The road to Amalfi
The South of Italy is one part I never made it to, when I was living in Milano as an exchange student. This time, we are using Pompeii as our base for exploring Napoli and the infamous Amalfi Coast.
The Circumvesuvius train line takes us to Sorrento, and from there we can catch a bus which will take us to Positano and Amalfi. It’s peak summer season and there is a long queue for the bus. In front of us are the two girls we spotted on the train earlier. They are from Montreal, on a 2.5 month Euro adventure, down to their last 6 days. Both have massive packs on, with sleeping bag, mattress, and even some cooking utensils. Overpacked…just a bit.
The road between Sorrento and Amalfi is crazy windy and narrow. Most of it feels like it should only fit one lane of traffic, yet they somehow make two-way traffic work, even if it means at times buses and cars have to reverse or pull to the side to let oncoming cars pass. To make it even more challenging some parts of the road have cars parked on both sides.
The views are incredible, I am amazed at how they built this road, and how they manage to maintain it. It curves with the contours of the cliffs resulting in some turns that feel like they are almost 90 degrees. To our right are vertical drops down to the sea and stunning views of houses, towns, hotels built into the cliff face.
Later, on the return journey, we sit on the right and I can see how close the bus comes to brushing the rocks on our right. A thrilling ride, better than any roller coaster.
