Amalfi At Last

The morning of our departure from Tavarnelle de Pisa, the bus decided not to come. So… we waited, and waited in the chill of 7:00 am eating one crossiant (me), one doughnut (Tommy), and one chocolate tart (me again, hmm). Finally in Florence, we took a train to Naples and another to Sorrento… the coast at last! Upon Aly, Tracy, and Justin’s recommendation, we stayed in a great hostel in Sorrento called Seven. We had a great group in our dorm and after all having dinner together headed to a local wine bar for some live music. Not really knowing what to expect, we were pleasantly surprised when the lead singer broke into “Burning Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash. A little Dick Dale, a little Beatles, one round of lemoncello, and four bottles of wine later, we were all up and dancing. It was all together a fantastic night.

(Unfortunately there are no pictures... Although we did bring the camera - the camera battery was unfortunately back at the hostel... GRR)

The next morning, Tommy and I headed to the island of Capri with one of the new friends we had met the night before, Kiersten. She is from Canada and just finished a study abroad program in Holland. The ferry over was incredible (as it should have been for 30 euro round trip) and we LOVED Capri. Tommy and I agree it is the hands down most beautiful place we have ever been. The three of us hopped on a bus to the Ana Capri side of the island and got on chairlifts to take us to the very top. The sight from the very top of the island was so incredibly beautiful; I hope the pictures do it justice! I love seeing all of these beautiful places with my sweet Tommy – that my memories of Capri are kissed with his impossible grin and arms wrapped around me.

on the way up!

view from the top

kiersten!

roo and roo

Back in Sorrento, we parted ways with Kiersten and headed to the tiny town of Agerola up in the mountains, about thirty minutes away from Sorrento. Our destination was a beautiful bed and breakfast called O Beata Solitudo. We were greeted by a wonderful host and two tiny puppies J After a quick dinner at one of the local restaurants, we found the best gelato of Italy so far. I don’t even know the name of the flavor – chocolaty-carmelicious-nutty-perfection, perhaps? Whatever it was, it was beyond delicious. One of the flavors at the small gelateria had actually won some big time gelato award – and that wasn’t even our favorite one!

In the morning we had a plan to bus to the coastal town of Amalfi, famous for gorgeous panoramas and lemoncello. With a couple hours to kill before the bus, we headed out to explore Agerola a little bit. This is when we met the real star of our coastal stay, Woof-Ware – one of the dogs belonging to the host of our B&B. Woof-Ware was small, sassy, and incredibly smart (and if you’re wondering, no that is not his real name – it is the name of our choosing). After getting some information from our host about the best look out point of the coast in Agerola, we were off. Woof-ware took the lead, and lead us all the way there – how did he know where we were going? We weren’t sure but we were very impressed. When we had had our fill of the first beautiful destination, Woof-ware took off up a hill. We didn’t follow at first, but after he made it very clear we were supposed to come, we gave in and up the hill we went. Woof-Ware led us into the most beautiful park with an incredible view of the mountains and town below. After that, Woof-Ware led us to some beautiful ruins tucked away the top of the mountains – ruins on one side, ocean on the other. It was so beautiful – and obviously Tommy and I were tickled pink that this tiny dog was literally acting as our tour guide. On the way back to catch the bus, Woof-Ware tried to take us somewhere else, and when we didn’t follow – he sulked in the back all the way back to the bus stop.

Roo! 

Woof-Ware!! 

Amalfi was beautiful, touristy, and perfect. We shopped, laid on the beach, collected sea glass, and ate the best cannoli EVER. After about five hours there, we were on a bus back to Agerola and then on our way to dinner. Our host suggested Leonardo’s, a local place overlooking the water. Perfect J Not two steps out the door and who takes the lead? Woof-Ware. We loved this so much. At Leonardo’s, we left him at the steps and took a seat in our fancy, romantic restaurant. Whelp, Woof-Ware had other plans because ten minutes into dinner we spied him sneaking around the tables heading right for us! Luckily the white table clothes were able to conceal that he slept at our feet for the entirety of the meal J He joined us for gelato afterwards and Tommy let him lick his bowl clean. We figured he deserved some kind of payment for leading us around and cracking us up all night.

dinner for three! 

The Amalfi Coast was everything we expected and more. It felt great to take a break from the cities and enjoy the laid back attitude definitive of a beach town.

Love:)

Rome is next!

Love and miss you all,

Alyson