The Almalfi Coast is a stretch of coastline along Italy's Sorrentine Peninsula, in the Campania region with windy roads, sheer cliffs, small beaches, quaint villages, terraced vineyards, and cliff-side lemon groves.
It was fun to bump into the Elders on the windy road from Solerno to Amalfi, if only I wasn't so car sick and could of carried on a descent conversation.
On our day-tour to Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius, we rode on the largest bus that had ever driven the Amalfi Coast - watching how our driver maneuvered that huge bus on the narrow roads, around steep sharp curves, with insane traffic, was pretty amazing!
But sometimes our bus got a little too close for comfort.
The views, however, were absolutely breathtaking!
There were numerous lemon vineyards lining the steep mountain cliffs.
The Amalfi Coast was made up of several little cities, Vietri sul Mare was the gateway to Amalfi Coast.
Cetara was a small fishing village.
Minori was known for famous hand-made pasta.
Maiori had the longest beach out of all the little cities.
Atrani was a tiny town located above Amalfi itself.
Ravello was literally on a mountaintop, with the best views in all of Amalfi.
Ravello
Narrow streets of Praiano
Praiano
Beautiful Positano
Post card Positano
Hotel Luna and Torre Saracena Restaurant
Hotel Luna on the left
The actual city of Amalfi, and where we stayed for three days.
These next pictures are all of the city of Amalfi, and show why Amalfi is such a unique and incredible place!
Picturesque harbors
Steep rocky mountains with numerous trails
Cliff-side homes and hotels all mingled together
Dwellings nestled into every mountain nook and cranny
Cobblestone paths with wooden awnings hugging the mountainside
Colorful foliage covering the cliffs
Brightly colored hotels
Amazing views of the ocean
Quaint little stores and restaurants on the street-level of almost every building
Narrow streets with decorative iron balconies and street lights
Underground passage ways,
and mazes of walking paths and stairs, everywhere!
These were the stairs leading to our hotel, which was more like a Bed and Breakfast.
We wouldn't have found this without the help of strong men who's job it was to carry tourists luggage up the many flights of stairs, and find their hotels.
On our actual Anniversary, we ate at Il Chiostro Ristorante.
The weather was perfect for eating outside,
on a small table, in a narrow corridor.
The food was delicious - I played it safe with lasagna,
and Brad ordered some kind of fish and pasta meal.
But the appetizer of fresh melon and ham (the thin salty kind) and dessert of lemon and chocolate cake made the meal!
When the owner found out it was our anniversary he gave us two shots of lemon champagne, on the house (too bad we don't drink alcohol so we poured it into our empty soda cans while he wasn't looking and threw them away). Of course, my cake probably had the same stuff in it, but I didn't think about that until it was all gone! Amalfi has lemon everything (even lemon pasta which I tried but didn't really care for) because of all the lemon vineyards.
There were also churches and places of worship everywhere...
both little
and huge! This church sprang up out of Amalfi's main shopping square called the Piazzo del Duomo, like a mountain, and it was a site to see! It's a 9th century Roman Catholic cathedral (Duomo) with adjoining Basilica (Church) of the Crucifix.
The Cathedral & Bell Tower are in the Arab-Sicilian style with stripes, arches, and mosaics.
There were many public events that took place on the stairs of the Cathedral including this wedding,
religious services (altar boys ready to come down the stairs with the priests following),
and even sports and political events.
View of the plaza from the top of the stairs.
The inside of the Cathedral and Church were no less amazing. View looking out the Cathedral windows.
Inside the Cathedral's main hall.
View of Chiostro del Paradiso built in 1266-1268 through the Cathedral courtyard pillars.
Basilica of the Crucifix built in 596 AD.
Numerous relics and artifacts were displayed throughout the Cathedral and Church...
Madonna dell'ldria - relics of Apostle Saint Andrew brought from Constantinople in 1206 during the 4th Crusade.
Relics of Apostle Saint Andrew - The Basilica of the Crucifix Mitre.
Relics of Apostle Saint Andrew - The Basilica of the Crucifix silver alter.
Bust of St. Andrew who was crucified on a diagonal cross.
Coffin of the Dead Christ carried through Amalfi on Good Friday.
The Basilica of the Crucifix painting of the Crucifixion.
The Basilica of the Crucifix - painting of Mary & Christ.
The Basilica of the Crucifix.
Chapel of the Relics with dozens of reliquaries.
Crypt of St. Andrew with his remains, completed in 1208.
Liturgical area with wooden 13th century Crucifix.
Wooden Crucifix (which probably had on a wig of sorts at some point).
Cathedral ancient mosaic furniture fragments.
One of the Cathedral's many religious paintings, also discovered were numerous frescoes from many different time periods, often painted on top of one another.
Central Cathedral founded in the 14th century with High Alter Baroque interior, underlying Romanesque architecture, and Mother-of-Pearl Cross.
The Cathedral with paintings from the life of St. Andrew and granite columns found at the Paestum Greek ruins.
More amazing pictures of the main Cathedral's alter area.
Smaller alter and worship area.
All too soon it was time to leave Amalfi, but we got smart and took the the ferry to Solerno - no windy roads that made us want to toss our cookies!
One last view of Amalfi,
and the whole Amalfi Coast!
Gulf of Solerno
Solerno caves
Solerno coastal highway
Solerno harbor or Vietra Mari
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