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Ravello, Amalfi, Positano - 9/24
Wed, Oct. 4th, 2006 07:07 pmNote: these were written up in the past week, but I'm posting them now. So no, I'm currently not in Italy (sadly).
Today we went and took a boat over from the small coastal city of Amalfi to the other small coastal city of Positano. Getting down to Amalfi from Ravello involves quite a few death-defying turns and jaw-droppingly narrow roads, in which our very large van and a tiny European hatchback would inch past each other, as everyone in the van except the driver held their breath.
Amalfi has a giant cathedral in the center of the city (villa? it's not quite a city proper). The cathedral is festooned with colored tiles and striped arches; it's more Romanesque than Gothic. We came to it just as Mass was ending, and people poured out of the doors while I craned my head in, attempted not to look too touristy, and failed spectacularly.
We only got to see enough to verify that Amalfi was a very touristy town and that it was largely composed of a town square and half a dozen twisty alleys and cobblestoned streets. The short time period was largely because we had missed the boat to Positano thanks to my insistence on finding a bathroom. Of course, I found out that the boat had some very clean bathrooms on it later.
The coastline here is spectacular. It's all cliff faces and tiny buildings lining the steep sides row by row, with the occasional unexpected cave.
Positano is also a tourist town, like Amalfi. There are a lot of Americans and Brits here, though I suspect many Italians come to spend a nice weekend by the ocean as well. We were mistaken everywhere for Japanese tourists; I've never been konnichiwa-ed so much in my life. My sister attempted to tell people, "No, not Japanese. Chinese! From Taiwan!" though mostly that got ignored in favor of "Annyo? [sp]" ("Hi" in Korean, she told me) or "Sayonara!"
( Cut for length )
ETA: Accompanying pictures
Today we went and took a boat over from the small coastal city of Amalfi to the other small coastal city of Positano. Getting down to Amalfi from Ravello involves quite a few death-defying turns and jaw-droppingly narrow roads, in which our very large van and a tiny European hatchback would inch past each other, as everyone in the van except the driver held their breath.
Amalfi has a giant cathedral in the center of the city (villa? it's not quite a city proper). The cathedral is festooned with colored tiles and striped arches; it's more Romanesque than Gothic. We came to it just as Mass was ending, and people poured out of the doors while I craned my head in, attempted not to look too touristy, and failed spectacularly.
We only got to see enough to verify that Amalfi was a very touristy town and that it was largely composed of a town square and half a dozen twisty alleys and cobblestoned streets. The short time period was largely because we had missed the boat to Positano thanks to my insistence on finding a bathroom. Of course, I found out that the boat had some very clean bathrooms on it later.
The coastline here is spectacular. It's all cliff faces and tiny buildings lining the steep sides row by row, with the occasional unexpected cave.
Positano is also a tourist town, like Amalfi. There are a lot of Americans and Brits here, though I suspect many Italians come to spend a nice weekend by the ocean as well. We were mistaken everywhere for Japanese tourists; I've never been konnichiwa-ed so much in my life. My sister attempted to tell people, "No, not Japanese. Chinese! From Taiwan!" though mostly that got ignored in favor of "Annyo? [sp]" ("Hi" in Korean, she told me) or "Sayonara!"
( Cut for length )
ETA: Accompanying pictures