Sunday, October 27, 2013

Amalfi, 2013

After the uphill climb, we caught the bus and road on to Amalfi. Part of the motivation for returning to Amalfi was having a favorite dish at a favorite restaurant, the pacchieri Genovese (veal and tomato and cheeses and pasta) at Il Tari. We approached with some caution. They say you can not go back. But we did in 2011, same dish, same restaurant, and it was even better, more closely observed and savored. We found the restaurant doors open, but, alas, the owner/manager/whomever told us, sorry, the place was closed Tuesday afternoons. Alas! Why did we not go to their website?! Oh well...it might have been disappointing. Vicki has taken to replacing the provola with smoked mozzarella--we're not sure where this idea came from (Costco?)--but we like it as well or better. We walked on, deeper into Amalfi. Hunger is the best sauce, as the fella says, and we had a perfectly fine if somewhat pedestrian lunch down the road a bit, steak pizzaola and veal piccata, and managed to see a good bit more of Amalfi than the previous two visits. We took the front seats of the return bus, for maximum thrill, and the Circumvesuviana had us back in Pompeii by 7PM. 
The town center hasn't changed much; much more crowded
than in spring of 2011














Our old friend the Royal Clipper or whatever was waiting
for us in Amalfi...seems more like a sprint than a cruise
















Street scene




















They're really into miniatures here--I think
it's the effect of Spanish rule and culture--every
block or so there is a model of the city or
something, usually with a Nativity embedded
within, sort of like an Elder Breughel religious
painting

























We walked as far as the paper mill museum,
demurred, and walked back; we are saving
ourselves for a return visit to Hokitika's
world famous Museum of Sock Manufacturing
Machines; http://roadeveron.blogspot.it/2009/
01/dont-go-too-near-glaciers.html

























Unlike Positano, Amalfi is mostly in a gorge




















Some beautiful street views




















And here, a real find: another model in miniature, this time
in a basin
















Complete with a watery Nativity Scene: Adoration of the
Gold Fish!

Positano, 2013

We did the Amalfi coast bus ride twice in 2011 and wanted to do it yet again. The Circumvesuviana took us to Sorrento Tuesday morning, and we were on the crowded Amalfi bus by 10:30. We decided to get off at Positano's first stop, walk down to the beach, and then back up to the second stop. The following pix are mostly incidental. Our previous Amalfi posts are at http://roadeveron.blogspot.it/2011/03/amalfi-coast-road-not-driven.htmlhttp://roadeveron.blogspot.it/2011/03/amalfi-bus-ride-on-youtube.htmlhttp://roadeveron.blogspot.it/2011/04/amalfi-again.html, and http://roadeveron.blogspot.it/2011/04/ravello-and-klingsors-garden.html.
Most of Positano, from our walk's end


















Halloween approaches in Positano (and all of Italy): "be
afraid"















The twisting, turning path down to the beach


















Positano bus terminal














Looking down to the centrum; note parking
garage left



















Looking back up to where we came from; and the mountains
beyond















In the centro storico now; merchants gearing
up for Xmas



















Fig-covered shopping arcade














Busy shopkeeper














Perils of playing futbol in the piazza in Positano














Mer-persons


















Warm day on the beach













Positano














Steinbeck liked it














Color everywhere














Everywhere














We like it too

Capri Out-takes, 2013

After our circumnavigation of Capri and visit to the Blue Grotto we decided to hop the bus up to Anacapri for the views, the shops, maybe lunch.
Here is our boat, that is, the open motor-boat, the Lady Maria














And now we are again on one of Capri's pint-sized buses, headed up and over
the mountain












Thus; the bus ride on Capri almost rivals the Amalfi bus, at least for a few
minutes; here, you're looking back at the Grande Marina, Capri town on the
upper right, Italy's Sorrento peninsula in the distance; nothing below

















Tile bench in Anacapri














The old parish church; everything is white here














Kissing alley masquerading as street


















Lunch: surprisingly good Neapolitan pizzae...her's a salami (spiced sausage, like
pepperoni), mine the romana (capers and anchovies); I continue to maintain that
the crust is merely for handling the pizza, not edible

















It's a very multi-cultural place, and probably always has been



















Taxis are pretty much all open-air or convertible














Old money














We took the bus back down to Capri town, walked a bit there, had our daily
gelato, then rode the funicular back down to the marina and the 5:30 ferry
back to Sorrento; then the train back to Pompeii; another pretty good day 

