May 12, 2013 - Praiano, Italy
Day 16-May 12-Arrivederci Roma and to the Amalfi Coast
We took a bag of gifts we've bought, books, wine, etc., down to the desk at Hotel Apollo in Rome and Adriano always lets us store it there so we don't have to lug it to the Amalfi Coast and back. We'll be returning there on Friday before we fly home from Rome on Saturday.
Love the fast trains; they really fly, and they're quiet and very comfortable. On the way down we saw two large herds of water buffalo which are milked to make mozzarella bufala, the best mozzarella cheese. Seventy minutes later we were in Naples Central station and there was our DriveAmalfi driver waiting for us on the platform. He loaded our luggage into his Mercedes sedan for the 90 minute ride to Praiano. We drove around the Bay of Naples with the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius on us. Nickolas, our driver, spoke excellent English because he spent about a year working at a relative's Italian restaurant in Boston.
The drive turned into a 2 hour drive because of the heavy traffic around Sorrrento. It was a beautiful sunny day and the drive along the coast was wonderful as always
On arrival at Hotel Margherita we received a great greeting from Suela and Andrea. They made us a drink with sparkling wine and a couple of other ingredients in champagne flutes while they checked us in.
The changes they have made in the last two years are amazing. They have an unbelievably beautiful marble floor put down in the main dining and reception area. WHen we arrived in the room we always get, room 16, we found that on the large patio they had put a wicker double sun bed with a canopy that can be put up. They also added a 2 person hot tub out there!!! It's fantastic. Again, the day was beautiful and we took advantage of the weather and sun bed and sat out there and read while occasionally looking out over the Mediterranean Sea. There were sailboats, windsurfers, ferries coming from Amalfi to Positano, and huge cargo ships visible.
Then a sudden squall line came through and it rained about 30 minutes and then started to clear.
We went to dinner downstairs and while eating by the large windows overlooking the sea, a rainbow appeared out on the Mediterranean.
Berta and I both had a great mixed salad which was huge, contained a lot of different greens, radicchio, carrots, cheese, and was very tasty. She had paparadelle with basil, lemon, tomatoes, and red tuna. I had gnocchi di Sorrento which had a tomato sauce and basil. Both were very good and we had a bottle of Piedirosso, a very good local wine. For dessert we had a lemon tiramisu and cappuccino.
I took my camera and tripod out onto our patio to shoot some pictures of the lights along the coast. It's really something at night with the lights glowing and reflecting off the sea.
Tomorrow we have to get up early to take the bus to Amalfi. From there we catch a bus to go up to Ravello, a 20 minute ride. Ravello sits about 1000 feet above the sea and the views from there are truly breath taking. We're going up there because at 10:30 we begin an all day cooking class with Mama Agata. She said we should not eat breakfast, don't plan on super, because we're going to have a very intense cooking, eating, and wine drinking experience during her cooking class. I'll tell you about it tomorrow.
Anyway, it's great being back on the Amalfi Coast, one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Hotel Margherita is a great place to stay and the owners could NOT be more accommodating. Since we're above the town a little, Suela said they'd drive us down to the Tabacchi shop to get the bus tickets; no charge.
See everyone tomorrow.
Ciao,
Jerry