July 11, 2018

We arrived in Amalfi from Napoli this morning by private car. The other options to get to Amalfi seemed too complicated so we decided to spend the little extra money and take our Napoli AirBnB hostess’ suggestion of going by private car for 120 euro. Luckily we did because the place in Amalfi was a bit hard to find! Our new Amalfi AirBnB host met us by a small moped car park, easily missed. Then he walked us down to our apartment, which can’t be seen from the road! When we got to see the view from our place it just made the small inconvenience forgotten. The view was great! The water was so blue, you could see boats passing by, and to the left a really great view of the coast. Even though this place was small, the luxury of being next to the ocean was so awesome.

Starting from a few days before arriving, I started to feel a little sick. I think the constant walking, being outside and not having the best diet (Italian carbs all day) really started to take a toll on my body. So when we first got there, I took a power nap (repeat of Naples haha) hoping to gain some energy.

Afterwards, we walked about 8 minutes down the road to a nearby cafe that had an AMAZING view! Oh I just think anywhere we go there’s so much for the eyes to see! The food there was fine but the view was really spectacular.

Our host had told us about a beach that could be accessed by steps off the road. After lunch, we found the entrance and headed down. I believe the beach was called Lido Degli? I could be wrong but there is a restaurant on that beach with the name. Anyways, the steps down wasn’t so bad but up would be! That’s why instead, after some time on the beach, we took a water taxi to Amalfi’s main port. But the time on this little beach was nice. The beaches here don’t have sand. It is all pebbled. The water was so blue and clear it was tempting not to go in. But being that it was our first day, and starting the day off rather late, we wanted to focus on just seeing what is around first.

The water taxi put us at Amalfi’s city center about 5:30 pm. On the ride there, is was nice to see the coast from a different angle. While in the “city” (hardly a city more like a village), we saw many tourists and shops. It took only a few minutes to walk from the port to the top of the busy area. So small!

The village was charming though, but filled with tourists just like us. Once we finished looking at some shops, bought a magnet and some towels, we found a place to sit down for dinner.

So far what I’ve seen of Amalfi it looks rather nice. I’m excited to have a lazy beach day where all I do is sunbathe and swim in the ocean. Tomorrow we are going to Positano, a neighboring town by boat. I feel it is similar to here but I guess we will have to see then!

 

July 12, 2018

The ferry to Positano was at 10:30am. This morning, we caught a city bus to get to Amalfi’s center. Once we boarded the ferry, it was as short twenty minute boat ride to Positano.

Coming into Positano, you could see more houses, hotels, and places build along the coast than in Amalfi. I think when people imagine the Amalfi Coast, they imagine Positano. Like I had said before, I was really looking forward to being a beach bum. Yes there was a beach right near the port but I didn’t want to be where everyone else was. It was just too crowded and not peaceful.

In my night’s research, I saw that Positano, like Amalfi, also has smaller side beaches. On the map, it had showed Arienzo beach also had a ‘free beach’ section. To get there we would have to walk. I was feeling lazy and saw that the Arienzo Beach Club also had its own water taxi to get from the main port to the beach. Hey we’re on vacation. Why not! We then took a water taxi to Arienzo Beach Club.

Here, if you take their water taxis you must spend money at their establishment. So when we got there, two chairs and an umbrella was 15 euros a person. A little steep but we weren’t going to be moving elsewhere so let’s spend a little money. Next to Arienzo there was the free beach that could be reached by steps from the road above, like I had mentioned before. We saw people come down from there but had no idea how long it actually took to get there from the port.

After getting settled in some chairs, the waiter asked us if we wanted to make a reservation for lunch. Wow we even had to book a time slot!? We supposed 1 pm would work and enjoyed where we were till then.

For lunch, we had a bar seat that looked out onto the beach. Let me tell you, a person could get used to this view! The water was so blue and it was just so nice to look out into the sea when having a seafood lunch!

We pretty much spent the day sunbathing and swimming in the water. The water’s temperature was brisk. It took some courage to dip your body fully in, but once you did, it felt really great with the sun.

We headed back to Positano’s main port to check out the sights there at about 5 pm. After closing out and packing up, our total bill was about 77 euros (chairs, umbrella, and lunch). Arienzo was nice because they had an available free shower, bathroom for guest as well as food and drinks. It was a bit pricey but a nice time on the beach. Plus it wasn’t so crowded like it was on the main beach.

Positano had more little walkways and alleyways. It was definitely bigger than Amalfi. We had about two hours till our ferry so we tried to find the best view to take pictures of the coast line. There were many art galleries and small boutiques that filled the little streets. Maybe next time we go to the Amalfi coast we should stay in Positano!

Our ferry was at 7:45 pm so we quickly headed back. Trying to take pictures in the town at this time of day was difficult though. The sun was so strong and nearly every photo we had squinty eyes! I’m hoping we at least got something memorable!

The ride back was an easy twenty minutes. We then had dinner in Amalfi at Taverna Degli Apostoli. I’m super happy we found this place. It was very delicious! We had seafood with fumili noodles and the gnocci that was stuffed with cheese (the lighting was so dark it was hard to get food photos. Sorry!). The waitress and waiter were also very nice and the ambiance just perfect for dinner. We really wished we had more time this evening but we were trying to catch the 10 pm bus back to our place so had to rush a bit.

