Woke up in Rome and headed to a train to Naples, then a bus to Amalfi, for lunch. Lunch was excellent- fish and lemon cake.
We aren’t swimming though. We visited St. Andrew’s Cathedral which has a baroque sanctuary but a cloister that is a lot older, and a crypt with St. Andrew himself, along with some of his relics upstairs. There was a lot to see in a fairly small space.
We had a short stroll which included lemon sorbet. There are lemons everywhere, as a motif as well as an ingredient. The sorbet is the tart Italian ice that is so good on a warm day. I remember it being called slush in Boston, as a child, and being really tart. Others types, called “water ice,” can be too sweet. The one we had today was tart and really good looking. The town even has a special compost bin on the street for the lemons.
We also visited an ancient papermill that made paper from the 1200s up until 1969. They still make some artisan paper and we bought a sheet pressed with local dried ferns. The mill has preserved the old water powered machinery well enough that it can still run, like this mallet machine that pulped old rags. I would recommend this experience to anyone visiting Amalfi.
We had a short but crazy drive from Amalfi to Minori. I don’t know how drivers manage on the blind twists where the road plunges to the sea over cliffs below. I am really happy not to be driving. Minori looks really nice, but we haven’t explored it yet. Before dinner, we had a lecture that pretty much covered the history of the Mediterranean in under one hour. (Cheers, Prof. Susan!), and a nice meal.
Ending tongiht with a nativity that was on the street in Amalfi. We couldn’t find the Holy Family, because it is in an unexpected location. You can see it in the second photo, near the coins.
That’s right, the family is under the water!
One more tidbit. As we were getting ready for the night, the bed started to shake. I thought, are we sharing a wall with honeymooners? About 20 minutes later, we got a note– it was a earthquake and we are not to be concerned…
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Riding anywhere on that road is harrowing–it’s the major reason that we took a ferry from Salerno to Positano and a water taxi from there to our hotel in Praiano when we were there in 2018. We did take the local bus back to Positano the following day–carsick-inducing, to say the least. But what beauty awaits you, as you obviously found in Amalfi! What a wonderful trip for you! I’m looking forward to more posts and photos as you trek further.