2016 ITALY Amalfi 57 - Browsing Amalfi

Luciano dropped us off next to the seaside bathing area. Most all of the local towns have this kind of beach set up. Lots of umbrellas with different colors. I suppose the colors indicate something, but I know not what.

We could see the famous church dome from there. It is made of mosaics in the "Oriental" style.

There was a wide promenade along the sea front of the town. The street circles around this statue of Amalfi's great inventor, Flavio Gioia. He invited the maritime compass in 1302. The buildings rose up hill and tight to the cliffs.

We had about an hour-and-a-half to wander. All the streets were narrow. No traffic allowed up this main street, at least while we were there. It was, however, bumper to bumper tourists.

A big attraction here is the 9th century cathedral. It is dedicated to the apostle Saint Andrew, whose relics rest here. A long stairway led to its covered veranda.

The tower building to its left is called the Cloister of Paradise. It was built in the 13th century and decorated in Moorish style. I didn't know you could go inside, but it would have been worth the ticket per photos seen here:  http://www.italianways.com/the-cloister-of-paradise-in-amalfi-and-judgment-day/

Inside, church services were being held, so didn't take a lot pix. Very ornate and beautiful interior though.

Baptismal font and side alter.

As I returned down the church steps, I saw this soccer / futbol team enjoying the sights as well.

Wish we were staying long enough to visit this exhibit and musical production.

I wandered past the St. Andrew fountain.

I perused the shops. Lots of Italian ceramics, schlocky souvenirs, fashions, jewelry, leather goods, and limoncello for sale. I bought a small bottle for a toast to our last night.

Then back to the boat.

2016 ITALY Amalfi 56 - Breakfast and a Boat Ride

The next morning breakfast arrived right on time. It was delivered by Silvana, a sweet Italian nonna who did not speak English, but we figured it out. The sun was shining, the food was delicious, and we felt glorious.
Today was our second yacht ride. This time along the coast from Positano to Amalfi. Our first challenge was to get down to the pier. This photo is taken from our balcony toward the boat docks. See the orangey lines (beach umbrellas) by the sea on the mid-right? That was where we would catch the cruiser.
After breakfast, we hiked down the big hill. There were two choices: 1) Walk down the steep-ish winding street with traffic close by our side and stores for distraction. We wondered how driverless cars would handle this!!! We were on a timetable so could not stop to shop now.

Or 2) jig-jaggy steps, also steep and with few handrails to grab for safety. We ended up taking a combination of both, but mostly steps. Kitties were scattered about.

Once we got to the bottom, we found hoards of people looking for rides to Capri and Amalfi. Most rode a ferry, but some hired or shared a private boat.

Just to the left of this were the lines of orange umbrellas we had seen from our hotel overlook.

Luciano and his cruiser Fratelli Aprea (Aprea brothers) had returned to take us on today's sea jaunt.

We felt right at home. Again, he supplied a little melon and grape snack with prosecco to start the morning.

It was about a half-hour cruise. There were lots of things to see, starting with a scuba diver. Brave soul in the middle of all the boat traffic passing up and down the coast. But the gorgeous underwater view must have certainly been worth the risk.

We saw all manner of floaty vehicles, mini kayak to max military style.

We passed by natural caves and the windy Almafi coast "highway" with its narrow roadway, tunnels bored through the rock mountain walls, and bridges spanning its many water inlets.

The cruise took about a half hour to the port of Amalfi. These protective boulders looked like giant jacks, similar to the ball and jack game we played as children.

2016 ITALY Positano 55 - Sleeping in Positano

Coming out of the mountains it was lovely to see the blue sea again. Mike imagined us with a rent-a-Vespa winding our way down this coast road...me on the back hugging him (for dear life)...wind in our hair...smiles on our faces. Oh, so romantically Italian!

This was coming round a bend and our first view of Positano.

Our hotel was about half way down the hill in the middle of town.

We arrived about 18:30. Our hotel was Villa delle Palme with hosts Giuliana and Manuela (on left with a guest). Their grandpapa had purchased this property from the Mayor of Positano years ago.

So not sure if you remember the blog entry sometime back about visiting Cantoro Italian Market near Ann Arbor, Michigan. There we met and chatted with Mr. and Mrs. Cantoro. They had just returned from a trip to Italy and they had stayed at this very hotel. What a small world!