Having a relax day in Positano, amazing views of the coast and one of the best meals of the trip thus far were a great way to start off our time in Amalfi.

 

July 13, 2018

So being that we are vacation, and the beginning half was “go-go-go,” we were a little guilty of sleeping in. This morning we woke up pretty late and decided to have a day spent nearby. After getting ready, we took a bus to Amalfi port to catch the water taxi to Santa Croce. We had originally seen Santa Croce from the lunch spot on our first day in Amalfi. Just looking at it from above was gorgeous so we had to check it out.

So based on our previous experience in Positano, we knew that taking the Santa Croce water taxi we were essentially saying we would spend money at their establishment. At this beach, it was much smaller and there were only two restaurants there. When we first arrived, we sat down and had lunch straight away. For lunch, we chose a salad (trying to get more vegetables in the diet), a plate of mussels and seafood risotto. The food was not bad and the service nice enough.

After lunch, we purchased two sun-beds and one umbrella (20 euros) for some time on the beach. Once we digested, we took a dip in the water and checked out this little beach a bit. To the right of the restaurant there was this other beach section that seemed abandoned. There looked to be scraps from an old bar that used to be in that space. Now, all that was left was scrap wood and an empty beach lot.

It was sort of interesting because it felt like a small private beach. From here, we could see many people swimming in the neighboring beaches and some even jumping off rock bridges and cliffs. Since we weren’t that confident in our swimming skills, we stayed close to the shore.

Santa Croce beach was nice in that it was smaller and less people. Unfortunately, not too long after lunch, a swim and some photos, the sun disappeared from this beach. The restaurant owner told us the sun usually goes about 4:30 pm. Well, that’s what we get for starting the day so late! Already by 4, many people started leaving this beach in search of more sun. After closing our bill, a total of 44 euros, we too were some of those people.

We took the restaurant’s water taxi back to the port. It wasn’t too late in the day, so we figured we make a stop for gelato.

About this time, I had checked my phone and got some really sad news. My grandma had passed away. My mom had told me she went peacefully and to pray for her. My grandma was nearly 100 and everyone knew that she would go Home soon, but death always is accompanied by sadness. Suddenly a heavy feeling came over me and all I could do was try not to cry. But of course that was a failed attempt as I am the biggest baby ever. Writing this now weeks after it happened, I’m much better. I feel sad but also happy she can rest easy now and be with my grandfather and with God. My grandmother was a great woman who lived a long life. I will always have these happy memories of her in my childhood and even months before her passing. I’m glad she got to meet Caoliang and we were able to share the memories we do have. I love you Ba Noi and will see you again.

Not wanting to have the rest of our holiday spent in sadness, after having a good cry and calling my mother, I tried to put my head in a better space. That night we decided to check out one of the restaurants that we could walk to.

The place was called Al Pesce d’Oro and had surprisingly good food. We had a veggie pizza and a seafood pasta that was cooked in a bag. Sorry I can’t remember the proper name but it was apparently a local item. After finishing our meal, we walked back to the apartment, enjoying the sounds of the sea as we went.

 

July 14, 2018

On our last day we decided to stay near by. Caoliang was thinking about checking out Capri but being that it was our last day, we wanted to have an easier pace than an early wake up call and no time to really relax.

We decided to go to the beach that was walkable from the apartment. Once we got there, we picked a couple sun-beds that were in front of Lido Degli Artisti Restaurant. When we got there about noon, there were already so many sun-beds filled. Luckily we got a couple for 25 euros total.

The afternoon was basically spent in the sun. It was so nice to take a dip into the cool ocean, especially after sitting under the hot Italian sun for so long! At this beach there were also some large rocks that we just had to check out. Thank goodness we had water shoes! I have no idea how people walked barefoot on these rocks! The rocks didn’t offer much amazing scenery and after being out there for at least thirty minutes, I knew we had to go back for water and lunch!

Being that we were in front of this establishment, we decided to have a quick lunch here. For lunch we got a large beer, water, a caprese panini and octopus starter salad. The total was 21 euros for everything. The food was good and filling. Since we didn’t order from the regular menu, we sat by the bar to eat and had a nice view.

After lunch we continued to swim until the shade covered the beach. Like before, we took the water taxi back around 5:30. Since it was our last day, we walked around getting  some last minute souvenirs. We didn’t want to go through the struggle of figuring out what to eat so decided to go to Taverna Degli Apostoli, again. It was so good so why not!!!

This time we got a lemon pesto spaghetti and the same seafood pasta. But today we chose a caprese salad which had baby tomatoes on it and this huge ball of mozzarella cheese. Best caprese salad ever! Since it was our last night, we had a glass of red wine each. We also ordered a side of local veggies, peppers. So, so good. Dinner turned out to be 92 euros. A bit much but hey it was our last night in Amalfi!

Once dinner was done, we still had some time before our bus at 10 pm so we just walked around the port. Great and simple day. Tomorrow we go back to Naples and then fly to Madrid in the evening.

Honeymoon, you were awesome.

 

xx
t.