Sunday, June 21, 2009
Amalfi Coast
We spent yesterday touring the Amalfi coast. It started with a 40 minute bus ride termed the "greatest white knuckle ride of all time" and it lived up to its name. The road was built over 700 years ago when there were no big tourist buses. Mostly one lane, when there is oncoming traffic, the bigget vehicle gets to go first. The bus drivers are amazing as to how they maneuver on the twists and turns.However, the views of the coast were great, and the ride was worth it. Our first stop was Positano, a village that was built into the side of the mountain hundreds of years ago. There is only one small, narrow road through the village, otherwise it is one foot ahead of the other. There are several small hotels throughout the town, and the porters get to 
carry,pull,push luggage up several hundred steps to the top of the town. The picture above, shows three things. The view along the coast, the roof of a building that is filled with sand, and one of the outlook towers that dot the coast. Many of the buildings have a "dome" on them. The dome is actually a pile of sand that has a covering over it. The sand acts as a insulator. It keeps the heat out in the summer and the warmth in in the winter. Not sure of the weight of the sand, but it has to be several tons. There are a series of towers alongthe coast. They were used as watch towers to warn of Turks, and others pirates coming to invade. If a watchman saw evil coming he would light a fire, and the next tower would follow, and so on and so forth. Each tower is different, so it makes for interesting viewing. The beach at Positano is small rocks and pebbles. No sand. But people do not seem to m
ind. they lay right on them anyway. You can rent a chair and umbrella for more comfort.
carry,pull,push luggage up several hundred steps to the top of the town. The picture above, shows three things. The view along the coast, the roof of a building that is filled with sand, and one of the outlook towers that dot the coast. Many of the buildings have a "dome" on them. The dome is actually a pile of sand that has a covering over it. The sand acts as a insulator. It keeps the heat out in the summer and the warmth in in the winter. Not sure of the weight of the sand, but it has to be several tons. There are a series of towers alongthe coast. They were used as watch towers to warn of Turks, and others pirates coming to invade. If a watchman saw evil coming he would light a fire, and the next tower would follow, and so on and so forth. Each tower is different, so it makes for interesting viewing. The beach at Positano is small rocks and pebbles. No sand. But people do not seem to m
ind. they lay right on them anyway. You can rent a chair and umbrella for more comfort.We took the bus further down the coast to the town of Amalfi on the Amalfi coast. This town used to be the major city. No more. Just a small hub for buses and ferry boats, makes this a stop for almost all tourists going one way or another. All of the bus drivers sit and watch the other bus drivers try to park in a space that has 6" on each side of the bus. Parish the poor driver that can not park his bus. The peer pressure is humiliating. We had a nice lunch on the water. The beach here was pebbles and rocks also. No one seemed to care.
As we were geting ready to leave Amalfi, we watched a sport called kayak polo. A kind of soccer in Kayaks. They maneuver their kayaks around and then try to throw a ball into a goal. The opposing team can block the shot with their oars. The players are throwing the ball from a sitting position in a moving kayak into a bobbing goal. They made it look easier than it really is. Besides that, the mean players ram their pointed kayaks into the bodies of the other players, and the players can get whapped on the head with an oar. Not sure why you would aspire to play this sport, but there was quite a crowd watching. The good players had biceps that were well developed, and the Italian chicks really liked these stud muffins.
Instead of bussing it back to Sorrento, we opted for the ferry ride back. Great views of the coast, and not the heart palpatations that went with the bus ride. In the evening, Sorrento closes down the main street and locals and tourists alike, fill the street and stroll along to eat and people watch. We had dinner, found a nice gelato shop, and then walked back to the hotel. A beautiful evening.
Today we are relaxing on the patio, looking out at the bay. I am blogging, and Lyla is writing in her journal (she keeps a journal on all of our trips). This afternoon we may goto Pompei, the town that was covered up in a volcano a century ago.
