Category: Italy

We had a late flight, and rain was forecast, so some serious sightseeing on the cards.

Got lost trying to get to Pompeii which you wouldn’t think possible, but in our defence the signposting is pretty bad.  And the roads unbelievably bad.  But eventually we made it.

Eileen’s comment – pretty impressive!  Bit of an understatement for Pompeii but it will do!

Then on to Herculaneum, and just as we arrived the heavens really opened.  Spent quite a time driving round in the storm just trying to find it (again, virtually no signposts).  Then found it and spent 20 minutes debating whether to get out of the car on the basis that we wouldn’t be able to see much.  There again, if we didn’t go in at all we wouldn’t see anything!

So we did.

Much smaller than Pompeii but more impressive, but sad that it is being left to ruin.  One fresco is being worn away because of rucksacks brushing against it!

Then the final nightmare drive to the airport, and with much amazement returned the car without a scratch.

The forecast was good and we were feeling like a lazy day, so that’s what we did.  A short drive to Minori (short in Amalfi Coast terms – about 45 minutes for 10kms, especially as it’s Good Friday) for lunch on the prom.

Then back to the house and a not too strenuous walk.

The beach in Praiano where we sat the other day.

And sunset from our balcony.

And the Agriturismo for the final time.  Unfortunately being Good Friday too much fish and not enough meat for our taste.

A good start to the day – a wonderful photo book of NZ from Joanna and a wonderfully sunny morning on the terrace – a quick reminder of how it looks without fog.

Then a nice lazy day with views of the Amalfi Coast.

And a short boat ride around a cave.  The blue light is natural and the captain gives a pretty good rendition of ‘O Sole Mio’ in order to demonstrate the echo.

The birthday girl ..

…. writing a postcard to NZ, so goodness knows when it will arrive.

View upwards to the road from our terrace.

And having found the Agriturismo restaurant near our house, there was no question of where to go for dinner.

More low cloud again this morning, so in order to escape we head for Ravello.  Beautiful little town perched high up in the mountains.  Not that easy to work this one out, but it is looking straight down from the terrace.

Here we are.

And as the clouds lift a bit, we stop for afternoon tea with an amazing view.

But a lot of today has been about parking and windy roads.  Spent quite a bit on parking, which is a good thing as it means we were able to.  One of our bemusements is how on earth the Amalfi Coast copes in summer – or perhaps it doesn’t.  Anyway, we stopped off in Amalfi on the way back (now knowing where to park) and then the windy road back from Amalfi to our house.  Pretty scary, but getting used to being overtaken in the most unlikely of places ….

Actually quite a lot of fog (or low cloud – makes no difference!).  So the view from the balcony isn’t great.

So off to Positano.  Distances here are on a different scale to anywhere else.  Positano is 20km, and the satnav says allow an hour – and it was spot on.  I don’t know if the satnav recalibrates in the summer when it’s busy …

Anyway, Positano was great.  Admittedly you have to park near the top and its a 20 minute walk down (and 40 minutes back), but it’s worth the effort.  A nice little beach on which to have pizza for lunch – apparently you can’t see the beach in summer because it’s covered in bodies.

Bit of a breather and a quick snap on the way back …

Hee hee – perhaps getting better.

But then we went to a fantastic restaurant a few minutes walk from our house.  They are self-sufficient, so everything is homegrown and homemade.  Here’s Rose cooking the sausages.

And us enjoying great food and wine, and discussing Europe, Greece and football with the other guests (all German).

We’ve been spoiled by the sunshine for the first couple of days, so it was a bit of a shock to wake up to thick cloud and rain in the morning.  So the obvious thing to do is pop over to see the sights at Paestum – after all it’s only 50 miles away.

2 hours and 15 minutes later, arrived.  Much of the route was on the Amalfi Coast road where progress is not rapid – goodness only knows what it’s like in summer when it’s busy.

Anyway, here is a temple …

… and another one …. (actually two)

Different angle ….

Not a bad effort!

Once past Amalfi, roads are pretty shocking with potholes and goodness knows what.  Overtaking is still something to behold.  

Always best to start with a cup of coffee and a great view.  The village is Praiano and there are campanologists at work as it’s Sunday.

Then a scary drive to Amalfi.  It’s only 10 miles or so but the aggression and breathtaking overtaking manoeuvres of the locals is something else.  Unfortunately the hire car is brand new and we’re rather wishing now that it was old and battered.  No bumps yet, but our feeling is that we will do well to survive unscathed.

And so to Amalfi.

You can see Eileen in the foreground if you look carefully.

Nice view of the town …

And even better if you get it properly in shot!

Then a go at a couple of arty efforts in the cathedral …

And dinner, although it was beginning to get a bit chilly.

Finally another go at “arty” – look straight upwards instead of concentrating on the pasta.

Off to the Amalfi Coast, with a 4.10am alarm call.  It’s the first day of the Easter holidays, and so even at 6.00 Stansted was abominable.  Couldn’t wait to escape …

…. to Naples and our first sight of Vesuvius from the airport.

Then experienced some Napolese driving, which I suspect will present a few challenges this week.  But arrived at our house – not a bad lunch view!

And here we go again with the selfies – as well as missing the Amalfi Coast in the background, there is a lot of potential for improvement.