Mediterranean — 2010
Positano
Friday, September 24, 2010
We woke up about 2:30 am and started reading, as we didn’t think we’d go back to sleep. We did, though, and didn’t wake up until 8:15. Now we feel we are on local time. The B & B serves a nice continental breakfast of juice, cereal, yogurt and pastries and as we ate we visited with a nice couple from Australia. The B & B is very basic, but is convenient to the town center and surrounded by lemon and lime trees. We left around 10:00 for the train/bus terminal and got in the queue for the bus that runs along the Amalfi Coast. Fortunately we got seats on the right side of the bus (with a view of the Mediterranean) and got some good pictures even while moving on the bus. This bus ride is said to be one of the world’s greatest, as the scenery is spectacular. We got off the bus in Positano after about an hours ride. Positano is about halfway between Sorrento and the town of Amalfi. Expensive women’s clothing stores, hotels and restaurants make up most of the businesses. It’s a long walk down to the harbor, but along the way is where most of the shops and restaurants are located. It started to rain lightly, so we stopped and had a salad for lunch. The rain stopped and we walked back up to the bus stop where we met a couple from Grass Valley CA. The bus ride to the town of Amalfi took about 50 minutes. We had hoped to catch a 5:00 ferry back to Sorrento, but found the last one left at 3:30, so we had almost no time in Amalfi town. The ferry ride is about 2 1/2 hours from Amalfi to Sorrento, and we were looking forward to a relaxing trip. After stopping in Positano for more passengers (they couldn’t dock the ferry and it was tricky getting the passengers on from their small boat), the seas got even rougher. Barbara decided to take some video of the action, but soon after she started the video the boat lurched and tables, chairs and people went flying. The couple behind us barreled into us and then we rolled back into them. Everybody was on the deck and the crew instructed everyone to stay sitting on the deck until the seas were calmer. They collected all the tables and chairs, so we had no choice. One lady was obviously injured, and there was an ambulance waiting for her when we docked in Sorrento. A few people got sick, so they were busy swabbing the deck. After about 20 minutes we did get into calmer water and the adventure ended. Thankfully we were okay and can now watch the short video (see above) of the rough seas and laugh. We went back to the B & B to change clothes, then went to a nearby restaurant. We ate risotto and calamari and drank an entire bottle of wine. We hope for a less exciting day tomorrow.
Boat from Amalfi to Sorrento
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