Atrani and Amalfi

Today (11/27) started in the most spectacular way. We woke with the sun at the foot of our bed. We left the shutters open and woke up with the sun shining over the sea. It was very cool. After a leisurely breakfast which included blood orange juice and biscotti, we headed out to Amalfi which is a full 10 minute walk away.


On the way out we saw some nice asses. They are used to get marble blocks and other building materials up the tight streets and stairs.

Part of the journey to Amalfi includes walking through a restaurant to avoid walking through the tunnel with the cars and then walking on the road around a curve with all of the cars. Space is at a premium here.

We did some shopping and bought the best produce. We got zucchini, finnocchio (fennel bulb), tomatoes, mandarin oranges, and an Amalfi lemon. We bought the most beautiful pasta that is made locally and only in the local styles, so they do not actually have the spaghetti cut but some similar ones. Lastly we picked up some mozzarella as this is the epicenter for buffalo mozzarella. The weather was very beautiful and after climbing the stairs back to the apartment we had both worked up a sweat.

Aaron and I went out again in the afternoon and walked around Atrani. We started climbing and encountered a very enthusiastic and friendly elderly gentleman who was very instant that we take the path he was walking but in the opposite direction which is the path to Ravello. Since we did not have anything better to do we took his advice. We did not walk all the way to Ravello as it is 1500 meters (approximately 4500 feet above Atrani) but probably went about half way. We walked through a valley that was very picturesque. There were houses perched on the far side of the valley that do not appear to have any road to reach them. There are lemon and orange trees terraced all over the valley. Once we got to the section where we had to walk on the road we decided to turn around.

Once we were back in Atrani we did a little more exploring and had some other town people direct us toward the Ravello pathway. We are pretty sure they send all tourists there hoping they won’t make it back from the road.

Next we went back to Amalfi for a more through exploration and a light lunch of pizza neapolitana (pizza with marinated anchovies) and bruschetta amalfaitana (bruschetta with tomatoes, basil, marinated anchovies and olive oil). Both we very good, but the waiter asked us for both items if we realized there were anchovies. There must be a lot of returned items with anchovies. We walked through town and down the sea wall for the sunset and then made our way back home.