The Water is Not in the River (And Other Adventures from the Amalfi Coast)

When our first week in Rome had finally come to an end, we decided to do some traveling and get our first "hostel" experience.  Since the weather is so beautiful in Italy now, the Amalfi Coast seemed like a perfect destination.  All week long we dreamed of golden sands, blue water, and hot sunshine.

Friday morning we left Trastevere for the Train station, Termini, in Rome-- roughly a 45 minute walk.  We bought our tickets, boarded the train, and were feeling pretty smug about our travel abilities.  We'd booked a hostel, bought tickets, planned the weekend-- all without a hitch!  It was too good to be true; literally...

The train ride was scenic, and stopped in Naples, going through mountains and farms.  Our trip began to get a bit challenging when the train stopped in Salerno; where was the SITA Amalfi bus?  Where was the ticket stand?  These minor perturbances were easily resolved but ominous clues pertaining to our final destination began to surface.  When we asked where the bus to Atrani was at the Tabbachi (the Tabacco shop where bus passes are bought), the cashier laughed, "there is no bus to Atrani".  hmmmm.  puzzelment.  

Another clue:  some girls in our group had been speaking with an Italian on the train who had informed them that "the water is not in the country" and "the water is not in the river".  Still, we had not solved the riddle.

The bus ride (when the bus finally came, nearly 40 minutes late) started out beautifully, and then became tortuous and torturing.  If you've ever read Harry Potter, there's this bus in the books called the night bus that turns on a dime and squeezes through tight places.  Well, our bus was kind of like that.  The narrow road winded along a mountain cliff.  At every turn in the road (which was about every 5 seconds), our bus driver would honk to warn oncoming cars that he was coming.  Suddenly, our bus stopped.  A strange yellow-slickered woman let all these cars, and busses, pass except us.  Why, we wondered?  

We finally got off our bus at the town we thought was Atrani but in fact, we had debarked at Minore.  The Piazza Umberto was not the same Piazza Umberto as in Atrani.  P.Umberto is apparently mainstreet in Italy.  We asked for directions at a shop and the man told us, "It is not allowed to go to Atrani.  It is 2 kilometres, 4 km from here.  You walk up the mountain.  The Garden is in the town."  

With this enigmatic direction, we walked on this windy cliff-road along the coast.  There were moments when I thought the last thing I'd see was the front of a SITA bus but we made it to Atrani.  

And what did we find in Atrani?  Dun Dun Dun….Disaster!  A mudslide/ flash flood had swept through the town the night before.  Aide workers and vigile del fuoco (firefighters) and reporters were all at the town piazza.  Our hostel host, Fellipo, whom we had called, had said, "If you want, come".  So we did.  We had to walk through the center of the wreckage BUT we made it to our hostel, which was actually pretty nice.  It's very easy to feel like a "Stupeed Americaan" in Italy but nothing makes you feel quite so "stupeed" as when you walk through a disaster that has been sweeping the Italian news for the past few days completely by surprise.  We could only hope that the headlines would read "Tourists Still Flock to Atrani" rather than "Stupid Americans Find Flood".  

Amalfi, only a 5 minute walk from Atrani, had not been affected by the flood, so we went there for dinner.  Amalfi, and the Amalfi Coast in general is known for its lemons and limoncello.  The lemons from the Amalfi coast are called “sfusato amalfitano” and they are twice the size of average lemons.  The area is also known for chili peppers, personified by the Neapolitan character, Pulcinella.  Pulcinella has a long beaky nose and is crafty and vicious.    

Unfortunately that night our hotel ran out of hot water, then water in general.  Not really a big deal but it was pretty funny when the toilet "woke up" in the middle of the night.  Anne, my more cautious room mate, was concerned that an evil bandit had somehow forced his way into our bathroom (despite locked doors) and had come to steal her Safe Pouch.  Fortunately, this was not the case.    

The next day, we got on a morning ferry to the Island of Capris-- basically paradise on earth.  While friday had been gray and rainy, Saturday was sunny and warm and perfecto!  We camped out on the beach, got some sun, swam in the Mediterranean, and relaxed.  We also got on a boat tour of the Island, which was pretty fabulous.  Our tour guide liked to sing and while his facts about the different rock formations on the Island may not have been 100% accurate, we had a lot of fun.  The funnest part may have been trying to stay on the boat.  The picture to the left is an arch our boat went through.  If you blow a kiss, your wish will come true.  The right picture is of a cave where Tiberius threw down his wives (???  maybe something was lost in translation; also it's possible that our guide had an active imagination).

Sunday was also another beautiful day along the Amalfi Coast.  We went to Mass at Saint Andrew’s Cathedral in the center of town; there were probably about 20 altar boys.  It was beautiful. 

So even though everything didn’t go quite according to plan, it was a great weekend in a beautiful place with fabulous people.