This has been our second full day in Italy and it was an absolute feast -- a visual wonder and a delectable treat for the taste buds.
The agenda for our group was mainly two things -- a tour of the Amalfi Coast and lunch in Positano.
Few of us knew what to expect. So it seemed to have been an experience of a lifetime for everyone.
Most of what Cintra and I knew of the Amalfi Coast is what we gathered from our next door neighbor, Adolfo, a native of nearby Naples, Italy. What he said intrigued us and we did some more research. One article describes it as one of the most spectacular coastlines in the world. That was good enough for us.
Here is a map of the region.
Our coach left at 10 a.m. and our guide, Elaria, and our coach driver, took us on a mini-tour of Sorrento, our base. We learned that the reason for the bright, beautiful colors and rich foliage was because of the fact that this part of the country was once covered with ash from the eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius.
We learned that Sorrento's name came from "mermaid," and that the town inspired a song by the Classic Italian tenor Caruso.
Then the drive to the Amalfi Coast began and it opened up spectacular scenes like we had never seen before. We were embraced on the one side by steep cliffs and precariously placed homes and on the other side by the calm blue seas and skies.
We hope these photos make the point more graphically.
We ended the first part of the scenic drive in Positano where we were scheduled to have lunch. That we found was the understatement of the year. It was a most unforgettable Italian eating experience.
First we had to switch from the coach to smaller vehicles in order to negotiate the winding uphill road way up high on the mountain. So the trek began after waiting for awhile for our ride.
Finally we found ourselves in a place with a sign that says Frattoria La Tagliata. We walked down some stone steps, through an arch of tomatoes and found an eating place set up elegantly for our party of about 50.
The dining room was literally on the mountainside -- overlooking the sea and the mountain slopes.
As we sat down, small food items started to arrive, each one tasty, delicate, hot and well-presented. The restaurant is a family business and the servers were fun and efficient.
After a while, a singer started to share popular Italian songs. In the meantime more and more courses of delectable foods continued to appear on our plates. Someone counted 17 courses of everything from bruschetta, to peas, beans, prosciutto, spinach, ravioli, tomatoes, olives, mozzarella buns, and on and on.
We were full but couldn't resist the delicious meals. Some of it was helped by the party atmosphere as most of the group was drawn into joining in the music, clapping, playing percussion instruments and dancing around the room. How could we ever forget this experience in this enchanting environment?
When it was time to get back down to earth - literally. We needed to get rides back to the bottom of the mountain. Before we knew it our group got rides from the servers, the singer and the cook. Some of them took two or three groups down.
Our next stop after lunch was the village of Amalfi, where we spent a couple of hours wandering through the market square and the waterfront. The village is a popular tourist site and looks like it is right out of a post card.
Here is our panorama of Amalfi.
We had the most thrilling experience of driving through the winding, narrow, mountain side highways on a large coach. This often meant that the coach needed more space than the other traffic. It also meant we could not return the same way back to Sorrento.
So we took an alternate route across the mountains. This proved to be equally treacherous but exposed us to interesting farming country. On a few occasions we had to stop to make way for herds of goats and sheep.
We made it back to Sorrento a little later than planned and ended the day by joining two other couples for a beautiful supper in a downtown hotel.
Our third day will take us to Pompeii and Vesuvius. Please watch for next update.
Ciao
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