September 12-20, 2023

 The Amalfi Coast is a region famous for vividly-painted towns that tumble down cliffsides to a sparkling azure sea, the Amalfi Coast is Europe’s most alluring stretch of shoreline. Nearby you’ll also find the glamorous island of Capri, a popular haunt of the wealthy for centuries and renowned for its natural beauty as well as its grand mansions and chic hotels, not to mention that this is where the Caprese Salad started. Be sure to wear your runners, plenty of vertical steps to work off the pasta, pizza and wine.

We left Cinque Terre by train, headed thru small towns and eventually to Rome where caught a connection to Naples. We had a private car waiting for us for the unbelievable MMT (magical mystery tour) over to the Amalfi Coast to the town of Amalfi. After a very long windy road over the mountains and down the coastline the views along the drive was spectacular. First stop was at the Vista D’ Amalfi Hotel (more like a bed and breakfast), checked in and admired the view overlooking the harbor and off to town for some exploring. The first night was a special night for us, our 8th anniversary. We found a great little restaurant on the beach called Stella Maris with a very nice owner, Antonio taking very good care of us. Lovely Italian dinner with wine, views to die for and the perfect weather made for a great night. The sencond day we walked thru town, bought some supplies, spent the afternoon at the beach club and enjoyed our homemade dinner of cheese, prosciutto, tomato’s, basil and some good Italian bread on the balcony watching the boats roll in and out sipping our wine.

Day three was moving day over to my bucket list hotel for the past 35 years. The Hotel Santa Caterina was a place I visited years ago and lunch overlooking the beautiful waters of the coastline and said that someday I will return to stay here. Well, someday was today……..We checked into the this 5 star resort hotel that did not disappoint in any way, from the front door to the lobby, the rooms, bar, pool, service and very nice staff was over the top. They let us check in at 10:30 in the morning where normal check in is 3:00 PM, went to our room and then to the pool for a relaxing afternoon. Spent the next two days at the hotel and had a blast. We met some very nice folks on vacation and shared some Italy stories most were envious of our 32 day trip to Italy and Greece.

Next stop was Positano, just a short ferry ride away along this same beautiful coast. The town was very crowded and like the others full of steps and vertical hills to climb. We stayed at the Cova Dei Saraceni just a few steps away from the ferry terminal. We walked to the hotel with our carry on suitcase and our backpacks, checked in and hit the town for some lunch. The front desk manager at the Santa Caterina Hotel, Simone told us about a local lunch spot that we tried. WOW, he was right. Great food, awesome view over the water and friendly service that the locals enjoy. That was really a linner for us so we hung out on the terrace of our room and played some cards and watched the boats below come into and out of the dock unloading and reloading all the tourist. Boy, Italy is full of tourist this time of year. Normally, this would be a slow down time for Italy but not this year, super crowded every day in every town. Repeat of days in other towns and then off to Sorrento for 2 nights. Ferry ride from Positano to Sorrento is only a 40 minute ride long the coast and a cheap 18 Euros per person fare. That beats a 1:30 drive and 120 Euros if you took a car.

Arrived in Sorrento, a car was waiting for us to arrive an take us to our hotel some 40 minutes away in a small town called Vico Equense. A quaint litte village away from the crowds. Checked into the Towers Hotel Stabiae on the Sorrento Coast and toured the facilities, nice pool, private beach, great suite with huge terrace balcony overlooking the Gulf De Napoli looking right at Mount Vesuvius. Took a shuttle into town, walked around a stopped at Restorante Titos for an early dinner. Fredrick the maitre D’ offered us a anniversary glass of prosecco for a starter then homemade pasta with seafood, sauted mediterranean vegetables and some limoncello as a digestive after our meal complements of Frederick.

We saw so many super yachts all along the Amalfi Coast in these harbor towns. Very busy boat traffic that would drive the US Coastguard crazy. After many days of yacht watching we have voted and here are the winners:

The Academy award for Honorable mention goes to Jeff Bezos and his 417 foot sailing ship that travels with a 246 foot yacht that supports his sailboat with toys, crew and supplies. He was in the area but we did not see it.

The Runner up goes to Jerry Seinfeld’s yacht at 138 feet which we did see in Positano.

And the Academy Award for Best Yacht…….drum roll please……goes to this beauty: Steven Spielberg’s 250 million dollar, 357 foot super yacht! It dwarfed all the other super yachts in our Positano harbor ( see picture below). This yacht has a annual service price tag of 20-30 million dollars. Different league folks!!!!!!!

Tuesday morning we were off to Capri on a boat tour after a long ride back to the harbor. Boarded the boat with ten others and procedded towards the Isle of Capri. Dock at the Grand Marina, the local tour guide gave us some options to spend the next 4 hours and off we go. We took a small bus to the top of Anna Capri, which is on the top of the island, walked around, saw the local church, shops and went down to Capri for some lunch. Since food, wine and great culinary experiences are more important to us than shopping we found our restaurant and checked in. The La Capannina was highly recommended to us by some locals in Almafi so we had to try it. WOW, we are sure glad we did, this place was fantastic. The food, wine, service and atmosphere were over the top. Burrata salad to start then ravioli caprese and veal cutlet to finish made for the perfect lunch along with a bottle of white wine. Back to the boat, stopped for a swim as we toured around the entire island to see the colorful grottos and sculptured seashores. Stopped at the only freshwater waterfall on the island for a shower of cold clean water off the back of the boat deck then back to the harbor for our departure. One of the couples, Paige and Scott got engaged while on the island, that made for a Prosecco filled ride back and many pictures of the happy couple. Back to the hotel for our last night on the coast.

Naples

Our driver picked us up at the hotel on Thursday morning, drove us Pompeii for a tour of this ancient city. We had a very informative 2 hour walking tour from our guide Becca. She was full of Pompeii history and gave us the perfect views and back stories of Pompeii. Rosario, our driver took us to our hotel in Naples City Centre and we said our goodby’s after a few days of traveling together. Checked into the Naples Centre Suites and Spa where the owner Frederic gave us the history of the place and pointed our some local dinner options. After walking to the town Piazza, the largest and oldest, so they say in Italy we had our fill of tourist and shops. Dinner at a local Naples restaurant, Trattoria Toledo served the traditional Naples cuisine. Dinner and off to bed, very early flight tomorrow morning to Santorini, Greece for the next 5 days.

CIAO from Italy………

had to have some gelato

Moscow mules at the pool in Positano

burrata caprese salad in Capri

Ravioli caprese

veal cutlets

pool view at Hotel Santa Caterina

Glenna in the library at the pool

dinner on the balcony in Amalfi

fun watching the ferries come and go I Amalfi

Boat tour in Capri

lagoons in Capri

time for a swim on the boat tour

crazy blue colors in the waters around Capri

fireworks on the beach for our anniversary

Anniversary dinner in Amalfi, one of them❤️

art in Amalfi

Sunrise from our hotel balcony at the HSC

afternoon espresso in Naples from the hotel owner.

Glenna and others getting a waterfall shower off the back of the boat

lots of super yachts in Capri

Limoncello after dinner

Towers Hotel along the Sorrento coast

hard to beat this view for some wine and snacks

did I mention lots of boats along the Amalfi coast?

Spielberg yacht

Glenna in the old Pompeii outdoor theater

Amazingly these Frescoes survived the eruption of Mount Vesuvius

Spielberg yacht

great food In Positano

bucket list hotel in Amalfi, hotel Santa Caterina

nice pool to hang in

Pizza by the pool

Here’s to the Amalfi Coast until next time

CIAO