Thursday, March 05, 2015

Amalfi Coast, Italy (Ravello & Amalfi)

There is a bus we catch that drives up the Amalfi Coast and stops in the villages along the way. Our host suggests we take the coach to the end, the town of Amalfi, take a further bus to the little hill village of Ravello, and work our way backwards. We arrive in Amalfi and take a quick look around while we wait for the next bus. The main square has the most beautiful Amalfi Cathedral.
The gold detail above the front door.
The views are spectacular of the coast as we take a winding coastal road to reach our destination.
In fact, I don't recommend this bus ride if you are prone to car sickness. I don't and I did!
We arrive finally in the small village of Ravello and I immediately love it. It reminds me of Assisi (my favourite Italian place), only smaller. it is tiny, sunny and peaceful with a sprawlingly large piazza (central square) that you can relax in. There isn't much open as we arrive at siesta time. But the local gelateria is selling gelato and paninis.
The next bus back to Amalfi is not for another few hours so we wander the streets and let our toddler run wild in the piazza.
After much ignoring of the local taxi driver who tells us there are no more busses back, the bus back arrives. We take the short ride back to the coastal village. Amalfi is not as peaceful and most of the places we think look good to eat are either shut down or closed for the off season. It is far better to travel in the off season, but I remember from living in Italy that the italians shut down many of the businesses for the winter.
We decide given we have an hour and half bus ride back that we should leave right away so we can be back at a decent hour for dinner in Sorrento.
The views back are incredible.
I would love to go back to Ravello and paint there for a month. It has such a nice air about it and would be a retreat away from everything.


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