Amalfi

There was probably no place in Italy I was more excited to go see then the Amalfi Coast. I had heard the tales of my grandfather driving it when I was much younger from my sisters. They had gone over to see a wedding and they had seen the Amalfi Coast while there. I had heard that there were tight roads and cliffs that you felt like you would tip over. I imagined it would be very similar to the California Coast, although I was very wrong. We had just gotten back from a trip to Capri and we were sitting in Naples and we decided that the best thing to do was go down the Amalfi Coast and see the views. All of the girls from my Florence group had gone on the Amalfi trip and most of them said that Amalfi was their favorite place. They said it was gorgeous and I couldn't wait to go. I had high expectations and I was disappointed.

I didn't really think Capri was all that great and I had heard a lot of great things about it. So I was really hoping Amalfi would save the trip. I was not really all that satisfied with Amalfi either. I think a big reason was that the weather was not all that great. I went and I was expecting to see these beautiful cliff side cities hanging right over the beautiful blue water. Instead it was cloudy and a really bad thing was that we only got out of the car twice the whole time. It was rough. We stopped first after we hit Sorrento. I was not doing too great to begin with because we didn't want to stop in the main part of Capri, so we stopped at a little restaurant on the Cliffside. So we really didn't get to see any of Capri yet. So here we had seen a lot of natural beauty on a cloudy day, but we really had seen any Italian architecture on anything man made except for the road. I sat in the front passenger seat and I must say it was extremely stressful. I was forced to navigate and I got a view of all the dangerously close interactions we had with other cars and I hated it. Plus even though the road was right on the cliff side we didn't always have a great view. If we did it only lasted for a few seconds. I didn't get a lot of time to take pictures.

The one part of the Amalfi Coast that I've always heard is the best is Positano. I've seen many different pictures of it and I was expecting to be blown away. I was sadly disappointed. Unfortunately many other people had heard about how great Positano was and they were determined to get there as well. There was heavy traffic and ultimately against my better judgment, my Dad decided to skip Positano. It was very sad for me. Sure it would've been really hard for us to go down and find a parking spot. It might've killed my grandfather and my Dad because it was built into a cliff and there was probably not a single bit of flat ground in it (all hills and stairs). It probably would've been disastrous to try and leave after we were done. But I needed a shot glass! I had gotten one from everywhere I went so far. I thought Amalfi was there! It was the pinnacle of my trip. I needed that shot glass! Yet, it was not meant to be. We passed right over Positano like it was just another town. I knew right then and there that sometime in the future I would have to return to Positano and get my shot glass.

We did get to stop and only because I thought I was going to pass out if we kept driving pass Positano. Right after we had passed it, I got to take a nice picture of it. It really was beautiful and the pictures don't really do it justice:

 

A little blurry:

I would love to have one of these homes built right into the mountain:

Behind all of these homes you can see the water , its just really cloudy so its hard to see when the water ends and when the clouds begin:

As you can see it would have been tough for anyone to walk around Positano because it looks like it is all inclines:

There was a guy there selling some fresh squeezed orange juice and it was from blood oranges and it was perhaps the best orange juice I've ever had in my life. It was delicious and really cheap. The guy was right there on the side of the road where we pulled off and he had a little stand. He took a picture for us, so I thought we might as well get some of his orange juice. It was a great choice. Everyone got one and he had a juicer right there that he squeezed the oranges into. With the beautiful view of Positano, being able to stretch out my legs and the amazing orange juice, this was the best part of a tough day trip with the family.

The city was really beautiful.

It's me:

How cool would it be to live here? An amazing view and a cool house:

As we started to get away from the city, it was still a gorgeous landscape:

There was a little pull off area where I was able to stop and just get some pictures with Positano in the background:

We were driving all the way back from the end of Amalfi to the little house that my mom had rented for us and that was a long way to go. We decided to make a little stop and at some snacks while we had an amazing view of another small town. We were well off the coast now:

All in all it was a pretty tough trip and after talking to some of my friends I've decided that the next time I go I will either rent a small place in Positano or I will take a boat tour of the Amalfi Coast. I don't think I would ever drive on the road there, because I just thought that it was too dangerous. Unless I had a scooter or motorcycle. That would be fun.