Naples and the Amalfi Coast
The first trip EDP and I ever took together was to Italy - we covered Rome, Florence, Verona & Venice. It was incredible. Italy had always been on the top of my list for places to go and the trip only made me want to go back for more. Two years ago, when my sister & I went to the Open Book in Wigtown, we added on a weekend in Rome. My sister had never been and I wanted to go back. Her love of really good art and really good wine made it a no-brainer.
Around the same time, EDP relocated to the US for a new job for two years. He got a little apartment and has been coming home about once a month. It’s been a long two years and when he left, I told him that when he got back, I wanted to go back to Italy. Well, he’s about to come back - and he either didn’t remember me telling him that or he thought I was kidding. So it came as a surprise to him the other day when I asked when we were going back to Italy. We knew we couldn’t go this fall - because we’re going to Belgium, in part to meet some of my mother’s family. We knew we couldn’t go this winter - because the snowboarding isn’t great in Southern Italy in the winter months and EDP requires mountains for all winter travels. We knew we couldn’t go this summer - because I don’t do peak tourist season no matter where you’re taking me. So that left this spring - and this spring is already here. With other things already happening, there wasn’t much room to fit a trip in. But we figured we’d try.
Could we plan a trip in a week? I normally take weeks (okay, months…) to fully plan out our trips. And I have a standard that must be upheld (if anyone ever needs my itinerary template, just ask!) For me, the planning is a good chunk of the fun but if we wanted to make this work, we needed to figure everything out fast. So we did. Within 48 hours, we had flights and hotels booked along with a rough itinerary - which was tough because it would seem there are going to be a LOT of people in Naples and the Amalfi Coast in June. We’ve been ironing out the details of the itinerary over the last few days and it’s in pretty good shape. Which is good, because we leave in just a few weeks.
So what’s the plan? Well…
We start with a few days in Naples, taking in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, the Museo di Capodimonte, a number of churches and some fine Italian beverages in various piazzas (recommended church to beverage ratio is 1:1)
A day in Pompeii and Herculaneum, exploring the ruins, one of the things I was most sad about not being able to do on our first Italy trip
A day in Sorrento, meandering around Centro Storica, Marina Grande and Il Vallone dei Mulino
A private gastronomic tour where we’ll visit an olive oil factory, a winery, & a limoncello factory and learn to make mozzarella and Neopolitan pizza
A day on Capri, visiting the grottos, Villa Jovis, Villa San Michele and renowned limoncello shop (and maybe Passeggiata del Pizzolunga and Giardini di Augusto, if there’s time)
A day on the Sentiero Degli Dei, hiking from either Bomerano or Praiano all the way to Positano (sounds impressive but it’s only 6km)
A day in Amalfi to see Cattedrale di Sant'Andrea and spend some time on the beach
A day in Ravello, visiting Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone and maybe sneaking out to Paestum, if we can make it work
There are still a few details to iron out but it’s gonna come pretty quickly now. I’d better go make sure the sunscreen is in my suitcase.
