Pbenjay's Blog

A QUICK TRIP TO THE AMALFI COAST

It was one of those bright,sunny Southern Italian days and it was already noon.  Joel was a bit restless, it was one of those days he was itching to go somewhere.  So I said, “Let’s go to the Amalfi Coast”.  And we were off.

On a suggestion from Raffaele, I proposed we drive to Sorrento via the autostrada and drive north up the coast.  Well it sounded like a good idea.  Tuning our trusty GPS ( I mean unworthy, who we named Abigail because she is a British bitch who sends us into olive orchards, vineyards and even in circles), for Sorrento and we hit the road heading south.

Everything seemed to be going along ok until we got on the autostrada.  Something happens to men driving on that road; Their heartbeat picks up, the adrenaline kicks in and their testerone skyrockets!  Normally placid easy-going men turn into crazy wannabe race car drivers,

The autostrada holds special appeal to American male drivers, who once freed from the confines of the USA 65 mph speed limit, they just let it rip.  I tried not to look at the speedometer.  A few days earlier we had had the kilometer versus miles per hour conversation and even though I knew 100 kpm equaled about 62 mph, Joel was pushing that needle up over 100 into the teens, then the 120’s.  So it was about this time that I tried to assert some matriarchal control.  At 135 kph, I was yelling!

I was told to relax and look at the scenery, oh sure, and leave the driving to him. It was probably already about 2:00pm and I said “This is not fun, there’s nothing enjoyable about driving at breakneck speed for hours”,  We need a new plan, “Let’s go to the town of Amalfi, it’s nearby and it’s on the coast and it’s getting late”.

We followed the signs and Abigail’s suggestions and soon we were off the speedway and making our way towards Amalfi. The inherent beauty of Italy is that it is different in every region.  No longer in the mountains of Campania, we were now traveling through what clearly looked like the fabled monied coast.

We’re Not In Kansas Anymore

It was hard to tell where we actually were but every now and then I would ask Joel to slow down so I could quickly snap a photo of a passing town or scape.  I noticed the spire of the church to have that same Middle Eastern influence in the tile pattern.

Somewhere in Southern Italy

We were traveling through a postcard; Yes the Amalfi Coast looks exactly like all the photos, movies, postcards you’ve seen.  All throughout Italy,  I’ve been entranced by the sight of a village nestled into the side of a mountain or tucked into a valley

There Is Something Peaceful About These Villages

Mediteranean Blue Sky

When we came upon this sight, I thought we might actually have arrived.  Oh but I was wrong!!

We were being routed through yet another gorgeous (are we in Paradise?) town whose name I can’t remember.

If it weren’t for the signs I would certainly think old Abigail had sent us inland to parts unknown, but we drove on…. And then realized in the near distance there lie the jewel of the Amalfi Coast.

The Jewel

And we were high above it, the only way is down!

To be continued…