Friday, May 17, 2013

The reality of the Amalfi Coast isn't matching up with the fantasy

Today, Angela and I wanted to go over to Capri. I woke up early to make sure that the boats would be running, and was assured by Antonio that the sea wasn't too bad and they should be running. We had to catch the 8:25 bus from Ravello down to Amalfi in order to make the 9:30 boat to Capri. Everything was going according to plan until we got down to Amalfi and the ferry ticket office and were informed that no boats were going to Capri because of the angry sea (like an old man trying to return soup at a deli). Bummer. I think they just didn't sell enough tickets and therefore cancelled the ferry. I hope no one got stranded on Capri. First lesson: always have Antonio call to confirm that the boats are running, and on what schedule.

What to do now? Do we take a bus somewhere else, like Positano? Do we head back up the hill with some wine, cheese, and bread and play the day by ear? The decision was somewhat made for us when the skies opened up and it poured rain for a good 45 minutes. Since Angela left her umbrella at the hotel (again, on the assurance from Antonio that the weather looked good), as soon as the rain let up, we got some wine, bread, cheese, and olives from the same shop as yesterday and caught the next bus back to Ravello.

The weather here changes faster than Lady GaGa changes outfits at the MTV Music Awards, and by the time we got back to Ravello, the skies had cleared enough to warrant going with "Plan B," which involved hiking the "Sentiero degli Dei" (the pathway of the gods) from Bomerano to Positano along the cliffs about 2000ft above the sea. Another bus down to Amalfi, lunch at the same sandwich shop as yesterday, and still another bus up to Bomerano where we caught the trailhead.

The trail itself is amazing. The views of the sea and cliffs and terraced vineyards are stunning. I liken the area to the Napali, but with roads and buildings. The trail is about 4 miles and we covered it in a little over 2 hours. Unfortunately, we weren't finished and had to descend about 2000 steps down just to get to the road that would take us into Positano.

Now here is where the reality begins to depart from the fantasy. After walking all the way down to the beach, we discover that the last boat left for Amalfi at 3:45, when the schedule said that there should have been one at 5 and 6. We got there in plenty of time to catch the 5pm boat, but on a whim, all the operators cancelled their boats. The seas were calm, so hiding behind the weather is a lame cop out. They just didn't want to run partially full (read: people not crammed in like sardines). Back up the hill we climbed to get the bus to Amalfi and then the bus up to Ravello.

After one failed attempt to board (Angela got on, but I was left out, so she got off), we finally got back to Ravello around 7. What a long, crazy day.

Tomorrow we're going to Pompeii. We have a private guide booked for 3 hours at 9:30 am. We have to leave a little early so I can put gas in the car. I was going to come back to Ravello via Sorrento and Positano, but not now. We're coming back exactly how we get there, directly over the mountains. I might try to go to Herculaneum and/or Vesuvius, but I'm not holding out much hope for more ruins besides Pompeii.

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