Italy Day 3, May 13, 2024

We started this day bright and early!  There's no rest for the weary when you are in a new country. 

We had a very exciting day planned.  We had chartered a boat and were taking it up the Amalfi Coast.  The Amalfi Coast consists of the following 13 towns: Positano, Praiano, Furore, Conca dei Marini, Amalfi, Atrani, Scala, Ravello, Minori, Tramonti, Maiori, Cetara, and Vietri sul Mare and by the end of the day, we had seen most of them from the boat!

We arrived at the docks at 9:30 and our boat captain, Vittorio, pulled up with a 27 foot boat named Zio, and helped us on board. We got comfortable and then headed up the coast.  He pointed out the different towns along the way and we just relaxed and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery.

At one point, he stopped and pulled out drinks and snacks and hooked up Peter's phone to the speaker via Bluetooth and we were all in heaven enjoying the view, the beautiful weather, and our time together.

We eventually made it to  Positano and docked and walked around there for a while.  Positano is very beautiful and also very upscale.  There were a ton of fancy shops, lots of really nice hotels, and lots of steps.  To me, it seemed even hillier than Amalfi.  

It was also loaded with tourists.  The ferry dropped a lot of people off at the same time we docked there.  Some looked like they were staying for a week because they had their luggage, others looked like they were just staying for the day.  It was a beautiful town and I understand why so many people like to stay there.  But for us, Amalfi was the better  choice. It was less ritzy and less crowded and in general, just more our vibe.

After Positano, we headed to Conca Dei Marini and had lunch at an adorable little beach restaurant call La Tonnarella.  We pulled up to a little dock, hoped off the boat, walked through the sand, and there we were.  We had a delicious lunch, enjoyed some drinks and the beautiful scenery, and got back on the boat for more sightseeing.

We took our boat into a little grotto and oohed an ahhed and how cool it was to be in a cave on the water.  We were also impressed with our driver's excellent boat maneuvering skills.  We got verrrrrry close to those cave walls. I was nervous he was going to hit the cave but he didn't.

We also saw Arc of Lovers (Runghetiello Groto) and the bridge at the Fjord at Furore as well as a waterfall.

Our driver, Vitorrio, was the sweetest and most polite young man.  He was 24.  His English was way better than our Italian.  There were a couple of times we had to ask him to repeat himself but other than that, we had no problems.  

He lives in Amalfi and on our way back, he called his mom and told her we were about to pass by.  She came out onto the deck of their house (which was waaaaaaay up in the cliffs) and waved to him.  He stopped the boat so we could see her and wave to her too. I just thought that was the sweetest thing. After a full day on the boat with him, I felt like part of the family too.  I guess sunshine and prosecco will do that! 

At the end of the day, we docked back in Amalfi and headed to the beach.  The beaches on the Amalfi Coast are extremely rocky and people rent chairs or go to beach clubs.  But we just wanted to hop into the water to see how it felt and to say that we had been in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Full disclosure, everyone got in the water but me.  

The beach was very rocky and there was a large slope when you got in the water that everyone (adults way younger and fitter than me) were struggling with when coming out of the water.  I didn't have the desire to fight the beach just to get out  but I did enjoy watching other people fall and flail around.  (That's horrible of me but that's just how it was!)

Dan, Peter, and Sarah said the water was chilly at first but then felt great.  They played in it for a little while and then we headed back to the apartment and then we went to dinner.

We at at Pizzeria Donna Stella.  It was the cutest place.  The tables were all under lemon trees.  Amalfi is known for it's lemons.  They are huge!  There are lemon trees growing everywhere so it seemed fitting to be eating pizza under a canopy of them.

After dinner we walked around the town more and Peter and I split a giant lemon sorbet served in an Amalfi lemon.  It was a very touristy thing to do but we felt we had to do it on our last night in Amalfi.

This day was absolutely perfect!  The weather was gorgeous (it was beautiful the entire time we were in Italy and I will forever be thankful for that), the scenery was spectacular, the food was delicious, and I was with my three favorite people in the entire world.  My heart was full. 

Views from the boat

The water was a gorgeous blue green.  We could not get over how beautiful it was.

The Lover's Arch

The Devil's Cave with a white hotel below it.

Me and my love.

The Bridge at Furore Fjord

Snacks and a giant lemone!

Positano!

Hanging out in Positano

The Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Positano

A Beach Club in Positano

A public beach

Prosecco with my girl!

Beer for the boys

This was our view with lunch

My lunch!  But don't worry, someone deboned it for me!  :) It was declicious!

The restaurant we had lunch in is behind us

This was the view from the restaurant

Inside a cave

Back in Amalfi!

We enjoyed our last sunset in Amalfi from the apartment before heading to dinner

The lemon tree canopy

The lemon sorbet Peter and split!  It was refreshing!