We started out with a cappuccino and ciambella, giant sugary light as a feather deep fried donut for breakfast…..well more like a churro. Breakfast seems to be a sweet affair in this country, croissants, pastries, canollis – some filled with either chocolate or a custardy type cream, the savoury food doesn’t appear in the cabinets till late morning, as savoury is associated with lunch.
The old man behind the counter at the Bar Internazionale, (above is the bars double green doors) which is a cafe/bar/gelato shop/convenience store/bus ticket counter & bottlestore, just next door to our apartment, has a twinkle in his eye and does not tolerate fools….we sit and listen as tourists speak really loudly and slowly at him, as if he is deaf, Hello people, you are in Italy… try to speak his language instead of expecting him to speak yours. The irony is, he does speak really good English…just not to idiots, he has been good naturedly giving me Italian lessons….well, correcting my pronunciation, to save his ears probably from Rosie murdering his language. Every evening we stop here as well as on our way home at night, Rosie for a Lemoncello, The Operator for a grappa, its the local pub in the evening and coffee stop in the morning. Thats the evening pub shot above.
We are on our way to Ravello, a small hill town (aren’t they all) just inland from Amalfi. The weather has turned brilliant shining blue again, sky, sea and and land in the distance all differing shades, this is Positano getting smaller the further around the coast we go (left).
We head out in the car and tackle the narrow road, it is one of the best drives in the world scenic and nail biting all in one. We travel the distance of 21 km on about 1 hour….I didn’t say it was a fast road.
Fearless cyclists out training are sharing the road with tour buses, tourists who take up too much of the road and Italians who do the craziest manoeuvres to pass the dawdling tourists. The roads are carved out of the cliffs and there is not a lot of laybys to snap photos from, you too have be bold and park in the way of traffic or learn how to try and take photos out of the window on the fly.
We come to the town of Amalfi, (left) it is one of the only flat towns on this coast….well, the shopping center around the harbor is flat, houses still rise up the hillside.
Turning inland here, up we climb to Ravello. We come across a red traffic light in the middle of nowhere, Rosie cant see the town, there is no intersection…we que for the light…some cars pull out of line and carry on, running the light, all in all there are about 15 cars waiting, and waiting….6 mins later you wonder what is going on….then the light changes, green for go. OKay, there is a big stretch of single lane road that takes about 5 mins to drive controlled by lights either way. The odd thing is, there is a small supermarket in the middle of the light exchange….you do your shopping, come out…and you wont know which way the traffic is going….
The terrain is getting hillier and is beautifully terraced with wine vines, lemon trees and home gardens, it rises so steeply yet is so well cultivated and intensively tended.
The town is small, 2,200 live here, and has been around for century’s, it is a lovely place, so well presented, tidy and devoid of heaps of people, it was a really nice escape for the day. The town square holds the duomo built in the 10th century, which sits high and proud in the middle.
Huge umbrellas turn the square into a shady terrace, where lots of people sit and soak up the hillside views in the distance, or take in the activity around the square.
We wander out to the Villa Cimbrone along a paved walkway, between shops and passing the convent founded by St Francis who passed through on his way to Amalfi in1222.
Its a tangled web of paths to get to the villa and we pass some beautiful gardens, this huge vege garden belongs to one of the hotels and its produce is advertised as being used in its restaurant. It looks so lush and fine!
The Villa Cimbrone was first established in Ravellos heyday back in the 11th Century, it is an 8 hectare estate. It is a historical site and was used as far back as Roman times for its fine timber used in Naval boat building.
It ran into disrepair and was bought by an Englishman who restored the gardens back to their glory, it is a mix of beautiful Italian Renaissance and English influence. The gardens are stunning and would look majestic in full bloom in the height of summer. An avenue leads you from the house to the edge of the estate, it is covered in wisteria and would be so shady and cool on a hot day.
At the end of the avenue the domed Temple of Ceres is silhouetted by the sun. She is the Goddess of the harvest and her temple leads you onto the Terrace of Infinity.
The view is breathtaking, you think you are really far inland and then you have this wonderful vista of the coastline so far below you.
This natural balcony is adorned with 18th cent marble busts standing in a line on what seems to be the edge of the world. So far below the terraced cliff looks flattened in perspective. It was a beautiful place to sit and have the sun on your face and enjoy the view.
We stop at a few ceramic shops on the way back to the town square and on the way home, Rosie goes a little crazy….oil pourers, wine stoppers, shot glasses, pot stands…..free shipping to New Zealand for volcanic stone hand painted outdoor tables…..still working on The Operator for that one….
Tomorrow is looking to be another fine day, we are going to follow the same road, this time by sea, taking the ferry to Amalfi and having a look around….
