Fortunately, our American neighbor and his Italian girlfriend like not only to explore, but also to invite others along for the ride. A few months ago, on a chilly but sunny Sunday morning, a group of us piled into a rented van and headed down the winding Amalfi coast for some hiking. The spot our neighbor chose was called “Il Sentiero degli Dei” (the Path of the gods), and the views were breathtaking. (That is saying a lot, as we are so spoiled with our view from the apartment).
The morning was clear and balmy, affording sparkling views of the coast for our eyes and, for our ears, distant clinking of the bells on the grazing sheep and goats. We wondered if the houses were actually inhabited, and how much farming actually gets done on the side of the mountain…
After a great lunch of vegetable omelets on bakery-fresh bread and clementines from our neighbor’s orchard, we continued hiking in search of a nearby gorge. It was OK that we never found it; I was quite happy taking in what was right in front of us.
Somehow we managed to lose the path and ended up on a set of precariously small steps overlooking the road below. We had a hard time judging how far, how steep, and most importantly, how accessible this road was. Meanwhile, the sky had turned an ominous grey…
We nevertheless stopped for a photo op:
I can’t get enough of this rugged flora against a dazzlingly blue sea (see where that road is in comparison to where we are):
And see what the path looked like once we had strayed from the markers:
We had been doubting ourselves for a while when we finally decided to get back before nightfall. Not five minutes into our return, the skies opened up and dumped everything they had on us. I was the only one with an umbrella, and felt bad about using it when everyone else was getting soaked to the bone…but not too bad! I ended up drenched anyway. It was at least a good half hour before we made it back where we had started. Luckily, there was a nearby café open where we could warm ourselves by the wood stove and get some hot chocolate in our bellies. (By the way, the Italians don’t play around with their cioccolata calda: it’s literally a mug of very dense chocolate sauce, so thick you need a spoon—or better yet, a biscuit or two—to “drink” it).
Despite the unpleasant experience of sloshing around in soggy shoes, it was definitely worth the trip: I got to see something new and beautiful, know new friends, and get some exercise in the process. The Amalfi Coast definitely lives up to the hype, and fortunately for homebodies like us, it is close and cheap to get to. There is so much else to see there, while we are gearing up for longer trips outside the country and, ahem, the pandemonium of Easyjet.
(roughly translated...I hope I got it right):
“Starting from the very Path of the gods, from that road suspended over the magic Gulf of the Sirens, [I am] plowed through still today by memory and myth.” –Italo Calvino
“This is the path that, from the peak of the Path of the gods, opens our eyes: it is the scenery of the Amalfi Coast’s final bend that looks toward the west, toward the isle of Capri, that steep and sultry coast, with crystalline mountains where you abandon the gods of today and you discover yourself again, the Mediterranean being that you once were.” –D. H. Lawrence
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