Amalfi Coast (La Costiera Amalfitana)
Trip Start
Jun 27, 2008
1
4
8
Trip End
Jul 06, 2008
Amalfi Coast,
Campania,
Italy
Monday, June 30, 2008
Amalfi Coast, Italy
ADIEU TO CAPRI
Bidding farewell to Capri, I went to the ticket booth to purchase a ferry ticket to the Amalfi Coast on this sunny Monday morning. Luigi, in the meantime, took the 9:10AM ferry to start the workweek in Naples. Before departing, he reiterated his address in Naples, and reminded me to meet him in his house by 7PM to go out to dinner with Annalisa. After saving his address on my portable GPS, I knew I would not get lost.
I had once traveled to this mystical corner of Italy, known as La Costiera Amafitana, two years ago. But that was a dark, gloomy day in September when the sky was intermittently lacerated by sharp torrents of rain. Today was a different day, a day imbued with radiant sunlight and the fervor of summertime.
I started the day by first relaxing at a seaside cafe in Capri, enjoying a breakfast consisting of rich cappuccino, a cornetto (or Italian croissant), and a newspaper. Before the tourists would arrive in Capri, the promenade on the Marina Grande was tranquil, organized, and orderly
Breakfast on Capri - Cappuccino and Cornetto
. Then, the first ferry pulled up, unleashing groups of vociferous American tourists. It was then time for me to bid adieu and board the 9:45AM ferry to Amalfi.SOJOURN ON THE AMALFI COAST
Like a graceful symphony, the Amalfi Coast resonated a flowing melody of charm, beauty, and elegance, a melody that interlaced a harmony between the exquisite, refined hillside villas and the rugged, steep cliffs protruding out into the sea. The 45-minute, €17 boat ride propelled me back into a historical era when this region of Italy possessed tremendous wealth and power. Amalfi was an independent republic from 600-1075 AD, and it rivaled Pisa and Genoa in its domestic prosperity and maritime significance. At its height, the population of this town reached 70,000 people; now, only 6,000 inhabitants called Amalfi home. Perhaps the number of tourists annually would surpass the town's population easily.
GRACE AND ELEGANCE ON THE MEDITERRANEAN
Perched high above Amalfi lay a small town called Ravello,a place I really longed to visit. The origins of Ravello went back to the fourth and fifth centuries AD, almost coinciding with the dissolution of the Western Roman Empire. To avoid the devastating attack of the barbarians, a large number of Roman noblemen and aristocrats built stable and sheltered settlements on the hills where the town center of Ravello was situated today. The Roman colonies brought vital influences from their original civilization - their customs, art, history, sociopolitical growth, and trade initiatives
Amalfi Coast Shrouded In Fog
. Though the glorious Amalfi Republic eventually declined, Ravello still maintained an echo of its rich history and wealth. Nowhere was the historical legacy more apparent than visiting the refined Villa Cimbrone or Villa Rufolo, a stone's throw from the main square dominated by the 11th century cathedral. These villas had refined gardens that enhanced the immense splendor of the Mediterranean Sea shimmering under the summer sun. An illustrious group of English writers like E.M. Forster, Virgina Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, etc. recognized the charming, meditative power of Ravello and would meet in this sequestered Italian town to draw inspiration for their literary works. I, too, wanted to follow in these English literary giants and with a backpack slung over my shoulder and a word-editing program for my iPod, I was ready to jot down the texture and senses of this magical town, from which I could draw some literary thoughts. The intimately stenotic cobblestoned alleys hugged by the weathered, medieval walls immediately made me imagine I was walking on the same footprints left by the town's noblemen almost more than 500 years ago. RELAXING ON THE AMALFI COAST
Not to be outdone was Positano, a picturesque town made popular in the movie Under The Tuscan Sun (2003) with Diane Lane. After taking the 90-minute SITA bus ride from Amalfi along the serpiginous cliff-side road 500 feet above the sea, I got off in Positano, a scenic town scrunched into a ravine
Boats Afloat On Amalfi Coast (Near Positano)
. Strolling in this town, I could inhale the easy-going, carefree, relaxed air wafting across the sun-washed walls and narrow flower-decked alleys. The fragrance of insouciance was flowing through the cool sea breezes under the endless summer sun. I felt as if the only thing to do in Positano was to unwind and completely decompress.Later that evening, I went by boat back to Sorrento, then took the familiar 70-minute, €3.50 Circumvesuviana train ride to Naples' Stazione Centrale (Central Station), where I activated my GPS to guide me to Luigi's house. It was almost 7PM, and when I arrived at his door, he was already waiting for me. We then took a ride on his moped through the hilly, cobblestone streets to meet Annalisa at a pizzeria in Vomero District, Naples. The experience on a moped, my second riding experience since vacationing in Viet Nam in 2002, was both exhilarating and breathtaking. The way Luigi's moped navigated between two contiguous cars on a narrow street designed for one vehicle left my heart beating in waves of arrhythmia. But we finally made it to the pizzeria in one piece.
REUNION ONCE MORE
Annalisa showed up a few minutes after we arrived. It was so nice to see her again after two years. She had spent almost two years in Houston doing a lab internship in the Texas Medical Center, but then returned home to Naples to finish her Ph.D. When I asked her what she had been doing recently, she informed me and Luigi that she had turned in her dissertation and just received her Ph.D
Early Morning Ferry To Amalfi
. earlier that morning. Now, it was perfect timing to celebrate our sweet reunion with the new Dr. Annalisa! We reminisced about the good old times in Houston over Naples' most famous culinary invention: pizzas, and she and I shared updates about our friends in both America and Italy. She still had the beaming, stellar smile that I always remembered of her. The evening passed by so quickly, and before I realized it, it was almost midnight. We then took leave of each other, but we knew that some day in the near future, we would surely meet up again soon.It was then time to return to Luigi's house and go to bed. Tomorrow would be the beginning of a new month, and it was also the big day, the core purpose of my vacation, the celebration of Fabiana and Marco's wedding...
