Sunday, November 4, 2012

Day 1: Hiking the Amalfi Coast, Italy

Over the recent Eid el Ahdha holiday in Cairo, I tagged along on a family vacation with my running partner, her husband and their four sons to the Amalfi Coast in Italy. We stayed in a large apartment in Maiori, Italy and got around by bus or on foot for the most part.

On our first morning Miles (4), Reece (6), Greyden (8) and I went down to the street to find breakfast. The boys scared some birds and we bought donuts and croissant, which the boys said were dessert. Then we found a fruit stand, but it wasn't open yet. So, we went to the sea and we saw fishermen and stinky, yucky water. When we turned around we saw "farmer steps" in the hillside (actually terraced gardens). We went back to the fruit stand and bought apples, pears and grapes to go with our dessert for breakfast. We brought the goodies back home and ate together.

IMG_3539

We took the bus to Amalfi and switched to another bus to Positano. The views from the bus were remarkable. The bus wove around tight corners hugging the cliff face.  From there we bought bread, cheese, and chocolate cookies for lunch. We began an epic day of hiking by walking up many stairs in alleys between houses until we found our path. Our first destination was Santa Maria de Castello. It was a steep trail of switch backs winding up the cliff face from the coast. The boys moved lickity split to the top, pausing now and then to let the old folks close the gap. We were sweaty and chilled as we hiked up into the clouds to the top of this first leg. We ate our lunch at the church looking down at how far we had come. A little dog found us and was hoping the boys would drop their lunch, but no such luck.


IMG_3548 IMG_3555 Positano, Italy
Santa Maria del Castello. Lunch stop
Santa Maria de Castello Church

We continued on for the second leg of our hike, which turned from the main road and dropped onto a forest path. We continued to climb, but more gradually this time. A forest fire had clearly burned a portion of the woods. We looked back across the gorge to the church where we had just eaten lunch and were surprised to see how high it was above the coast road where we had begun. The boys were amazing hikers. Their energy knew no bounds, and they continued to have to stop periodically to wait for us to catch up.

Hiking through a burned section of the forest
Scrambling along the trail through the forest fire remains


In Nocelle we dropped back down to the main road and caught a town bus to the next town over. On our walk to the bus stop we passed grape vines, a fig tree, a persimmon tree, lettuce patches and gardens growing fennel, carrots, and tomatoes. At the bus stop we noticed 2 squash vines climbing up a stone wall with blossoms and young squash growing. It is quite impressive to see the local's use of this land for agriculture. All around the coast, terraced land can be seen for growing a variety of crops. We spotted lemon trees from the bus, but much to Holly's disappointment, have yet to walk through groves of them.

Gardens everywhere! 


Getting off the bus we continued to feel our way to the start of our next hike: Foot path of the Gods. Jeff's hiking guide book never let us down, although we continued to double check with locals. I love the water fountains strewn about the city. Brass piped protruding from stuccoed walls with a small basin beneath, or small, unobtrusive spigots tucked away at the base of a stairway. While we stopped to refill our water bottles, we heard the clomp, clomp of horse hooves on concrete. Looking over our shoulders a young girl was climbing the stairs between two building on horseback, naturally. A concerned old man stopped and asked us if we were planning to hike the Foot path of the Gods with the boys. He urged us against it, saying that it would be too dangerous for them. Clearly he underestimated these hiking machines.
Italian man who was concerned about the fact that we were bringing 4 children on the Footpath of the Gods hike.
You no take children on Footpath of Gods!

This horse just walked up the stairs in the alley behind
How do the locals manage the endless stairs of Amalfi? On horseback, naturally!
  
Up we climbed, again. This trail hugged the coast almost exclusively, giving way to stunning views of the Mediteranean Sea and the towns below. W stopped to explore an old ruin along the way, but tried to keep our pace up as we were concerned about beating the sunset. After a small directional hiccup, due in part to a crucifix hidden in a garden behind a mesh fence, we were back on track as the dark clouds settled lower over head. Winding our way between terraced gardens and evergreen forests, we came out at a grotto where a couple of horses were stabled. This took us nearly to the end of our hike, with one short segment to find our way back to a town and the bus that would take us home. All in all, we managed to cover what, according to the guide book, should have been 8 hours of hiking in just under 6 hours, including a lunch break and exploring. And all that with 4 boys under 12!


IMG_3566 View of the sea along the Footpath of the Gods hike Terraced gardens and arches in the cliff face Footpath of the Gods hike

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