---

The Grand Amalfi Coast

Ah ha! Yeah, so another thing we were looking forward to was exploring the Amlafi coast: the most beautiful stretch of coastline in the world. In the universe!? Maybe, but various sources agree that it is the most beautiful in the world. And while we weren't sure that Sal the angry coughing car deserved such a nice coastal drive, we brought him along nonetheless.

So after a breakfast of meats, pastries, and coffee finally procured, we were off driving around the horn of the Sorrentine peninsula again. Being Monday, coupled with the fact that the traffic the day before had been extremely light, we were hopeful that this would be a stress-free drive. And we were right! Going up and over the mountains was very relaxing in the early morning, and the sights were indeed magnificent. We stopped by the side of the road to gaze at the Mediterranean stretching out before us, and plotting out our route ahead of us. Well, maybe not so much that last part as there is ONE road that goes from Sorrento to Amalfi, and we were on it. Your other two options are boat an helicopter.

Our drive was relaxing, indeed, until we, of course, began, to, hit, the, out,skir,ts, o,f P,o,s,i,t,,a,,,n,,,o....and traffic slowed to a dead. halt. . The road going through Positano was choked with traffic and tour buses. We even got to re-enact a scene from Rick Steves show were a tour bus cannot make a particularly narrow turn until cars in both directions backed up, and some dude from a store came out and guided the bus around parked cars and parked buildings. We probably waited fifteen minutes until we were able to move forward again.

I was hoping to ditch Sal the angry coughing car as soon as possible, so we pulled into one of the parking garages in the middle of town, gave the keys to a well kempt and eager young man (ahem...) and the Bonneys rained down upon Positano.

What? You noticed a weird word in the last sentence? Yep yep, as soon as we parked the rain started to rain down on us as well. We made it down to the harbor and then the sky just opened up. Picture, if you will, twenty tourists in various states of rain gear (we had umbrellas) huddled under some sort of cloth awning while the seas raged and no one could really find a spot where they weren't still getting wet. A tourboat unloaded a gaggle of very dour looking vacationers, clutching raincoat and lugged to their soaked bodies.

In a break in the rain we snuck back to the restaurant area to what had to be the busiest, but most well-run restaurant in the world. They got you in, got you food, and got you out again, which on the one hand is nice if you are in a hurry, but on the other hand not so nice if you want to wait out some bad weather.

After lunch we explored the coast a bit more, did some shopping, and then started to haggle about what to do next. I had had an absolutely awful time driving through Positano, and was not looking forward to continuing on in such bad traffic and in such bad weather. Lin-Wei argued that we had come all this way and it would be lame to not go see Amalfi or any other cities along the coast, but I had had enough driving for that day. Plus we had to get back out since we were mired in Positano.

Another 10 minute wait for a bus to get through, and we are on our way back to Sorrento, with a sulking wife and exasperated husband (at the traffic, not the wife) looking forward to putting Sal the angry coughing car back in his hole.

After freshening up at the hotel we decided to scope out the Sorrento train station, as we'd be taking it to Pompeii tomorrow (€1.50! Not bad!) Our attempts to find the station were twarted, mostly because I thought I could find it without a map (I promised that I'd have a map for the next day, er, yeah). But what we did find blew our mind. Right in the middle of this very busy city was a fricking hole or ravine or something, with a couple hundred foot drop to the bottom, on which sat the ruins of some sort of hospital or house or something. It was one of the coolest things I had seen, and it just took us by surprise. The way down appeared to have been paved over, so I was bummed that we couldn't explore, but I doubt I'd have been up for the climb back up from there.

That evening, not really having an idea what to do for dinner, we spotted a sign in the hotel elevator advertising a "Grand Gala Buffet", and who can pass up a Grand Gala Buffet? No price was published but we said to heck with it. The food was indeed grand, and we had a gala good time. As you can see, I enjoyed the dessert bar a lot more than Lin-Wei did.

The Ruins Of Pompeii