Christmas on the Amalfi Coast
Trip Start
Aug 03, 2010
1
36
42
Trip End
Ongoing
Praiano, Campania, Italy
Friday, December 23, 2011
4-door Lancia and then came to a quick standstill when we hit a mega traffic jam. Every time we thought it was finally clearing up we would end up stuck again. We decided it must have just been holiday traffic, but after two hours we had had enough and made a quick dash over to an exit. It may have been the wrong decision, it may have been the right one, we'll never know. But it did take 8 hours to reach our destination instead of the predicted 4. The drive was pretty nice though, and it took us up and down hills where we ran into snow on the edge of the road (and mud that Mike dropped Carmen's new bag into)!
After some bad advice from Veronica, our GPS, we reached the Amalfi Coast the road turned really wild. The highway between Amalfi and Sorrento is like nothing you've ever experienced! The turns are so curvy that we just kept looking at the GPS and laughing. On one side the cliffs rise straight up with an occasional village along the way, and on the other side they drop straight down to the ocean with little to keep your car from doing the same. Driving 20k on those roads takes about twice as long as you would estimate. I can't imagine doing it every day or in the summer when it is jammed with thousands of tourists.
The rental we found was super cute and had a deck with an absolutely stunning view of the ocean. Because it was winter and the way the coast line was facing we actually got to see the sunrise instead of set. We arrived in the dark and stopped at the planned meeting cafe, but of course there was no pay phone in the whole village. Luckily the woman who worked their called the homeowners for us to tell them we had arrived. She told us to drive 1k past the tunnel and look for the woman in the road. Ok.... Well, we actually found her husband in the road, and he spoke a decent amount of English. Turns out we had to park the car 5 minutes away on the curvy road and lug our bags up 96 steps to the rental. Again, I think this would all be so much crazier in the summer when there is nowhere to park and tons of traffic.
The next morning when we woke up to the sunrise and saw the scenery around us we were in awe. We found that since it was Christmas weekend many shops and restaurants were closed. This was ok for us, because we wanted to do some cooking and eating in anyways. It was so fun to shop at the local markets, butchers, and cheese shops. We made pasta, salad, and ate lots of yummy cheese. The best thing was finding out how affordable the food all was. After picking out 2 kinds of sliced meats and 3 big hunks of cheeses we all figured it would cost a fortune, but is was so cheap! On Christmas we all worked together to cook a turkey breast stuffed with herbs and sausages, pasta rolls with homemade marinara, arugula salad, caprese salad, romanesco cauliflower, and the assorted meats and cheeses. Not our typical Christmas dinner, but yu-mmy! The only thing that would have made our dinner better was if we could have baked our turkey instead of broiling it. Who knew there was a seperate switch for the oven gas line under the kitchen sink?
On the days before and after Christmas we got to explore the winding coastal road and nearby villages of Positano, Praiano, Ravello, and Amalfi. We had an interesting experience one day when Mike and Peter helped pick up a car. Yes, I said pick up a car! These road are barely wide enough for two very compact cars so picture what it's like when the giant coastal bus comes through on its route and cars are illegally parked on the side (which they are everywhere, all the time). We were a few cars behind a bus one afternoon when we hear this ridiculous horn going off that reminded some of us of the General Lee in the Dukes of Hazard. It was coming from the bus, and it couldn't squeeze by a car parked on the side. And these bus drivers seem to be able to drive through the tightest spots at top speed on most any occasion. After repeated honking the old guy in front of us gets out and him and the bus driver try to pick up the car and move it over! Well, of course they can't budge it, so Mike jumps out and decides to help. As soon as he walks away we all say, oh no, they're going to think the car is his. Sure enough, he walks over and they start yelling "You move car!" He uses some gestures to assure them that he just wants to help so they decide to give it a go and Peter runs over too. The four of them actually pick the car up and move the back end two feet off the road! Carmen and I could not believe it. We have the pictures to prove it so make sure you scan down below to look.
On Tuesday it was time for Mike and Carmen to head back to Rome to catch their flight. We had such a great time with the two of them, but most importantly, it was so great to spend Christmas with people we love. Being without family for the second year in a row was tough, but these two made up for it. Thanks for coming guys!
See you for Part 3 and the last week of our Italian holiday.
With Love,
Peter and Melissa
Comments
What a beautiful spot, you must have enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine on the coast. I think you made the right decision to spend Christmas there.
Would have been even better if you were there!