Med Trip May 28 - 29

May 28 was a quiet day. We had no plans so we had a leisurely breakfast, (3 pieces of miniature bread, two covered in a large boiled egg, and one with nutella, same as every other day here), and then descended our staired walkway to the road and then to the main hub of town. There, after pizza and a cold drink, we split up for several hours, the women going shopping and the men killing time. We found a little cave near the beach to get out of the sun and spent a few hours solving many problems. No one had the energy to have to walk our walkway any more than we had to, and it was too early for dinner, so we bought two pizzas to go so we could go home and stay there. I think all restaurants here have Italian food. Go figure, so pizzas and pastas are a steady part of our diet. We took the local bus home. It drives the loop around town on the only road every half hour. Italians are not as civilized as Canadians when it comes to buses. A crowd formed at the bus stop, and people would wander in and casually stand in front. Often the last people there were first on to the grumbling of my sister. However, here the area along the narrow street has very little room, so when the bus came, it slowly drove right into the crowd, and almost squished some people as it creeped to within inches of the side of the building. This scattering of people changed the order of boarding. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at home. We still needed to plan an excursion to Pompeii, so I found a guided tour out of Sorrento for May 31. I had seen on a website that times were 10AM and 10:15AM. While going through the booking procedure, time and location for pickup were never mentioned. After completing the purchase, I got an email confirming our tour commencing at 8:15AM at a hotel in Sorrento. The first bus from Positano to Sorrento could not be guaranteed to get us there on time. So, despite getting a great deal on the tour, we had to get a taxi, at 65 euros, to ensure we did not miss the tour. So much for last minute deals.

On May 29 we decided to go up the coast to the towns of Amalfi and Ravello. We could take a bus, which would cost only about 280 euros and take about an hour to do the 17 kilometres, or we could take a boat which cost 8 euros and take only 20 minutes. Our experience with buses had not been very positive and the road can get very slow and jammed, so we opted for the boat. It was a nice trip and probably gave much better views of the coast than a bus would, particularly if you don't get a window seat on the right side of the bus. In Amalfi, we had to get a bus for the 7 kilometres up the mountain yo the high altitude town. We had visions of the crappy buses in Capri, but were pleasantly surprised by the touring type bus with comfortable seats. There were people standing, but we got seats. The trip took 25 minutes. Ravello was beautiful and well worth the trip and extra 5 euros. We toured a garden which had spectacular views down the coast and the next town after Amalfi. The town had a lot of ceramics, plates, dinnerware and even very expensive garden tables. Lemoncello was also prominent everywhere. We spent over 3 hours exploring and eating. Then we buses back to Amalfi. It was also very beautiful, with a large cathedral, duomo, which we checked out. The town had one long, winding street with touristy shops on it. I was happy to find mango gelato! We returned home by boat and walked home, rather than the local bus, and ate at a pizzeria along the way. I did not have pizza but veal. Luckily I also ordered roasted potatoes because when you order something like veal, that's all you get, a plate of meat. Now I got some nice small potato balls. No other veggies though. Joanie had pasta, so that was not an issue, unless you have a large appetite. It was a wonderful day. The Amalfi coast setting is nothing short of spectacular.

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