Day Trip to Amalfi

Saturday March 17 was cloudy with late afternoon rain.  The temperature dropped to 12C in the afternoon.  We are liking our apartment in the clouds of Montepertuso, in the hills above Positano.  However, the Internet has been erratic and on both Friday and Saturday didn't work at all in the early evening.  Our host had a technician over, but the problem wasn't corrected.

We caught the local bus at 10:50 a.m. into Positano and then the larger regional Sita bus at 11:10 a.m. which took us to the nearby town of Amalfi.  While only 17 km away, it is a 50 minute ride in the hills on very narrow winding roads with hairpin turns.  There are incredibly beautiful views and one marvels at the houses built right into the hills.  However, there is no way we would advise anyone to drive on the Amalfi coast! Our bus honked its horn at nearly every turn and there were times when either the bus or the car coming the other way had to back up to let the other pass!

While waiting for our bus in Montepertuso, a man came to fill up  a number of containers with water from a water machine

It is only a 10 minute ride from Montepertuso to the first main stop in Positano, still high in the hills.  We bought our bus ticket to Amalfi in the Bar Internationale, a great local bar with excellent pastries. In Positano and other towns on the Amalfi coast, one buys bus tickets in a bar or tabacchi nearest to the bus stop.

Outside Bar Internationale

Very good pastries inside

View from the Bar Internationale waiting for our Sita bus

Luckily, we only had a few minutes to wait for bus to Amalfi.  It was a beautiful ride through a number of small towns.

A bus in front of us making a hairpin turn-- just imagine a bus meeting a car going the other way

We arrived in Amalfi at about noon.   Amalfi has a fascinating history.  While its present permanent population is only around 5500, it was once a maritime superpower with a population of more than 70,000.  Incredibly, most of the city and its residents slid into the sea during an earthquake in 1343.

Today it is a very pretty beach town with lovely piazzas and a large beautiful Cathedral.  It also boasts a number of gorgeous pastry shops and good restaurants.

View from the bus terminal as we arrived

View of the Cathedral

There were a number of imposing structures up in the hills.

View up the hill-- wonderful buildings up high

Before heading into the town, we walked out on the breakwater.

Panoramic view of Amalfi from breakwater

Another view back at the town

Alain blowing in the wind

View of one end of Amalfi from the breakwater

We then started to wander into the town.  We passed a number of stores with beautiful paper.  Amalfi has a connection with paper making that dates back to the 12th century, when the first mills were set up to supply the bureaucracy.  There is still one paper making facility making good quality paper.

Paper store with lovely products

Lemons and oranges abound

We walked to the Piazza del Duomo just up from the water and had coffee at Bar Francese.  Lovely old fashioned decor.

Bar Francese where we had coffee

Then we saw Andrea Pansa, a marbled and mirrored 1830 café on the same Piazza.  We bought a number of treats to take with us.  The quality is superb.  The shop also had a lot of chocolate products.  It was really a shame it was so cloudy and cool as it would have been lovely to have a coffee outside in the Piazza.

Andrea Pansa-- amazing pastries and chocolates

Old bar in the pastry shop

We walked up to the Cathedral of Saint Andrea.  It has a melange of architectural styles and is one of the few relics of the town's past as an 11th century maritime power.  It dates in part from the early 10th century.  Its stripy facade has been rebuilt twice,  most recently at the end of the 19th century.

View of the Cathedral

Gorgeous porticos outside the Cathedral

Huge bronze doors- first of their type in Italy, commissioned by a local noble and 

made in Syria before being shipped to Amalfi

                                                                          View into square from Cathedral

A 1974 nativity scene

We were interested in the history of paper making in Amalfi and walked up the main street until we found the Museo della Carta (Paper Museum).  It is housed in a cavelike 13th-century paper mill (the oldest in Europe).  It has a number of the original paper presses, which are still in full working order.  We took the 20 minute tour with an English speaking guide, who explained the original cotton-based paper production and the later wood-pulp manufacturing.  Paper-making with some of this equipment took place from 1745-1969.

Dipping the tray into a vat of pulp

One of the paper making machines that was still working

                                                                   An old coffee machine for coffee break

                                      Water from the nearby river that powered the paper-making machines

                                                                     Paper making press

                                                                   More outside views

It was a fascinating history of paper-making brought to life by the still-working machines.  Our guide told us that there is still one paper maker in town.  Their small gift store was selling some of the local products.

We then went for lunch at a lovely little restaurant in another small square called La Piazzetta where
we shared lovely bruschetta with fresh tomatoes, tuna and basil, and a green salad.

Alain in front of the bruschetta

Another view of the Cathedral

After lunch, we wandered along the coastal road.  We passed some hotels and restaurants with outside patios.  Lovely views of the water and hills.

Beach view

Operating since 1936

A different view

We caught the 4:00 p.m. bus back to Positano.  It had just started to rain heavily as we boarded the bus.

View from the bus down at a structure surrounded by the sea

We got back to Positano about 4:45 p.m. and had a 45 minute wait at the Bar Internationale for the local bus to take us back to Montepertuso.

After a rest at the apartment, we walked to the square for a shuttle which took us up to La Terra for dinner.  We were very glad there was a shuttle as the walk up to the restaurant in the dark and rain would not have been pleasant.  La Terra had just opened for the season on Friday, so there were only diners at about three other tables.  We had excellent service.  We were given a glass of Prosesco by the owner when we arrived.

Amuse bouche- a gnocchi with sauce-- for Alain

We shared an appetizer of spaghetti with cherry tomato sauce and basil, a green salad and a large piece of dorade with a pistachio sauce.  All excellent.  We also had a lovely limoncello digestif provided by the owner at the end of our meal.

We shared dorade with pistachio sauce- yum

Spaghetti with cherry tomato and basil sauce

Enjoying our meal at La Terra

It was a great day-trip to Amalfi.  Lots of interesting history and amazing coastline views.  We marvel at how the homes and structures have been built into the hills over the centuries.

I hope to do one more posting from Montepertuso, but the internet issues may prevent this.  For certain, I will post from Ravello, where we are going on Monday.