Hotel Doria Amalfi

OK, so we're living on an Olive Farm for a while now.<br>Bohemian? Yes<br>Practical? Only when its sunny and only when its not olive picking season.<br>So what season is it now? Olive picking and its raining.<br><br>Welcome to our own little corner of Glastonbury<br>

... area. Well, since I had been told it existed I went in with more confidence. Indeed. It was the LARGEST seating area of any of the pizza contestants. There was a small area next to the kitchen that was off a small entry way -- hidden from the street. Then upstairs there were at least 4 rooms with simple chairs and tables. Just waiting to be the lucky support of some delicious pizza.<br><br>I ordered the Buffala pizza. Mozzarella di Buffala (HEY! Does that mean from Buffalo milk ...

... the maniac behind the wheel were enough to make you feel nautious. Sophie's parents had rented a villa in the heard of the village, with amazing patios and views of the sea. From Positano we did a couple of day trips to Capri, a small island about a 35 minute ferry ride of the coast and a trip to Pompeii to the ancient Roman ruins ...

... umbrella and raincoat got soaked through to our underwear! Next day it rained hard too but did not mind a lazy day with no sightseeing. The city of Naples has a few nice areas but is a really dirty city and one day of sightseeing was plenty. Seeing Naples and Mt. Vesuvius from a distance is the best way to see them but south of Naples and the Almafi coast is not to be missed.

... park a smart car. And nobody got parking tickets. <br><br>Our first bus tour, on the red bus, began at the Castel Nuovo and headed north to the Museo de Campodimonte passing the Fontana in via Medina, Convitto Nationale (National School in Naples), Basilica de Santa Maria della Sanita and the Church of Madre del Buon Consiglio along the way. <br><br>Returning to the bus terminal, we ...

After the trip to Isle of Capri, Henry and I took the local bus down along the Amalfi Coast to the town of Amalfi. Incredible views along a hairpin stretch of road for about 30 km which took several hours. The traffic congestion was unbelievable as well as the congestion on the bus. Quite the experience. Several little towns all hanging precariously on the cliffs. We still found Cinque Terre more ...

... Hill in San Francisco but multiply that by 100!! Cars and scooters were parked along the right hand side of the road making what we thought an impassable road. This bus driver found ways to squeeze through these narrow hairpin corners with less than inches to spare, and at a VERY high speed, whipping around corners with us showing our white knuckles! Many times we were playing chicken with buses and cars going right for each other (nothing short of Bangalore ...

... price tag is in euros. I did however take a boat tour of the island and saw the spectacular topography of the island (I skipped the Blue Grotto which I also hear was completely underwhelming) and had perhaps the best gelato of my life. They were making the waffle cones fresh and that is ALWAYS a good sign. I also managed to use my guidebook to find an English language bookstore and bought some books to keep me company ...

... bond the tones of the sky and sea, to a point where the horizon is virtually nonexistant. In reality, this sensual haze is probably just the by-product of very unromantic smog from nearby Naples, but i'm content to pretend otherwise for the sake of this bit. The talent of the Amalfi beach was of a much higher calibre and frequency as well, these bikini-clad locals requiring little romantic haze in order to be visually alluring. After successfully wasting the day soaking ...

Late breakfast again. Then off the train station to get bus tickets for the Amalfi Coast. We had about a 40 minute wait, but the bus turned up pretty quickly, so we could wait on the bus out of the sun. The bus went back to Meta before looping back to head for Amalfi. It was indeed a winding, winding, road, right along the edge of the cliffs. On the other side of the road, huge cliff faces and gorges ...