Italy 2016: Ravello
The bus ride from Amalfi to Ravello took us straight up into the hills on some very narrow winding roads. The roads in this part of Italy are characterized by these turns which require drivers to make a 360 degree turn with little room for error. It meant on occasion you would meet another car (or god forbid another bus) going into a turn and everything would come to a screeching halt while the oncoming traffic backed up to allow us through. Let me just say that we saw a lot of cars missing their side mirrors.
When we got to Ravello we checked in to the hotel Bonadies and I was immediately taken by the view from our room.
And the view of the valley from the patio.
Mom and I went about exploring Ravello and found a few small markets where we purchased bread, fruit, olives and tomatoes – all of the ingredients we needed for a picnic lunch. So we picked a path that would take us towards Minori (the town at the bottom of the valley above) and headed off to explore the countryside of Ravello.
Of course because Ravello is at the top of the hill, the hike was almost entirely stone steps going straight down.
The hike was absolutely gorgeous.
There were lots of little skittish geckos, that made me a little uneasy. I think they look like miniature alligators.
It was a rather hot day and we made it as far as Torello, which was a cluster of houses and a church, and ate our picnic in the shade on the steps of the church. Then we turned around and made the hike back up to town. After we got back to the hotel and cooled off by jumping in to a 68 degree pool, we headed back out to the centre of Ravello to check out the Villa Rufolo.
This sprawling villa dates back to the eleventh century and a lot of it has decayed over the course of time. Now, bright gardens fill a lot of the grounds.
That night we ate dinner in an adorable restaurant run by a stern little Italian lady and it was delicious.
The next day we packed a few snacks, filled our water bottles and prepared to make the hike down to Amalfi.
Once again, we had hot beautiful weather and the scenery was incredible.
It turns out that at some point we got off the main trail, which we had somewhat suspected based on the path’s state of disrepair.
But we got to walk along lemon and olive groves and saw only a handful of people the entire time.
The walk was incredibly serene and the view coming into Amalfi was stunning.
The walk took us about an hour and a half, then we spent about an hour wandering around Amalfi.
Then we had a quick bite to eat and headed down to the beach so that I could put my feet in the Mediterranean.
Then we headed to the harbour, bought two bus tickets and caught the public transit back up the hill to Ravello for our last night on the Amalfi Coast.
gabandkirby 