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Blue Grotto

So finally you round a bend and see a sort of cove and 20-30 dozen boats there and you know you have arrived at the One True Blue Grotto. In our boat, the cap'n asked who wanted to go and who didn't--incredibly, about half did not. They were transferred to another boat and sent back to the Grand Marina. In shame, I presume. We, the faithful, remained. And remained. The way this works is, in order to get into the Grotto, you have to be transferred to a little rowboat, 4 passengers, one mariner, who takes you to the ticket office and then tells you watch your head and then sings "O Solo Mio," or maybe "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie...", badly [see video], and then demands a tip, ideally as you are midway between his little boat and the big motor-boat. Anyway, we continued remaining. And waiting. And waiting. Wondering why our boat was sort of standing off, aloof...although if there was a queue of any conceivable Mediterranean sort, we could not discern it. Other boats arrived. Their parties got in the little rowboats and went into the Grotto. We observed this and apprised our captain. He then was on his cellphone, talking, gesturing wildly, in the Italian manner. Crew members of the little rowboats were on their cell phones, also gesturing wildly, sometimes apparently approaching violence toward each other. Or perhaps it was all just part of the act. Anyhow, after 45 minutes or an hour of this, two of the wildly gesturing ones approached, gingerly off-loaded us, and we were on our way. Someone in this operation should visit Disney. The mercifully short video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCmMUgDmG7k.
We were on a boat pretty much like this














And now we are in the little row boat, headed for














The ticket office; 8.50 euro admission fee plus 4 euro "tax"














And here is the entrance...you have to lay down flat in the
boat while the guide/mariner does the same while pulling
you through via a chain; the entrance, in calm seas and low
tide, is about a meter high, maybe two wide

















And then, voila and shazzam, you are there, in the Blue
Grotto















Thus














And thus














And thus














And you are so busy doing stills and adjusting the camera
and then trying to provide video-documentation of the whole
incredible thing, while not being overcome by the silliness of
the situation, the singing (wait for the video), that you forgot
to notice any of it at all...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCmMUgDmG7k


















And then, no sooner than you can say, "Avast!" you are out
again, boarding your open motor-craft, and headed back to
the Grand Marina: fulfilled: another once-in-a-lifetime experience
experienced

Cruising Capri

We had visited Capri in 2011, accomplished much, and had a good time. But the small boats weren't running that day, there were no boat cruises around the island, and, most important, none out to the Blue Grotto. So we had to go back and fill in the big gaps. We were on the Circumvesuviana at 8:17, boarding the 9:30 ferry in Sorrento an hour later, and onto our around-the-island/Blue Grotto combo boat trip at 10:30. The Blue Grotto, next post, is of course something you have to do. But I thought the around-the-island cruise was one of our better scenic adventures ever. The island is entirely limestone, so it is covered all over with caves, grottos, arches, spires, sea stacks, and on and on. Our three 2011 posts on Capri are: http://roadeveron.blogspot.it/2011/03/isle-of-capri-and-tiberius-villa.htmlhttp://roadeveron.blogspot.it/2011/03/isle-of-capri-and-blue-grotto.html, and http://roadeveron.blogspot.it/2011/03/capri-out-takes.html.
Sorrento's little marina














Unusually tall Tall Ship in Sorrento harbor; we saw it pulling
up in Capri that afternoon, then at Amalfi the next day; it's
the Royal Clipper; 227 passengers having their 19th century
maritime Roots experience; who knows, maybe even catch
a white whale

















So we are off on our "short boat" trip...20 some passengers in
an open power boat and a captain who gives us a running
narration, both Italian and English, as we cruise around...
here, just out of Capri's grande marina, beginning to grasp
that the Blue Grotto is not Capri's only grotto


















Ditto; Tiberias' place is up high somewhere
there



















The Mediterraean is always an interesting color; here, the
shallow sand bottom gives it that Blue Grotto look; I tried to
explain to Vicki that this is the same color as most in-ground
swimming pools, but she was not having it

















Really high up cave














Another grotto














In many cases the boat noses right up into them














Typical scenery














A natural arch, middle top


















Sea stacks














It is obligatory to cruise through the arch; we did; later I'll
post my video of it to YouTube















Another grotto














More caves, more grottoes, etc.














Another huge cave, way high up


















More typical scenery














Another grotto














And another














And another














Stalactites in the high up caves














And still more caves and grottoes














Ditto again; so, basic point: from an investment point of
view, Capri is still a good bet, even if the oceans rise a good
bit more...they have numerous back-up grottoes and grottoes
in the making, and they're all some shade of blue