the time we got to the Airbnb, our 20+ hour commute was catching up with me. I could have kissed our host when I saw that he had placed a bottle of Italian wine on the table for us. It tasted so divine!

    We found our way to the grocery store and reminded ourselves... more than once as we scarfed down our pizza ... that we are in Italy! 🇮🇹

    We are so grateful to be here and look forward to exploring more after a much needed sleep! For now, we really need to tuck into bed. I will say goodbye for now and catch up with you again tomorrow!

    Lots of love,
    ❤️ k&j ❤️
    En savoir plus

  • Walk, Eat, Walk, Drink, Walk & Be Merry!

    30 septembre 2024, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Its always fun to get settled into a new hotel or airbnb! Our place here is quite lovely, but it should be advertised with a disclaimer: Narrow people need only apply! I can hardly fit through the space in the shower doors and the old boy has to squeeze in sideways! I have no idea how anyone larger would use the bathroom facilities??

    We started our first full day in Sorrento with some breakfast at home, but followed it up with a tasty little capuccino at a local place around the corner from us. As oodles of local patrons came in for their morning esspresso, we realized that it is customary here for the high test coffee drinks to come with a side of water! I'm not sure why, but we both drank it! The java was such a great reminder of how good European coffee tastes! 

    We had already logged 10,000 steps by 1:00pm! We found our way to the Piano train station so we know our way there when we leave this beautiful place. And we wandered the area a bit before we mosied up the chutzpah to WALK back to Sorrento train station to get a map of the area. It was a $40 EUR taxi ride from there yesterday, but we decided to do the 2.8kms on foot.

    It was a very loud, precarious and nerve wracking trek because long stretches of it were right on the road beside the constant traffic. They created a pedestrian path that is about 18" to 24" wide (at best)! My nervous system was not liking it. I would honestly have turned back but the old boy passionately pesuaded me to carry on. I'm really glad he did. We had such a great day exploring Sorrento!! 🤩

    We stopped for lunch at "iL Leone Rosso"... and had a local white wine! Best ever!! The menu was the size of a book! It was impossible to decide. I opted for canneloni and the old boy had a seafood risotto. His dish was so loaded with seafood, he said he felt like he was opening little gifts with every bite. He acquired a huge pile of shells on his plate! And, the server surprised us with a "present for you." He brought us a complimentary bruschetta! It was amazing. Crusty bread for sopping up tasty sauces is served in a brown bag. The dessert was ricotta cheesecake with pears. Very nice. And, the bill comes with a very icy cold and complimentary limoncello! I just love Italy!! 😋

    After our leisurely two hour lunch, we wandered down the 100 steps to the Port of Sorrento. It was a perfect 22°C sunny day to sit by the sea and enjoy a Campari Orange! It's a signature drink here in Italy but we've never tried one before. However, our dear friend Sig loves them. It was exceptionally refreshing! And, we noticed the Italians make ice cubes with holes through the middle! So smart! 👏 They are better for cooling the drink and you more ounces of good stuff in the glass! 👍

    After that, we hiked back up the cliffs and retraced our steps to make the long journey home. By the time we got back, we had logged 19,584 steps ... i.e. 13.84 kms! We'll be lathering our knees with our medicated ointment tonight! 😉

    We're home now ... not the least little bit hungry yet and it's already 7:30pm. I'm not sure what the rest of the evening will bring ... but ... we sure had a great day! Hope all is well with all of you!

    See you tomorrow,
    ❤️ k& j ❤️
    En savoir plus

  • What? Where? Why?

    1 octobre 2024, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    So ... this gadget was on the counter when we checked into our airbnb. 🤔 Anyone know what it is? We have no idea but don't want to miss out on some gadget fun before we check out of here tomorrow morning!

    We decided to walk down to the Port here at Piano di Sorrento (aka Porto Marina Di Cassano). Google said it was a 22 minute walk but Im sure that didn't include the longest switchbacks down the cliff side that we have ever encountered! 

    The scenery was gorgeous and it is so much quieter and more relaxing than the Port of Sorrento. It is still busyling with tourists there! We are so happy that we chose to stay here instead of Sorrento. And when we reached the seashore, we found a wonderful table overlooking the gulf of Naples. It was so quiet until they turned the music on. Since there was only two tables (apparently tourist season is done here now!) ... we got brave enough to ask them to turn it off again. It was such a treat to be away from the clamor of traffic ... the worst of which is the dang motorbikes! We were happy to here only the seagulls!

