Friday, October 25, 2013

Italy - Amalfi Coast Boat Trip

Oh how the time flies by.  Life has been a whirlwind of travel, weddings and long workdays as of late which means very little time for scrapbooking and blogging. Since my last post I have been to China & Hong Kong, Mendocino & Yosemite. But before I get to those I must finish up my tales of Italy.

By far our very, very favorite part of our trip to Italy was the day long boat trip we took along the whole Amalfi Coast.  Our boat captain (Salvatore) was the BEST. Photos and words can't do justice to how pretty it was and how much fun we had. If you are ever in Positano take this trip, it was the best 80 Euros we spent on our trip.

Our day started at 11 when Salvatore picked us up from the little dock at Laurito Beach. Rosa, the owner of our rental, was able to call and have them pick us up there so we didn't have to take a cab into Positano. From the moment we got on the boat the group we were with felt like a little family.  Salvatore spoke great English, was a wealth of information, funny and kind.  He made the day incredible and the group we took the tour with was amazing as well, a mix of American, Australian and Italian. We headed south from Laurito along the rocky coastline.  It was picturesque and nice to see the coast from the water rather than the road.  It's even prettier from the water. As we motored down the coast Salvatore gave information and history the areas and buildings we were passing by. I apologize in advance for the ridiculous amount of photos, it was just such an incredible day.

Leaving Laurito
Salvatore, doing his thing
Amalfi Coast Road

Our first "stop" was to go swimming in a cave.  That small opening below opened into a huge cavern with stalactites hanging from the ceiling.  It smelled kinda funky but I really wish I had a GoPro to capture that moment.



Amazing old buildings along the coast

Next we went to Furore, if you've seen a travel board on Pinterest you've seen this bridge from the other side.  Beautiful little beach in a canyon.  Unfortunately boats are not allowed into this cove beach area so we couldn't stop here.

Bridge on the road over Furore
Furore Beach, this is as close as we could get

Next stop was the elephants kissing arch, it's good luck for couples to touch it.  Since everybody thought Hill & I were a couple we went for it.

Elephants Kissing

Good luck?

And then we jumped in the water again by another little sea cave that actually had a little beach in it.  Unfortunately no cameras made it in there.

Floating in the super salty sea

And then there was lunch, the most enjoyable lunch I've had in ages. The beachfront restaurant we stopped at prepared fish that Salvatore had caught that morning.  My vegetarian self didn't eat it of course but that right there is a meal with heart.  Lunch was filled with great conversation and bonding with the other people in our group.

Lunch by the sea

When Salvatore found out I'm a vegetarian he had a special dish made for me

After a lunch of copious wine and amazing conversation we boarded the boat again and Salvatore popped a bottle of champagne and we slowly motored back to Laurito.

Yep, he pulled the cork out with his teeth


Wowzers

Perfect Day