Day Five - Positano & Amalfi
Cappuccino and apricot croissants on the patio of La Perla, coupled with the morning sunshine, inspired us to explore some of the towns nearby to Praiano.A quick chat with the man at the front desk (who behaved and sounded remarkably similar to Michel Gerard of Gilmore Girls) and we had a plan. We'd catch a local bus to Positano, which was just a few stops down the road and see what we could find.
Positano is quite a bit larger than Praiano, with many shops and hotels, a good degree of housing, and a very large beach area. We walked down a long road from the bus stop and began perusing the various stores.
The Bus Stop at Positano
Provided a Remarkable View
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If you're in the market for Limoncello, this would be your place. It's possible to purchase some roughly every 7 feet. Somehow, we made it out of Italia without even one bottle. After picking up a gift or two, we found a ristorante that was mostly out of the very hot sun and rested a bit.We were lacking sunglasses and it was becoming an ever increasing priority. There is nary a cloud in the sky in August on the Amalfi coast. In Roma, everything costs about triple what it should, so we waited until we hit the Positano to seek sexy specs. We found a fair enough value at a shop on the beach and saved our retinas some pain and anguish.
Down at the beach, several boats and ferries were for hire to reach Capri. It was a little late in the day, though, and any transportation still running would come at great expense. We spotted some other boats over to the side that ran along the coast, so we purchased a ticket and decided to check out the town of Amalfi.
The View from the Ferry
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Arriving at Amalfi
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Vespas on an Amalfi Street
(Click to Enlarge)The ferry provided a great view of the coastline and a refreshing breeze. We spoke to a girl named Carla, who gave us some background on the forts and towns on the coast.
After a fairly short ride, we arrived at Amalfi and right away noticed a difference between it and Positano. Amalfi is a lot less touristy and not nearly as saturated.
Walking through some residential streets, Fai spotted a woman leaning out her window. She didn't speak English at all, but we managed to ask her where we could get Amalfi's best pizza. "Lo Smeraldino," she said. "Post Mare" (after the water).
We walked and walked along the beach and pier, getting hungrier every footstep. We began to wonder if we had to walk past the entire ocean. We finally spottted Lo Smeraldino in the distance and became very excited.
That is, until we got up to the door and noticed it was quite empty inside. Fai was quite disappointed. We both were.
Instead we settled for Amalfi's second best pizza, and I have to tell ya, it was damn good pizza.
Some buses you can get on and pay at the door, we found out the bus we took to get back to Praiano was not such a vehicle. This driver was very nice, though, and he drove us to the next tabacchi shop so we could purchase the appropriate ticket.
