Sunday, July 16, 2023

Germany and Italy 2023...Day 13: Amalfi and Praiano

For our last day in Praiano, we had plans to get to Amalfi and get up to Ravello from there to buy some local ceramics, take in the view, and just enjoy the day. 

We woke up and had our delicious breakfast at our hotel and then went for a nice stroll around Praiano. 


Our morning view that never got old!


One of the beautiful doorways we saw during our walk.


We hopped on the bus towards Amalfi. It was fun to get to see the scenary from the land that we had gotten to see the day before on the water. 

We arrived to Amalfi and it was an absolute zoo. We were trying to get on the bus to Ravello and it was insanely crowded. It was so crowded that people were fighting.  We met a nice British girl that was wanting to go to Ravello as well so we decided that we would split a cab with her. 

When we spoke to the cab driver, he was going to charge us 50 Euros a person! We decided to skip that and Ken and I thought we would just hike up to Ravello. I mean, how bad can that be. Wrong. It was bad. It was so hot. The hike is straight up which would have been fine if it was not so hot and completely in the sun. We decided to bail and turn around.


Amalfi City

The buses to get back to Praiano were equally a zoo and we decided to at least get a treat while we waited.


The only part of Amalfi that I enjoyed, my 10 Euro lemon sorbet!


We waited for at least an hour to get a bus back to Praiano. We inquired about a taxi to go 3 miles and it was 100 Euros. We decided just to wait it out and finally got on the bus back to Praiano. 

We thought we might never make it back to Praiano after our bus and another bus both met at one of the curves and our bus had to reverse to allow the other one to get by. All with scooters zooming by.

Needless to say, by the time we arrived back to our hotel, we were kind of over it. We were starving and the kitchen closes at 3:00 pm. It was 2:45 and the receptionist called the kitchen and they agreed to wait for us so that we could freshen up since we looked like we had been put through the ringer!

We ended up sitting outside and had the place to ourselves! Thomas even took us back to the kitchen to show us the mussels Ken would be having and he showed us where the tomatoes are grown on the property. It was amazing. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch and a nice bottle of white wine.


My delicious past at our hotel in Praiano.

While we were eating lunch, we told Thomas that we had wanted to get to Ravello for ceramics. He told us about a place below our hotel, LizArt, that sold local ceramics. 

We finished our lunch and walked down to the LizArt.


Our lunch view and the view.

Liz Art had just opened and sweet Ana, the owner, invited us in and started giving us cookies and drinks. There was a couple from Canada there and we all sat around and talked. Sweet Ana did not speak a lot of English but she was so happy we were there. She kept feeding us and offering up the best hospitality. 


Ceramics shopping at LizArt.

We ended up buying several pieces that we shipped home. I was so excited and this was a great way to finish up our time in Praiano. We asked Ana for a picture and she thought we wanted her to take a picture of Ken and me. Her eyes lit up when I told her I wanted it to be picture of her with me.


Me with sweet Ana. She loved that we were both the same size!


The items were brought home from LizArt. The oil bottle is definitely my favorite. I smile everytime we use it.


We went back to the pool at our hotel and enjoyed limoncello spritz and some sunshine. We ended up meeting a couple from Australia that was vacationing with their two teenagers. We closed down the pool hanging out with our new friends.


Enjoying life and my limoncello sprtiz!


I wish we could say that we had an amazing last dinner overlooking the ocean, but we had too much fun at the pool and did not feel like going out. Ken ran up to the grocery store and bought us some snacks and we enjoyed a snack dinner on our balcony. We ended up turning what started as a zoo of a day into such a great final day on the Amalfi Coast.

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