    We started off with another local white wine. It's my turn to say "it's the best ever" white wine I've had. It's better than those in Spain ... which I thought were amazing. I ordered the ravioli Caprese and the old boy started with anchovies. They were "good" but not the best ever. Then he had the octopus ... which was caught this morning. He declared that truly was "the best ever." It said it was as tender as butter and he claimed it was even "better than lobster." He offered me a bite but ... I was not even curious enough to taste it!  And, when we looked it up on Trip Advisor, we discovered the seaside restaurant was rated #1 in the area! It was a great place to languish over a very lovely lunch! 

    Oh ... we discovered 'why' they serve water with the coffee. It is to clear the palate and makes the coffee taste better. Apparently it is only a custom of Southern Italy. It is not done north of Rome. 

    Did I share how hot and sunny it is here? It is only 22°C but it feels like 27°! I am now wishing I had packed more than one skort and far fewer long leggings!! The old boy is gloating a bit because he only packed two pair of pants. The rest are shorts. By the looks of what we packed in our suitcases, you'd think we were headed for different destinations! 🥴  In all honesty though, I'm hoping he gets to be right in terms of the weather yet to come!

    We made the hike back up the switchbacks and, thankfully, it wasn't as bad as I expected! Most of the stores and restaurants close from 3:00pm to 7:00pm (ish) ... so ... we headed home to rest ourselves. We don't have quite as much energy as we did during our big day yesterday!

    Hopefully we can catch a sunset tonight and get to bed early! We are checkingbout in the morning and travelling by train to Naples. Our first walking tour begins tomorrow at 4:00pm!

    Opefully I'll chat with you again before we go to bed!

    Hugs from Italy,
    ❤️ k&j ❤️
    En savoir plus

  • A good start & end - but the middle 🥴

    2 octobre 2024, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    The last two days have been so long and jam packed that I have been too tired to blog at the end of them. I'll try to catch up, but am not sure hoe successful I will be at it.

    We had a great start to our day of commuting to Naples! We enjoyed our last cappuccino at our local cafe and then wheeled our bags to the train station in Piano di Sorrento.

    We were, once again, riding the local commuter train and could have taken the "Express" train but it cost $15EUR/person. It didn't arrive any earlier than the regular train, but they assigned seats. We opted to spend $4.60 each, instead, thinking that there would be ample room on the train at 10:00am in the morning.

    We were so wrong! We had to squeeze ourselves into the "handicapped" space at the back of the train. There were two large dogs with two guys sitting on the floor. One woman was synchrd in tight with all the wheelchair harnesses around her and her bags to hold them stationary! It looked hilarious. She was so tied in that she couldn't even get out once the seats opened up. 🤣

    All I can tell you is that it required more core strength than I had to stay erect during the swaying of the train and all the starts and stops. I didn't dare step bacl lest I hit the dog ... which I was warned, would bite me.

    Thankfully, about 30 minutes into our 75 minute ride, oodles of seats opened up when people got off at the Pompeii stop.

    We were seated comfortably after that, but at one point, I had to take a picture of a woman seated on top of her bags

    We talked about walking from the Napoli station to the hotel because it is only 3kms, but the cobblestone can be unforgiving. They do provide some suitcase trails along the main streets in Piano di Sorrento, but we weren't certain about the walking directions and conditions here in Naples.

    So, given that Uber only operates in some of the biggest cities in Italy, we opted to get a taxi to eliminate all the walking to the hotel. It sounded like a solid idea, however, our cab driver quoted us $40 ... which seemed steep to me. My Rome2Rio app on my phone said it should have been about $20, but I didn't feel like haggling with him. Once we got in the car, he said "cash". I realized then that he wasn't even going to turn the meter on!!! Yikes. At that moment, I knew we had become the quintessential "naive tourists" that he was going to chuckle about stiffing over supper tonight!

    But wait ... it gets even worse. He drove us for 10 minutes and then dropped us off in a square near the old town. He said we had to walk ... just "up there" because it was pedestrian traffic only from that point.
    It turned into a 30 minute walk through the maze of the old town of Napoli.

