Amalfi Coast

We farewelled Rome and boarded a train to the Amalfi Coast. It was a 2 hr train trip to Salerno (with one stop at Naples). Once we got to Naples the train emptied and Damo and Mick were left on the train with 3 other travelers. We started to think that we were on the wrong train. We were even more concerned when the train number decided to change at Naples. Thankfully Mick's prayers were answered and our train arrived at the intended destination. We then boarded a SITA bus to travel the 75mins to get to Amalfi. The SITA bus is essentially a greyhound bus full of tourists, however all luggage must be taken on board with you. 

As with all greyhound buses, the only storage space inside is over the top of the seats. This posed a huge problem for Mick and other tourists who could not squeeze their fat bags into the over head compartments. After much pushing and shoving, Mick was able to wedge the suitcase between his seat and the lady in front. The only problem was there was no room for his legs. So Mick had to sit with his feet on the bag and his knees above his ears! The 75 min bus ride provided many photo opportunities of the beautiful Amalfi coastline. It also provided many death defying opportunities as our bus took many blind corners and hair pin turns rather quickly, tooting his horn in order to warn approaching cars. Most of the cars along the Amalfi coastline were small smart cars or similar, so our bus would win in most contests.

We checked into our hotel, which used to be a convent, which is kind of cool. What isn't so cool is that because it used to be a convent, it is a stone's throw (less than 50 metres) away from the Cathedral of Santa Andrea and the cathedral's massive bell tower that bellows on the hour, 1/4 past the hour, 1/2 past the hour and 3/4 past the hour between 7am and 10pm!!! Maybe we will get used to it...(as we write this blog entry, the bell tower has gone off non stop for almost 1 hr, maybe there is a trainee learning the ropes).

The other benefit of being so close to the Cathedral is that we got to hear the choir singing at about 5pm, just as we were trying to have our afternoon nap.

That being said, our room is great and the hotel staff are all so lovely and friendly. The girl on the front desk during the morning/afternoon greets us with the warmest hello every time we walk past her, Mick actually thinks we are the highlight of her day she is so happy to see us (and it's genuine, not put on). The guy that mans the desk at night is also really friendly, but slightly peculiar in a Basil Fawlty meets Dracula kind of way.

Amalfi is known for its lemons (apart from the spectacular coast line). With our dinner this first night, 3 of our 5 dishes featured lemons (this included first, second and dolci)! I think the novelty will wear off soon.