Italian views

When I look back at the two weeks we spent on the Amalfi coast I am struck by a number of things;

The absolute country lifestyle that the people who live here enjoy is the first. These are a people my father would understand and be at home with. He was a man whose word was his bond, whose emotions were easily read, who loved talking with people, who understood the value of family and home life. These people are a lot like our country folks at home. They live where they were born and raised, usually going away to school or to experience life in the big city but they always seem to return. Most of the people we interacted with daily were life long residents from multiple generations of area residents. They understand the need for the tourist dollar to sustain a higher lifestyle along the coast but they hate to see any changes in their little towns and abhor the traffic that the tourist season brings. They like walking everywhere to visit friends, go to work or the market and to maintain their lifestyles. The simple chore of doing laundry daily and hanging the wash out to dry adds to the routine and the feel (no one has a clothes dryer and every balcony has clothes lines on it).

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Second of these is the absolute open friendliness of the residents. Most of them speak some English, French, Spanish and a smattering of other languages. Some of them are fluent in these other languages but some are not very conversant in them. We found that if you tone down the whole “tourist” persona that these folks are not just friendly but welcoming and giving of their time to help a visitor out. Take your time and learn some of the language basics and it will go a long way toward connecting with them. Frank (never got his last name) who is a resident of Amalfi and was on our terraced area watching the political goings on was a great source of info as he heard our speculations about the goings on and took pleasure in explaining the political atmosphere in our little area. Also remember that this area is populated by many very religious believers. The churches play a big part in not just tourist activities but also are actual places of worship for the locals. Be respectful and remember to take your hat off (BFD got reminded by the priest when he ran out of hands and temporarily put his fedora on his head inside while taking pictures).

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Another thing that they celebrate is the act of public display. They gather in the town square and have political speeches, elections and parties to celebrate the re-election of the local mayor to include fireworks into the late night. They argue loudly and vociferously on the street or sitting in a cafe, sometimes I think for the sake of argument (a lot like many people I know), but I rarely saw anyone leave an argument without a smile on their face in a public place (there was of course one exception where two men shouted epithets at each other for one long match at distances ranging from point blank to over 20 meters).

The smell of the Tyrrhenian Sea. I always enjoy the smell of salt water. I guess this comes from living by the ocean and working on the salt water almost daily. The smell of the Tyrrhenian is somehow different from the Pacific. The water was not really much warmer but the air was. There seemed to be a different sweet smell to the wind blowing across the sea, perhaps this is just my mind imagining the exotic shores that the wind had last touched upon before sweeping onto our coast and giving me a taste of those far distant shores. This is far from the smell of the ocean on the Washington coast where the wind is raw and smells of only the ocean. The colors of the sea are crazy intense. The brightest blues and the most brilliant of greens lend their names to well deserved color descriptions of the Green Grotto and Blue Grotto where the sun streams through the rocks to light these places up like beacons. But the grottoes aren’t the only place to see these colors as they abound across the sea in every bay and harbor you visit. The open sea is a beautiful and intense blue.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Specific to the Amalfi area are the lemon terraces. We see terraced gardens and groves all around the globe in steep terrain living areas. These are an efficient way to use the available terrain and along the Amalfi coast it is the only way to have a garden. The terrain here starts at sea level and soars to over 1,200 feet, a lot of it almost sheer limestone cliffs with vegetation miraculously hanging on to it. Tucked in amongst the inlets and coves and along the sides of these hills are lemon groves, olive trees and vegetable gardens. And of course the obligatory thousands of steps to access the terraces because no vehicle can get to them. These hardy farmers climb steps that would sometimes scare a mountain goat to tend their crops and get them to home or market. We saw many terraces with a shaded seating area at the end of them, not taking up terrace space so even these farmers rest areas were barely hanging onto the near sheer hillsides.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Lemons!!! One thing I noticed from the time we left Naples till arriving in Atrani was the ever increasing size of the lemon crops. These lemons went from roadside stands displaying your average looking fruit to vendors selling football sized fruit in Amalfi. These lemons are shocking in their size. They are a specific variety to this region and are very prolific along these terraced hills. These lemons are the specific Sfusato d’Amalfi and have been developed over a thousand years of cultivation on the Amalfi Coast. They have a thick rind and a pleasant taste. They are traditionally chosen for harvest and picked by the men and then the 50kg bags are transported by the women from the terraces. In the old days they were sold singly to boatmen who then transported and sold them to the ships lying at anchor. The lemons were originally cultivated to help with the prevention of scurvy on sea voyages.

As our visit to this amazing area came to a close, I found myself conflicted. Our next stop is Paris and we are looking forward to the visit very much but I hated to be leaving the area. Saying hi to the folks who had gotten used to seeing us and sharing their village with us. Watching the new tourists experiencing the fresh wonders that we now knew from our own travels with faces alight and eyes aglow, the way I’m sure our faces looked when we first arrived on this magnificent journey. As we packed our bags in anticipation of our hired car picking us up at the horrid hour of 6 am the next morning, we carefully placed souvenirs and gifts for folks back home and thought back over our adventures on the Amalfi Coast. The wonderful food, the great company of Max and Tom, our daily sojourns into the unknown (to us) areas of this wild and breathtaking region of Campania and the warm welcoming residents who guided us and educated us about their beautiful home.

This trip will be remembered as one of a lifetime for us. I already miss telling time by the bell strikes at the church in each town.

Until next time, I hope this finds you healthy, happy and ready for your own next adventure.

BFD…go outside

• 
• 
• 
•