    At one point, the cobblestone grabbed my suitcase right out from under me and fell flat on the road. Fortunately, I stayed vertical. We put the address into google maps and it should have been 350meters to the hotel. Google was cutting in and out because of the narrrow lanes and buildings and we ended up being rerouted a few times! I stopped and asked for help twice. We were both so fuming mad by the time we found our way to the garage door entrance to the hotel. As I write this, I'm still not sure if we arrived at the main door or the car parkade at the back of the hotel??? Wait NOW ... I might be a naive tourist, but if this hotel has a parkade ... you can absolutely, totally and without a doubt DRIVE straight to it!! 😠

    It's a really lovely old hotel with oodles of character ... and ... as we are sipping some wine and enjoying a charcuterie board on our little deck, we are back to enjoying Italy. That is, until I made the mistake of checking if Uber was available in Naples. It turns out it IS! Guess how much??? $12 to $18EUR. I wasn't instantly annoyed again. It took quite a few sips of this amazing local wine before I was ready to forgive the cab driver. It's one thing to more than double the fare ... it's another insult to not even drop us where we asked to be taken!

    Fortunately, our room was ready by 1:00pm. It's a good thing we had extra time to cool off (metaphorically and literally!) before meeting our group at 4pm to start the tour! We ordered some wine and cheese and had some time to sit our little deck overlooking the pool. We even figured out how to work the air conditioning ... I think! 🤞

    One of the best parts of being here, now, is that I get to hang up my role as tour guide for a while. I am looking forward to someone else guiding the way for the next six days!! I seriously hoping that the weather forecast for rain will be WRONG. It is clouding over as I write .... so ... who knows??

    We dawned our trusty walking shoes and met our fellow 'walkers' at 4pm in the lobby. We've got a great group ... several people from South Africa, one from Zimbabwe, two couples from the US (one Florida and one California), one couple that live in both Whistler, Canada and South of San Francisco.

    We enjoyed getting to know them over a short walk through the old city of Nsples and then over dinner. We were treated to three different kinds of pizza ... we learned the tradional Margherita was named after the queen back then.

    It was a great day, all in all ... and ... I felt like we we were off to a great start with our walking tour! We tucked into bed about 11:pm.
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  • Pompei and Vesuvius

    3 octobre 2024, Italie ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    After a great breakfast, we toured Pompei this morning. It was staggering to think that the entire city of Pompei was buried in the eruption of Vesuvius! The parts of the civilization tgat survived were so impressive! It was so great to have a tour guide explaining all the things we were seeing and experiencing.

    After a grest lunch ... this fine group of people hiked almost a kilometer up to the volcano ... in the rain. Our tour guide was exceptionally passionate but his pace was a bit fast for the old boy and I. Sadly, I didn't have time to look around much because I had to keep my eye on my foot placement.

    We traced the side of the volcano for a bit! I thought we were going to descend tge same way we walked up. However, they decided to take us a faster and more direct way down. The guide got tge keys to a path that they closed for the last 7 years. We were tge first ones to sink down to our ankles in volcanic stone as we "surfed" down the mountain trying to stay erect! 😬

    My shoes were filled with lava stones and my heart was filled with terror! As you all know ... I do not enjoy adrenalin filled adventures like this. I was just grateful to get to the bottom safely!!

    We got tonour room and had a shower ... my ankles were black from the trek down! We enjoyed drinks together and shared many laughs during supper.

    We stayed up way too late ... but ... it was an emotionally exciting and explosive way to spend our first full day of walking ... hiking ... surfing! I think we got 5 hours of sleep before we were up and at it again. Hence my delay in posting this!

    More to come ... eventually ...
    ❤️ k&j ❤️
    En savoir plus

  • A Walk DOWN to the Sea

    4 octobre 2024, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    The day started early ... again ... but included some wonderful experiences for us. Our first stop after breakfast was the Benedictine Abbey of Cava ... which dates back to 1011AD. There are still six monks who live there and when we arrived, we were greeted by a Gregorian chant that they were doing to start their day. The chanting had such a mystical energy to it. We didn't hear the massive organ, but apparently it has 3000 pipes. It took up a whole wall! We also learned that the monks jobs are to work and pray. The monastery is enormous ... so ... there will be no shortage of work to keep it up.

    Walking through all the rooms of the monastery was moving in some mysterious ways. You could not help but wonder about all the people whose lives have been guided by their strong Roman Catholic beliefs. Apparently the southern part of Italy holds the strongest connection to religion. And, it is also a place of great superstition!

    We headed out from the Monastery into the forested area and walked amongst the lemon trees and chestnut trees. We learned how valuable the chestnut trees are to the locals. They grow tall and straight and, because of that, are very useful in constructing the pergolas that line the limestone cliffs of the Amalfi Coast. The grapes are grown on the pergolas and the land underneath is used for other crops or gardens. By suspending the grapes, they double their acreage. They actually plant willow trees at the end of the rows because the small branches are used to tie the vines to the pergola. I actually had one tied around my arm to show us how strong the knot is, but ... how easy it is to untie!

