One of the things we had wanted to do on the Amalfi Coast was hike. However, we both had colds, so we didn't want to be too ambitious. Therefore, the famous Pathway of the Gods was out. The other walk mentioned by Lonely Planet, involving the Valle delle Ferriere National Park, was closer and seemed more doable, if we could figure out our starting point. On Monday, September 9th, at breakfast, we asked Roberto about how to get to Pontone, and he very kindly offered to drive us there. For a somewhat longer walk, we could have taken the bus up to Scala and hiked down to Pontone, but it turned out that the National Park had a booth in Pontone, where we (and Roberto) were able to pick up information. So we thanked Roberto and walked through the village and along streets, and then paved paths, and then unpaved paths, at first in the open, with views through the lemon groves, down the valley to Amalfi, then into the woods, eventually coming to the park, where we had to wait a few minutes for a guide. Along the way, we had met a Russian guy, from Moscow, and there was another young man in our group when the ranger, a young woman, took us into the tiny park, which preserved a very unusual cool, wet micro-climate, where endangered giant ferns grew and little waterfalls flowed over calcified rock formations.
We then headed down the valley, past the decaying ruins of paper mills (Amalfi was once known for its paper production), past lemon orchards, into Amalfi.
We had lunch at the Taverna degli Apostoli, in the Cathedral complex, and visited the Cathedral itself.
After taking the bus back to Punta Civita, we took another bus up to Ravello, where we had tickets to a concert.
We first visited the Villa Rufolo, where a young string quartet was rehearsing movie music by Nino Rota for a different concert. The previous night there had been the last orchestra concert of the season, and they were taking down the stage that overhung the sea.
Our dinner was sandwiches, bought in a store and eaten on a bench just off the main square. Then we went down a long flight of stairs to a former chapel that was now a concert venue, where we heard a concert by a string trio--okay, but not great.
The bus ride back down to Punta Civita was unusually eventful: somehow the narrow road got blocked. We saw vehicles moved aside or back or squeezed past each other. A trip that would normally take about twenty minutes took forty-five.
We then headed down the valley, past the decaying ruins of paper mills (Amalfi was once known for its paper production), past lemon orchards, into Amalfi.
We had lunch at the Taverna degli Apostoli, in the Cathedral complex, and visited the Cathedral itself.
After taking the bus back to Punta Civita, we took another bus up to Ravello, where we had tickets to a concert.
We first visited the Villa Rufolo, where a young string quartet was rehearsing movie music by Nino Rota for a different concert. The previous night there had been the last orchestra concert of the season, and they were taking down the stage that overhung the sea.
Our dinner was sandwiches, bought in a store and eaten on a bench just off the main square. Then we went down a long flight of stairs to a former chapel that was now a concert venue, where we heard a concert by a string trio--okay, but not great.
The bus ride back down to Punta Civita was unusually eventful: somehow the narrow road got blocked. We saw vehicles moved aside or back or squeezed past each other. A trip that would normally take about twenty minutes took forty-five.
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