Anyway when we checked in we told Manuela this story and, yes, she surely knew the lovely couple and said they stayed a number of times. That was enough of a recommendation for us. Chef John did good once again!

The main building of the hotel had a lobby and small cafe. Everyone except us had a room in the that building. We were in the building next door. Seemed like a secret hide away. Balconies are above the arches.

Here was our lobby. Notice the books on the shelf. From the landing to the next floor books rested on both sides of each step. Lots on history and architecture, but other topics, too. You were free to read them while you visited. And there were binoculars to borrow. Oh...no bellhop. We had to lug our own bags. Glad I had big strong Mike to help me.

The hallway floor was like nothing we had seen before. It was a huge glass covered "tray," like you see in some coffee tables to show-off mementos. This had a sand bottom displaying treasures from the past--coins and things found during excavation to expand the hotel. A little freaky to walk over, but WOW!

This was the view when we opened our room door. Soft music wafted in from the cafe below.

It was the simplest of rooms we had stayed in on either Italy trip, but we loved it. Seemed like the type of place where a typical Italian couple would stay on vacation. There was a live orchid on the corner table.

Nice beachy bathroom with fish decor and a porthole. Big shower with lots of water pressure. This was the only hotel that supplied wash clothes.

Our porthole to the sea. Well, you had to be in the shower to see the sea. 

We had a LITTLE outdoor patio (maybe 4x6 feet) with a BIG view.

Here's our view to the right.

To the left.

Down below. How handy is this little cafe? The source of the music. And we heard the church bells ring at 19:00.

We checked on Lynn and Sandy in the main building. They had an elegant room with a huge patio (the one on the website homepage).

Our groupies were on their balconies, too.

Heading back to our room we noticed this little cubby hole kitchen. Yes, it was unmanned and all kinds of booze was displayed on the back shelf. A little gate let us know it was off limits. Bummer. On the counter was an order form for breakfast to be delivered to our room the next morning. We left our order.
We had the evening free and John had mentioned there was a Fish Festival on the other side of town.

We took a quick walk, but in the long run decided to hunker down, catch up on some reading, just relax. Outside music played, streets bustled, fireworks flashed from the festival. How beautiful! This town and the situation was like being in a Fellini movie without the bizarre part.

We met our neighbors on their balcony next door. They were laughing and playing cards. A cute honeymoon couple from Australia. Young love. Romantique! We felt just as young...at heart, and in love.

2016 ITALY Sant'Agata sui Due Golfi 54 - Cellars Plus

Out the front door and around the corner to the cellars.

We entered into a library of sorts. We perused a host of treasures--art, awards, books, memorabilia of all sorts. One thing that caught Mike's eye were two racing helmets previously owned by Jarno Trulli, an Italian race driver. He competed in Formula One from 1997-2011 and won the Monaco (our fave F1 city) Grand Prix in 2004.

Other items were these Zanetti watches, no doubt the finest in Italian watchmaking. After racing, Trulli got into food and wine and these watches relate to that (as it says "something top chef" on the watch face). Jarno currently co-owns a winery in the Abruzzo area of Italy.

We also saw the family cookbook. The cover photo was the very eggplant stack that we had made today, although ours were not so perfecto.

This 40-year old ristorante has a wine cellar dating back to the 6th century BC. It may have been used as an escape route or hiding place for ancient owners of the property. The walls are carved out of volcanic tufa rock.

We stepped down into the first level and immediately felt the naturally cooled air that a good wine needs to age.

The cellars hold over 25,000 bottles of wine and 2,000 distinct labels, some of the best in the world. 

Their priciest bottle was a French Romanee Conti 1971 for a mere 20,000 euros.

Rooms and narrow stone stairs wind their way to over 114 feet (35 meters) below surface level. Bottles of wine lining the walls at every turn. Mike and I did not attempt to go past the second level, but some took the challenge.

The Don Alfonso family also makes cheeses on their biologic farm, so there is a cheese aging room with perfect humidity here, too. 

Back into the warm sunlight, hated to leave, but we were also anxious to get to our next stop in Positano.

The rest of the story: http://www.donalfonso.com/en. If you don't read anything else, be sure to view the video at the end of the home page.