    Side note ... I am ever grateful that I kept that bit of willow because the old boy ended up using it to repair my broken trekking pole. Somehow ... I had a screw loose (hey ... no pun intended!) and lost the clasp that held it in place. We had the guide tie the kind of knot they use here on the Amalfi Coast and I was back in business!

    There are 570 kms of trails in the Amalfi Coast! We took just one! I would have loved to capture more pictures and keep my head up to take in all the picturesque views ... but the path is very rocky and uneven. I didn't want to risk injury. So, for now, I will take home a few pictures and most of the journey will be held in my heart!

    I was a bit worried about whether or not I would enjoy lunch today. I knew it was going to be a spaghetti made with anchovy oil. I don't care for anchovies, but I swear ....... THAT spaghetti was the very best pasta I have eaten since we arrived in Italy. Maybe the best pasta I have EVER tasted anywhere! I savored EVERY SINGLE bite!!

    After that, we headed to another church where we were taught how to paint our own ceramic tiles! Ceramics are a hallmark of the Amalfi coast! It was a bit daunting to start with, but they will fire them and glaze them and they will deliver them to us on our last day of the tour! I am eager to see how they turned out!

    We then walked down to our hotel ............. way down!! The itinerary said we would be walking 5kms today, but my phone indicated that we actually logged 11kms. Down hill is hard on the knees, so my injury started to act up a bit. I am grateful that I brought analgesics and anti-inflammatory meds! I expect I will need them soon.

    We enjoyed another lovely supper and stayed up way, way, way too late again. We have such a fantastic group that its hard to leave the fun and head to bed!!!!

    Hugs to one and all,
    ❤️k&j❤️
    En savoir plus

  • Moving on to Minori!

    5 octobre 2024, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    It was raining a bit today when we started our journey! We were headed to Tremonti to visit an authentic farming space! Isadora is a totally self-sufficient farmer ... and ... he even brews his own wine! He is also a musician!

    We were supposed to have a 40 minute visit but it turned into almost two hours. It was so enjoyable to learn about the way he lives his life! He is not married, but has a sparkle in his eye. And, he was clearly enjoying the opportunity to connect with all of us! Our guide was trying to translate, but Isadora's enthusiasm was hard to keep up with.

    We learned that the pagodas are made from chestnut trees (because they are strong and grow straight and tall as we stated before) and allow the land to be worked ... above and below.

    We entered into the maze of narrow streets of the town, only to learn that these mazes were intentional! They allowed people protection from the pirates! The "ladies of the night' would lure the pirates in ... would run ahead ... and then the pirates either got lost in the maze or went through the tunnel that dropped steel gates that trapped them and then they poured boiling oil over them!!!!

    Eeeeegads! Can you just imagine the life of those who lived here before us?? We think we have a hard challenge or two every once in a while!

    We were so very grateful to have the path lead us to lunch at our guides Mom and Dad's house. They prepared the most magnificent lunch for us! We started with their homemade Limoncello spritz. I am not usually one for a spritz because I do not like carbonation ... but ... THIS was so delicious! I learned that the secret ingredient was their lemon marmalade!

    We also enjoyed little balls of eggplant that were so scrumptious and a variety of other delights that will remain on the top of the list of the food we have enjoyed here along the Amalfi Coast!

    There is so much more to say ... but ... the words just can't do it all justice, so I will sign off for now. All I can say is that 'Walk About Italy' offers you an experience like no other!

    We winded our way on foot back to the hotel ... we ended up having an exceptional experience (emotionally, physically and spiritually!).

    Bye for now ...
    ❤️k&j ❤️
    En savoir plus

  • The Riches of Ravello!

    6 octobre 2024, Italie ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    The owner of 'Walk About Italy' has a PhD in geology and shared a little bit about why all the Limestone cliffs have do many nutrients to grow all the grapes and gardens. The cliffs are covered with greenery!   Apparently it has to with the calcium carbonate! I won't go into any more of the science of it, but it was interesting!!

    We walked to Ravello which is 400 meters above the sea levels and was home to the richest of families of Amalfi. We visited the beautiful garden called "The Gardens of Villa Cimbrone" with a view over the sea from the "infinity terrace".

