Hard to believe its been almost a year since I did a post so here goes … I travelled to the Amalfi Coast area of Italy this week, using the small city of Cava de’ Terrini as a home base. Cava is about 5km north of the Amalfi Coast but easily accessible by buses and trains. It lies in a valley with hills and mountains north and south of town. I believe the population is between 50,000-60,000 people.
The trip over went quite well, chatting with some interesting folks helping pass the time. A distinguished Italian gent, named Louis, shared a table with me at the Toronto airport departure lounge and gave me some great ideas for exploration. Funny story … I was in Rome Airport finding may way to the initial passport checkin, the bus to the terminal to get your baggage and then onto the primary immigration area (that sadly had hundreds and hundreds of people in line). Along the way I befriended an elderly lady from BC who needed a hand manoeuvring through the maze. When she saw the primary immigration lineup she told a worker that she would have difficulty standing that long and asked if there was another line. She was carted off to the Priority Line and said “he’s with me” and off we went. Cool lady!
Cava is known for its 16th century pedestrian-friendly, porticoed streets in the centre of town which are quite spectacular. They are a nice alternative to the very crazy, traffic filled streets in other parts of town. Drivers here don’t stop for you when at a crosswalk, you have to step out and ‘hope for the best’.
On Good Friday, I decided to check out the wonderful cathedral in town, which happened to be hosting the Stations of the Cross (I remember those!). Stayed for a few minutes then moved along.
The other day, with no real destination in mind, I decided to do the 5km walk to Vietri Sul Mare. I’ll call it my entrance to the Amalfi Coast. The sidewalk was a bit narrow at times and the traffic was crazy but I survived OK. On the good side side, it was all downhill to Vietri but I definitely wouldn’t walk the reverse. I got to enjoy the scenery along the way – the Autostrade, train line, aqueducts and terraced hills.
Before long, I saunter into Vietri town and get my first view of the coast. It was exhilarating to catch my first glimpse of the Tyrrhenian Sea with the mountainous coastline and villages running off in the distance, that I will explore over the next while. Lots of exploring in this town, famous for its ceramic products. Believe me, if you can imagine it, they’ve made a ceramic version of it. After putting in 10km on the day, it was time for a cafe and then onto the train station for the 4-minute trip back to Cava.
Another city, Salerno, about 4km from Vietri sounded interesting having a Duomo, boardwalk and botanical gardens in the must see list. As it was Easter Sunday I decided to drop by the Duomo and the morning service was just ending. Then moved onto the botanical gardens and an enjoyable stroll along the seafront boardwalk.
Have I mentioned the food and wine? Well no matter what you eat here, it’s mouth-watering delicious!
Well that’s a peak into some of my little day trips so far. Feel free to leave a comment below. If you wish to contact me, my email is blaisemcneil@gmail.com. Thanks for visiting my site and I hope you’ll return soon for my next adventure…. Blaise
Looks incredible man! No, I’m not jealous at all. Nope.