For our third day Connor had planned a romantic… err, scenic trip out to the Amalfi Coast. We hopped in the car and started to leave around 9 or so. The drive was about an hour to get to Bomerano where the trail head to the Path of the Gods is located. The roads up to the top of the mountains very much reminded me of the roads in New Zealand and Slovenia – too narrow with 500 foot drops on the sides. After a thankfully uneventful drive we parked in what might’ve been a soccer field/festival center because the usual parking area was closed. We figured it was okay because there were a bunch of other cars there but we weren’t certain what would happen if they closed the gates to the field.
The actual start of the trail was a short walk from the town and the views were incredible the whole way. I think the overall trip from the start to Positano was around 4-5 miles but I unfortunately didn’t start my “Hike” on my watch until 2/3rds of the way through the hike so I’ll have to go back and do it again some time. It was a really good hike, combining some up and down and mostly clear trails. But mostly it just had a picturesque view the entire time. I also realized that hiking with Todd has given me a very skewed version of what a “fast” hiker is like, because we were going at MY normal pace and were some of the fastest people on the trail. We were definitely slower than the people jogging it.
The Path of the Gods itself ends at a cute little town called Nocelle which sits above Positano. Here we stopped for a respite and some lemon slushies to regain our energy. It helped, especially considering the next part of the hike was 1750 steps down. I think at the end everyone needs a knee replacement. It also amazed me that some people were doing the hike in the opposite direction as us… 1750 steps up doesn’t sound very pleasant. When we got down we chose our lunch place on the very important factor that it had shade. We should’ve gotten the sweet table with the umbrella but our table worked out fine. Connor ordered us some Aperol spritz (which still tastes gross) and we got some prosciutto and melon to share. For my meal I ordered the seafood pasta (which I can’t remember what type of pasta or the actual way to say it, maybe like fruit d’mar?). It was delicious!
After lunch we meandered down to the coast and got some gelato and relaxed there because we weren’t going to walk on any more steps. I had a little bit of a headache so we also grabbed some Coke Zeros and another liter of water. We had enough time to go in the water but neither of us had our swimsuits so we just stood in the sea and got our feet wet while watching the Korean instagram celebrities take selfies with their skin care products on the beach. The next stop was Amalfi via the ferry and that was a great ferry ride. The view of the coast was pretty spectacular. Our time in Amalfi itself was pretty limited because we had to catch the bus so we spent a couple minutes walking around looking for a place to get me a hat and then got on the most terrifying bus ride possible. It actually wasn’t really scary but the road there doesn’t really seem wide enough for one car, let alone two. We got off the bus in Bomerano and began the hour or so drive back to the base near Naples.
I managed to go to bed at a reasonable time after we got back from dinner/football at one of Connor’s friends’ apartments. And Monday was my day by myself. I had originally tried to hire a driver that was advertising a tour for 1-2 people but that didn’t work out so I ended up with a 7 passenger Mercedes van (and Bruno!) all to myself. The weather on the top of Vesuvius (it had a hat!) wasn’t great so our first stop was to Herculaneum – the wealthier town that was destroyed and covered in 60 feet of pyroclastic mud and ash when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Since it was covered in mud as opposed to pumice the frescos were maintained relatively intact – and boy were some of them impressive! I splurged for the audio guide (which was just a cell phone) and began my self-guided hour and a half stroll around the city. It took me a little while but eventually I could start to get a feel for what the buildings would have looked like back then. One thing I thought was interesting was that for the most part the bedrooms themselves were very small and not prominent, instead the larger rooms were ones dedicated to either the garden or receiving guests. The houses all also had an impluvium – a little marble pool meant to collect rain water as it dripped from a hole in the roof.
What I found most amazing/intersting was just how ornately decorated all of the houses were. I guess I had this vision from movies where everything was just plain unadorned stone but really they had brilliantly colored plaster frescos covering everything! Also the lunch shops (thermophillium) were pretty cool – they would have food in pots and you’d go buy it, much like fast food. Another astounding thing (there were many) was that I was walking on the original flooring! Like 2000 year old flooring is pretty legit, why can’t we have that any more.
After my time was up in Herculaneum we did a quick check by looking at Vesuvius and seeing that the top didn’t have any clouds on it so we drove up there. I was really glad I had a driver because he was able to literally drive me to the start of the trail. I didn’t have to hike three kilometers to get to the 750m trail. I was once again the fastest person hiking up and boy were people geared in the strangest of ways. It ranged from people looking like they were getting ready for a posh night out to people looking like they were doing a multiple night backpacking trip. I think it took my 11 minutes to get to the top from where the trail started. I waited for the “guided tour” which was a guide walking twenty feet and then describing some stuff. I managed to snag an English experience by being the first person there and asking “is the tour in English?” I think it was worth the wait because I got to learn more about the volcano than I would have by just being there. I did walk to the far side and snagged some pictures of the bay and of the crater itself before making my way back.
In the mean time my driver had arranged a wine tasting/tour of the Cantina del Vesuvio – a winery that has its vineyards on the slopes of Vesuvius. The tour experience was well-rehearsed and the tasting/meal was good. Their wine wasn’t the best I’ve had in Italy but I still enjoyed my wine tasting for one. I do think that I third wheeled on the tour with a couple on their honeymoon though. From what Connor and Allie say the wine tasting is always the same so there isn’t really a reason to go back.
After lunch I hopped back in my excessively large private transportation and we made our way to Pompeii. The excavation of Pompeii is far more extensive than that of Herculaneum but most of the frescos have been removed and the pumice/ash that destroyed Pompeii also destroyed a lot more of the buildings. I had downloaded the Rick Steves app at the direction of Connor and Allie and followed his tour, which very adequately filled up the hour and a half I had in the city. It was fascinating to see their roads! Like they had crosswalks/stepping stones for when they would flush all the poop down the streets, chariot blockers, chariot grooves, and apparent road maintenance. Pompeii wasn’t as well-to-do as the excavated section of Herculaneum but the scale of the city really gave it that feeling like you could see what life would be like there.
The frescoes that have been maintained within the city are… interesting to say the least. It definitely would be hard to explain some of them to children if you brought your kids with you to Pompeii. I was very glad I had done Herculaneum so early in the day because there were very few tours/crowds. Pompeii was pretty packed with people even later in the afternoon so I didn’t feel like I missed much by only spending an hour and a half there.
After I got back we headed right back out (basically to where I was) to Bosco di Medici – another winery on Mt. Vesuvius. We had a great little tour of the property on a golf cart, which I was thankful for because I had walked a lot the past two days. After that we sat down for wine tasting and dinner. We got the “Pompeii” dinner which was full of hearty foods like lentil soup and pork chops. Dessert was a deconstructed conollo which was fabulous. I still don’t like limoncello though… but the wine we had was probably the best I’ve had so far in this region. Their claim to fame is that they also make a wine that is partially aged in a terra cotta amphora, which gives it a beautiful yellow-orange coloration. It’s also quite tasty. Through some slight translation error Allie managed to snag us some tastings of their red wine that is aged in an amphora and it was also really good! The terra cotta just gives it a little something different that makes it really stand out! Allie got us back safe and sound for the “latest” night so far… 11 pm!
