We Made it to Ravello

The morning sun was just as spectacular today (11/28, Wednesday) as yesterday. We headed over to Amalfi to do our shopping for the day. Today we took the cookbook with us and looked to see what seafood was available and then decided on a recipe. We also went to the Panza bakery. Our landlords provided a welcome basket with goodies from this bakery and they were very good. The bakery was even better than we imagined. We got an assortment of fancy pastries.

We went to the Duomo in Amalfi which had a mix of many styles from Moorish to Rococo. This is a definite must see if you are in the area. The entrance fee is more than worth it. We headed back to Atrani dropped off the groceries and picked up Parilla.

We walked up the Via Amalfi walkway that goes east and up from the apartment and ate our pastries overlooking the sea. We then continued up the walkway and eventually made our way to Ravello. This was a better route than yesterday as we did not have to walk on the road at all, but there were a lot of steps. Ravello sits 1500 meters above the sea and the views are breathtaking. It is said that Ravello was the inspiration for one of Wagner’s pieces and there are many concerts and music festivals in the town. There were 2 dogs in the central piazza that really wanted to get to know Parilla. We walked over to the east side of town and could see the towns of Maiori and Minori. Maiori was the town that had the fireworks last night.

As we walked back through town to head back to Atrani we met a new canine friend who was guiding us through town. This turned out to be not so good as the dog would not leave us and was pretty far down the trail with us and would not go back to town. We were very worried about the dog not finding its way home so I walked it back to town and eventually got it to depart. Then I walked back to Aaron and Parilla. On the way I passed two little old ladies who carrying big bundles of tree trimmings. It was a moment from the old world. On the way back I started counting the stairs and there were 1253 by the time we got into the apartment.

We had the best caprese on bread with our local buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes and basil from the local market. It really hit the spot after our walk.

For our evening walk we went back to Amalfi to get a good bottle of local wine. It also included another stop at Pranza to select dessert for the evening. We made the best meal of the trip tonight. We had Risotto con Gamberi in Umdio con Pomodoro, Pereroncino e Capperi (Risotto with shrimp braised with tomatoes, chili pepper and capers) although we used langoustinos rather than shrimp. We also made Insalata di Finocchio e Arance (fennel and orange salad). We will definitely be using both of these recipes again. For dessert we had a torte with chocolate mousse and pound cake and the entire cake is covered in a layer of chocolate.

Another perfect day in paradise. If we don’t return home this would be a good place to start looking for us.