The Amalfi Coast, Italy

Italy has so many treasures. It’s so hard to pick just a few when you visit. Years ago we happened upon an area known as Cinque Terre, which is a really sweet stretch of the north western coast of Italy that is dotted with 5 beautiful villages set right on the rocks against the ocean. People call it the Italian Riviera because it’s located next to the French’s equivalent. I’ve wanted to go back there ever sense and wander those little winding footpaths and stairways to the unknown. But Pompeii is in the opposite direction and not to be missed given the boys interest in volcanoes and the Roman Empire. So we headed further south to what is called the Amalfi Coast. It’s actually more famous than Cinque Terre. In fact it’s probably more like Cinque Terre on steroids.

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It’s located to the south of Pompeii along a peninsula and situated as an east-west stretch of rocky steeply built villages. We actually drove through a tunnel that was 3.5 miles long to get to the first of the villages!!! If you have driven the Million Dollar highway then you have an idea of what this was like. There are guard rails, sort of and only sometimes. They don’t bother putting a line in the middle of the road because in most places 2 cars can barely pass anyway. AND you have Italian drivers who are crazy aggressive. (I rode once through Florence in a tour van that flat ran an old lady with a baby carriage off of the road because he was trying to get our van to the train station before the other group. I kid you not!) I think I counted 4 times where we had to completely stop and back up because the bus was going to take off someone’s side mirror (or whole front quarter panel).

I even drove a bit. JP says it was to build my confidence, allow me a refresher on driving a stick shift and to be able to truly say I’ve driven the Amalfi Coast. After having done it, I think he really wanted to be able to enjoy the view and give his strained and whitened knuckles a break. Maybe not the smartest idea of all time given I wasn’t on the insurance or supposed to drive, but you’ve got to live a little, eh? I will say that I never stalled, didn’t hit a single bus and didn’t even roll backward when beginning from a stand still on a hill all of which was a feat even for the most experienced drivers given the state of these crazy steep and winding roads. The clutches today are much more forgiving than they were in the 80’s Dodge pickup that I learned on.

Our car was a dream to have really. There is no way a train can make it to these villages and a bus from the closest city would have been miserable. If you go, rent a car from Naples, take out a lot of insurance, say a lot of prayers and roll down the windows. It’s an unbelievable drive of a lifetime.

#curiosities #roadtrip #vacation #views