Heading To Amalfi

It's all too easy getting around Italy. We caught the morning train to Naples from Rome. A cool 2.5 hour ride watching the countrysidezoom by and before we knew it we could see Mount Vesuvious and was entering Naples. It was great, leavng the train everything looked familier to us, so we knewwhere to head to catch the regional train to Salerno at the very end of the Amalfi Coast.

Arriving in Solerno we grabbed some tasty calzone from the local pizzeria and caught the SITA bus to the town of Amalfi. The bus rides are mental - pure white knuckle rides along high cliffs with narrow lanes. Cars and motorcycles compete for the narrow lane space on the road,whilst massive cliff drops are only a tiny barrier away. Some how the crazy dance just works and we marvel at the coastline and the stunning towns we pass.

We'd arranged with the local tourist info to call our host family upon our arrival. The place was closed! - the lady in the ceramic store next door saidsomething had come up and they had to close. Oh bugger! She called the host family - no answer. We know where they live so we headed over there to knock onthe door. A couple of buzzes and Marioto was at the door smiling. Good to see his smiley face. He welcomed us to his home then showed us to our room.

Quickly unpacking we headed up to the terrace to check the view out. Ahhh - magnificent. Admiring the view for a while we then headed out for dinner and found a new place amongst the labyrinth of tunnels that extend up the hillsides. Yum Yum Yum. Afterwards we strolled around the tiny town feeling super glad to be back here, then headed into to a Bottega at the base of the church. We enjoyed some tasty local wines both agreeing it was *ace* to be drinking vino in the base of a 1000 year old church. The staff was super friendly and enjoyedsome banter with them. Feeling warm and fuzzy the first evening came to a close. Ah, it's great to be back here.