After a quick pit stop in Sorrento for the night, we were up early to catch our bus to the Amalfi coast. For the first time in what seemed like ages we made it to the bus stop early and were on our way. We arrived in Amalfi and had to transfer to another bus to go to Minori (where we were staying). We bought our tickets in Amalfi and watched the bus as it drove out of the parking lot. Only 30 seconds from catching the bus this time... That's right, we're improving! However, we did not realize what we were in for when we signed up for this trip. The roads are SUPER tight and have a LOT of sharp turns! If you're able to look up the Amalfi coast roads there may be some really good pictures. I'm talking about 90 degree turns where the room for error is zero because if you miss the turn you fall down a 300 foot cliff! Now, normally this would have been scary, however we were blessed with the craziest bus driver on planet earth. We left 7 minutes late so I think he was trying to make up time. He would just honk his horn before going around a blind turn and then take it at full speed. I think there may have been something wrong with the brakes because he did not use them! Everyone on the bus was holding on for dear life (except the locals, which made it brutally obvious who the tourists were). This driver even sped up going down hill before a left turn with a 300ft drop off. If the passengers weren't leaning from side to side with every turn I'm sure we would have gone over. I now know how people pee their pants from fear and that is all I have to say about that.
When we arrived in Minori we got settled in and then went for a nice hike through the mountains. We climbed between 300-400 stairs to the top and at times thought we might not make it. On our way down our legs began shaking uncontrollably and the pain began to settle in. A535 baths were a certainty when we got back to our place. After that we went to do some groceries (we are also able to order our groceries with bare minimum Italian) I tried to order mozzarella cheese and he started cutting some sort of meat (mortadella i think). Anyways, we got it figured out and he gave us some fresh mozza balls which we made into some delish sandwiches the next couple days! The second morning that we were there we went out to the beach. It was about 12 degrees but once again it feels much hotter when the sun was out. There was not a cloud in the sky so we decided to jump into the Sea. The water was actually not too bad. We did not stay in long but I jumped in a second time later in the day. We sat out in the sun for about 45 minutes enjoying the warmth that seemed like it would never happen just 1 week ago. The next day we walked to Amalfi which is 4 km away and enjoyed some amazing gelato. Katherine loved her lemon and pistachio gelato! We got some great picture while we were there. The water is such a different colour than what we are used to! The contrast between beach and mountains was amazing. Hopefully you enjoy our pictures!
We just got into Sorrento (We had a normal bus driver this time) and found out that this place doesn't have internet. We will be posting our next one if we can get to an internet cafe! Capri tomorrow for more beach and sun and Pompei Saturday for a history lesson!
Buona sera!
T&K