Today we have tour of the Amalfi Coast. The tour company we are using is called World Tours. This company is not affiliated with HAL and our driver is to meet us out in the port at 8:15.
Luigi met us right on time and we loaded up in his van and proceeded to pick up 6 more folks who will be on the tour with us. 4 were from France and 2 from Australia.
Last time we were in Naples, we toured the ruins of Pompeii. It was a great site to see but was very crowded with tourists. Once to Pompeii will be enough.
The Amalfi Coast is a stretch of coastline along the Gulf of Salerno. This area has been an attraction to upper class Europeans since the 1700s. It is named after the town of Amalfi. The area is now an UNESCO World Heritage site and is an attraction of thousands of tourists annually.
We will be touring Sorrento, Positano, and Amalfi. Luigi promises to get us back to port by our boarding time of 5:30. Luigi spoke the entire trip about sights along the way and some history. He told us that Italy is really a very young country, younger than the USA, since the re-unification in 1861. It is evident that the area has lots of history. Ancient ruins are everywhere.
It is early morning in Naples and the roads are packed with cars. Italian drivers have a unique way of driving. Nothing is off limits. The horn is not used as a driving tool as it is in some countries. Thank you. Roads signs, speed limits, traffic lights. These are mere suggestions. No one will stop for anything. Just drive around obstacles. Luigi appears to be very capable.
Sorrento
Our first destination is the town of Sorrento. About an hour or so of driving through the city of Naples and then up the mountain. The drive is right out of a James Band movie. I can picture Pierce Brosnan racing a Bond girl along these roads. Hairpin after hairpin. The road is sometimes wide enough for two way traffic. It really doesn’t matter. For some reason we are in a hurry and over take anyone in front of us. I keep getting thrown against the side of the van. Good thing I have on my seatbelt in case we go over the cliffs.
A recovery stop along the way.
Sorrento is famous for Limoncello. It is made from the skin of the lemons grown here. The lemons are peeled and the skins is soaked in alcohol. The result is a very tasty drink. We stopped at a place prior to arriving in Sorrento to sample some. Nice. We also sampled some local wine and decided to have some shipped home.
A few mile further on and we were in Sorrento. Luigi gave us an hour on our own here and we walked the streets amongst the thousands of tourists.
We stopped at a family owned business that made Limoncello and other drinks. We sampled orange, strawberry, chocolate, and others and decided to buy. We aren’t able to bring alcoholic drinks back on to the ship without paying a fee so we decided to have a case shipped home. Very tasty drinks. if you would like to check out some product. http://www.saporiecolorisorrento.com
The hour went by quickly. It was very hot and vey humid.
Politano
Back in the van and some more crazy driving along the cliffs. It is evident that there is a lot of wealth here. As we pull into Positano we pass high end after high end store. Parking is 100 euro per hour. The most expensive hotel on earth is found in this area. 2000 euro per night for a standard room.
We spent another hour here. Steps everywhere. If you would like to book a hotel here plan on spending 1000 euro per night. Cheaper rooms get you farther up the hill. Some rooms are 16,000 steps down to the beach. Better be in good shape. People who book a a hotel for the first time here often make the mistake of finder a cheaper room, far from the beach and other areas of activity.
Amalfi
We stopped at the La Conca Azzurra Hotel for lunch. The couple from Australia joined us. They are originally from South Korea. He is a lawyer and she is an immigrations officer. Our conversation always end in the political realm. They enjoy watching American politics as a source of entertainment. I guess if you didn’t have to live it, it would be great entertainment. They looked like Koreans but she definitely had the yeeaaaahhhh…. drawl so prevalent in Australia.
After lunch and time in Amalfi it was time for the race back down to Naples. Luigi actually warned us that the trip down would be full of sharp turns, narrow and ancient roads. He didn’t disappoint. He passed many motorists and actually flipped one off. Glad to see the universal driving symbol of love is used here. The Bond theme song kept rolling through my head as we took turns at full speed. I was waiting for Luigi to open some secret compartment that Q installed to eliminate motorists in front of us.
Luigi dropped us off in the port at 4:50 pm. Plenty of time to board the ship. We said our goodbyes and thanked Luigi for the memories.
Dinner in the Lido and then some cards before bed. We did listen to a group at the Lincoln Center performing music from famous ballets. Good stuff and well done.