    We enjoyed a fabulous lunch and then descended directly down the 1320 concrete/rock steps of the cliffside to the seaside town of Minori. While in many ways it seems easier to go 'down' than 'up' ... I just have to share that these steps are made of uneven stones and some of them are wide and some of them are deep ... and none of them are flat ... so there is no way to find an even gait! I was terrified I was going to roll an ankle if I didn't keep my eyes pasted to the path! The knees take such a kicking ... even with top of the line hiking shoes!!! I found myself wondering what on earth the locals wore on these rough stone staircases and pathways!

    After a short stop at the hotel to freshen up, we took the ferry to Amalfi for dinner! And, it was there that I had the most unusual surprise. They served an appetizer of an anchovies. I really don't enjoy them. The old boy has invited me to taste them ... over and over again ... because he always claims "they are the best ever". However, much to my disappointment, they never are.

    None of these ones are fried ... they were more like ceviche ... cured in lemon juice!! I would never have believed the old boy's urging that these did not taste fishy ...but ... one of fellow walkers does not enjoy them either and suggested that I try them. OMG ... they were absolutely delicious!! That is twice now that anchovies have surprised me on this trip!!

    After dinner, I was so grateful that the bus was taking us back hotel. By the end of the day, we had logged 18,402 foot steps.

    It's been both a blessing and a challenge to place one foot in front of the other as we make our way around the Amalfi Coast. I am so glad we have embarked on this walking journey while we can still do it. There is something so unique and special about seeing your surroundings on foot! I am also ever grateful that we have avoided the touristy crowds with this exceptional itinerary!

    I chat again with you all soon,
    ❤️ k&j ❤️
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  • Our Last Day with this Glorious Group

    7 octobre 2024, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Last day of walking. We walked through the little town of Scala and arrived at a little church. The owner of 'Walk About Italy' has joined us and treated us to a magical concert with his flute. I have enclosed a short snippet of it but he played for over four minutes. I closed my eyes as the sounds reverberated through our hearts as we all allowed his music to touch us in such a deep way. It was quite the moment!

    After that, we hiked a long way overlooking Amalfi until we arrived at the most magnificent waterfalls. It was an arduous hike in some ways and I was grateful for my walking sticks. It must be a very popular path because we passed several groups of hikers! It was a very challenging walk for me because it was very humid and although the air temperature was only 21° ... the sun was hot. It felt more like 27°. I was more red-faced than I have been on any hike yet ... and ... my freshly washed hair was wet up to my ears as sweat collected on my neck. The scenery was so rewarding though ... I remain grateful I persisted through my fatigue!!

    We had a lovely lunch! We have not had a bad meal yet. And then, we hiked another 1008 stairs down to the town of Amalfi!! It was so, so, so busy!! We were reminded how fortunate we have been to see so much of the Amalfi Coastline without zigzagging amongst hoards of tourists.

    A short ferry ride back took us back to Minori! We hustled off to do our laundry before dinner! Neither of us have ANY clean clothes left. We have perspired through all of them. Although the forecast was for rain this past week, we have been treated to days of sunshine!

    We will only have one travel day between our "Amalfi Coast Wonders" tour and "Off the Beaten Path of Cinque Terra." Fortunately, there was a laundromat right by the hotel in Minori. $5 EUR for a wash and $3 for a dry ... and a quick shower in between! We could have used the hotel valet laundry but it would have cost us the same amount to do one shirt!

    Everything was going well until the old boy realized his back pack was not in the room. Panic set in when we realized he had forgotten it somewhere. 🥺

    We hoped it was NOT left on the ferry ... and ... prayed that it was in laundromat! I was trying to calm myself down with reminders that there is no problem so great that it can't be solved with a pocket full of money. I'm so happy to report it didn't cost us a dime ... he found it right where he set it down in the laundromat! Whew!!!

    Our last supper together was enjoyed after another 208 steps up the hill. It was the only disappointing meal we had during our entire tour of Amalfi! Despite a fes raised eyebrows as tasted the first course, we all made the best of it with grace and gratitude because we have eaten so well the whole time! A little less food was not going to hurt anyone!

    Our ceramic tiles were presented after dinner! Tears and hugs followed as we anticipated the end of our time together and said goodbye to folks who have now become family!

    We have an invitation from one of our new friends to come to Zimbabwe for a vacation!! It's very, very tempting! I've always said I'd love to go back to Africa. Who knows???

    For now ... we must prepare for more hiking in Cinque Terra!!

    Bye for now,
    ❤️k&j❤️
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