Crispy must have sneaked out last night to visit the temple and have a word with the Muses because the walk didn't come off. Despite my best efforts.
Everything conspired against me. Don't get me wrong we have had a great day but failed to walk the path of the Gods.
We set off and caught the 10:30 Sita bus service to Amalfi. This was mistake number 1 as we should have set off much earlier. The bus is a standard fifty two seater coach that managed to hold in excess of one hundred people. The journey along the coast should take one and a half hours. The journey took just under two and a half hours. I was sat on the floor for the entire journey. The coast road to Amalfi runs directly across the cliffs and is mostly single lane with several passing places. The local Italians in there wisdom view these passing places as free car parks. It does not take much therefore to cause a queue. Especially as there are several dozen buses, coach tours and delivery trucks trying to go in both directions at the same time. It was horrendous. Imagine diverting the Blackpool illuminations traffic over Georges lane on a sunny Saturday and you get the picture.
We finally arrived at Amalfi only to find that the local bus to take us up into the mountains to start the walk had been trying to get out of town for three days( a slight exaggeration here). In reality if the local bus was caught in similar traffic and delayed then there would not be enough hours left to finish the walk and get the bus back to Amalfi. Crispy had won the day.
Plus its been warm here since we arrived but it rained in the night and today is much hotter so I think it would have been uncomfortable on the trail in such heat.
Never mind its a great reason to come back.
Amalfi is gorgeous. Just like the hundreds of pictures that you see on TV and advertising brochures. A wonderful little town clinging to the cliffs at the foot of a large gorge. Its a labyrinth of small streets and whitewashed tunnels. A great place to walk around.
There is a cathedral here dedicated to St Andrew. It is amazing. We weren't going to bother going inside as we are a bit "churched out" but we spotted a painting of St Andrew and were intrigued. Plus Crispy wanted to light some more candles. It has become very pleasant custom of ours to light candles for lost loved ones where ever we travel and whether it does any good or not I don't know but it certainly feels "nice" and the right thing to do.
The Cathedral is the Duomo St Andrea (St Andrew) which I did not realise until seeing his Picture. We were interested why the Patron Saint of Scotland had his Cathedral here in Amalfi. It seems our Andrew has been a few places since the poor guy got crucified in Greece. He travelled more once dead than he did alive but eventually ended up here in Amalfi. Bits of him are in Fife , Scotland, hence the connection as Patron Saint, his skull and some of the bigger bits are here in Amalfi. But he has bits all over the place. The connection with Scotland is tenuous at best and I suggest you consult the interweb if your interested enough to find out more.
We grabbed a spot of lunch and had a good look around. Whilst walking around decided that rather that face the trauma of the bus ride back to Sorrento we would take the ferry. The ferry left Amalfi and sailed to the island of Capri before returning to Sorrento but was still a lot faster than the journey by road. We are glad we did. It was a great ride and we think the best way to appreciate the Amalfi coast in all its glory. The views were spectacular.
I am trying to upload some pics of the scenery of the coastline on the way back to Sorrento but the interweb connection is really slow here tonight. I'll try in the morning and see if its any better.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Rome. Its the last train journey before heading back home to Blighty by air.
Were both getting tired now as its been full on every day but worth it in every possible way. Crispy has already drifted off to the land of nod and I'm just finishing the second bottle of Limoncello as I don't want to have to carry it tomorrow.
Ba
Everything conspired against me. Don't get me wrong we have had a great day but failed to walk the path of the Gods.
We set off and caught the 10:30 Sita bus service to Amalfi. This was mistake number 1 as we should have set off much earlier. The bus is a standard fifty two seater coach that managed to hold in excess of one hundred people. The journey along the coast should take one and a half hours. The journey took just under two and a half hours. I was sat on the floor for the entire journey. The coast road to Amalfi runs directly across the cliffs and is mostly single lane with several passing places. The local Italians in there wisdom view these passing places as free car parks. It does not take much therefore to cause a queue. Especially as there are several dozen buses, coach tours and delivery trucks trying to go in both directions at the same time. It was horrendous. Imagine diverting the Blackpool illuminations traffic over Georges lane on a sunny Saturday and you get the picture.
We finally arrived at Amalfi only to find that the local bus to take us up into the mountains to start the walk had been trying to get out of town for three days( a slight exaggeration here). In reality if the local bus was caught in similar traffic and delayed then there would not be enough hours left to finish the walk and get the bus back to Amalfi. Crispy had won the day.
Plus its been warm here since we arrived but it rained in the night and today is much hotter so I think it would have been uncomfortable on the trail in such heat.
Never mind its a great reason to come back.
Amalfi is gorgeous. Just like the hundreds of pictures that you see on TV and advertising brochures. A wonderful little town clinging to the cliffs at the foot of a large gorge. Its a labyrinth of small streets and whitewashed tunnels. A great place to walk around.
There is a cathedral here dedicated to St Andrew. It is amazing. We weren't going to bother going inside as we are a bit "churched out" but we spotted a painting of St Andrew and were intrigued. Plus Crispy wanted to light some more candles. It has become very pleasant custom of ours to light candles for lost loved ones where ever we travel and whether it does any good or not I don't know but it certainly feels "nice" and the right thing to do.
The Cathedral is the Duomo St Andrea (St Andrew) which I did not realise until seeing his Picture. We were interested why the Patron Saint of Scotland had his Cathedral here in Amalfi. It seems our Andrew has been a few places since the poor guy got crucified in Greece. He travelled more once dead than he did alive but eventually ended up here in Amalfi. Bits of him are in Fife , Scotland, hence the connection as Patron Saint, his skull and some of the bigger bits are here in Amalfi. But he has bits all over the place. The connection with Scotland is tenuous at best and I suggest you consult the interweb if your interested enough to find out more.
We grabbed a spot of lunch and had a good look around. Whilst walking around decided that rather that face the trauma of the bus ride back to Sorrento we would take the ferry. The ferry left Amalfi and sailed to the island of Capri before returning to Sorrento but was still a lot faster than the journey by road. We are glad we did. It was a great ride and we think the best way to appreciate the Amalfi coast in all its glory. The views were spectacular.
I am trying to upload some pics of the scenery of the coastline on the way back to Sorrento but the interweb connection is really slow here tonight. I'll try in the morning and see if its any better.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Rome. Its the last train journey before heading back home to Blighty by air.
Were both getting tired now as its been full on every day but worth it in every possible way. Crispy has already drifted off to the land of nod and I'm just finishing the second bottle of Limoncello as I don't want to have to carry it tomorrow.
Ba
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