Amalfi Coast

This weekend, almost our entire group went to Amalfi by train and bus. I originally thought that we were going to be staying in Sorrento because that’s what we heard through the grapevine (there were two people that organized the whole trip). Apparently there was some miscommunication, cause we only saw the train station in Sorrento. No complaints, though... the place where we stayed was beautiful.

We spent about 4 hours total on the train and about 1 hour on the bus. We all got up around 5am on Friday morning and stumbled down the monastery stairs out into the dark but gradually brightening morning with birds chirping around us. We watched the sun come up from the train. I’ve never seen the clouds cast shadows upward into the sky. Each cloud had its own shadow-version of itself hovering above it.

Our resort.

The resort where we stayed was on the Amalfi coast and it was ascending a mountain, so the cabins looked like they were all on top of each other from the bottom parking lot. They were bright colors of blue, pink, yellow, and green, which my cabin was pink. We had four cabins all equipped with a kitchen, four or five beds among two rooms, and a bathroom. We felt like we were in our own little neighborhood cause there weren’t many other people staying there (it’s too early in the season). We talked to each other from shutter windows and we all cooked our dinners together. I said it felt like we were playing “house.” We really were.

The beach was a few flights of stairs down the mountain, and on the first day, the sun beckoned us to swim. Unfortunately, I don’t have a bathing suit with me here in Italy, so I just climbed rocks while my friends swam around boulders in the glassy, green-blue water. The one thing I didn’t like much about that beach was that there was no sand what-so-ever. It was covered in rocks from the size of a dime to the size of my fist. It was a bad day to choose to go bare-foot. Ouch. Julia gave me piggy back rides by the end of the day cause my feet felt like open wounds. They’re all better now, though.

We went to bed surprisingly early that night cause we got up so early. But, the next day people were planning to go to either Pompeii, Naples, or Capri (which was a boat tour). I didn’t have enough money to do any of those things, so I was planning on staying put and enjoying the scene there. Sadly, most everyone’s plans for Saturday got cancelled because of rain. It rained on and off the entire day, and there were moments of storminess that took umbrellas out of tables and put them into the trees above our cabins. It was kind of exciting. Half our group went to Pompeii regardless of the rain, but I was part of the half that stayed in Amalfi. I don’t regret it one bit. 

My favorite part of the trip was when a group of us went down to the beach during a rain and wind storm. We climbed some rocks and tried to keep our balance as the wind pushed us around. I found the tallest rock and climbed it. I stood on the top for maybe 20 minutes and watched the waves crash at my feet as the wind blew a thick layer of mist off the top of the waves. It was so powerful, my raincoat became a sail and I yelled at the gray ocean. We acted like children there. We found sticks and held them above our heads while we cursed Poseidon and Poseidon roared back. It was my favorite part of the trip. We watched the gray clouds part into blue skies and we sat under a dock and skipped stones. Then dark clouds swarmed the sky again and it was the same wind all over again, which caused the waves to soak my cuffed jeans all the way up to my waist while I continued to skip stones.

On Sunday, we left a little after 10 to head back to Orvieto, which we are always ready to return to after every trip we go on. We passed through Naples and ate at a restaurant where I had Sorrentine gnocchi. It was serious competition for Mauro’s gnocchi. But, I’ll take the easy way out and say that Naples has the best tomato sauce gnocchi and Orvieto has the best cheese sauce gnocchi.

Anyways, I think that’s enough detail for my weekend. I feel like it’s scatter-brained, but I hope it’s a clear enough picture. Of course, there’s more to say, but I guess I’ll save that for later conversation in person :).