Day Four - Praiano
The Winding Roads of Amalfitana Coast
The View From Our Room
(Click to Enlarge)
Enjoying della birra at Cala Paradise
We awoke early, eager to complete our journey, and caught the Sita bus without much difficulty. The driver was a bit odd and obnoxious, often stopping and leaving the bus for no apparent reason, but the view of the Tyrrenhian Sea and coastline was incredible as we climbed the winding roads up the mountainside.After about an hour and a bit of confusion where exactly to get off, we fianlly arrived at Hotel La Perla. The room was fantastic; clean, cool, spacious, and the view was outstanding.
Fai decided to unpack and relax a bit after our trecherous train ride the night before, so I went out to explore the region.
There was a stairway in front of the hotel, so I followed it down the mountain a bit and I found myself at a nice little ristorante called Cala Paradise. A Nastro Azzurro sounded very good about then, particularly with a table overlooking the Mediterranean.
I continued up and down the main road, though most places were closed due to pranzo. I did find a little tabacchi shop with a spirited little lady sitting out front that had fantastic prices. I picked up some more beer and a coke and went to retrieve Fai.
There was a small tower that resembled a lighthouse down near the water. We would later learn from a girl in Positano that these were actually military forts in the old days to protect from attackers by sea.
This particular fort, or Torre a Mare, now housed an artist named Paolo Sandulli, who was a very kind gentleman we spent some time chatting with as we browsed his work.
We learned that he had students from all over, including some for the US, and that he made a little ceramic caricature of each of his students and also a great many of the local fisherman.
His art was very fun and had a strong local theme to it. I regret not buying one of the paintings of the cove where we stayed.
The Old Fort is now the
Gallery of Paolo Sandulli
It was back to Cala Paradise for dinner and a view. We were the only patrons at this time and we enjoyed the incredible atmosphere of the coast and our dinner in quiet seclusion.
Down the road a bit, we found a very nice ceramics shop called Liz Art. The work was amazing and we browsed for at least an hour. The wonderful owners showed us where they make the pieces and some of the more custom projects. They invited us to sit and offered us coffee.
There were so many nice pieces it took us a while, but I finally purchased a groovy fish and Fai bought some dishes.
We found a place to grab some pizza and then walked down to the beach, which was quiet and empty. It was a calm warm night and we decided to go for a swim. The water was a little cool and exceedingly salty, but it was refreshing.
It was a long trip down to the coast and we had a few obstacles along the way, but in the end, Praiano was just perfect.
