These villages along the coast line are literally clinging to the base of the hills and then they go up and up. Between the buildings you can see the orchards and also homes terracing up the side of the hills. They grow the most wonderful fruit on those hills, nourished by the ash of the volcanoes.
How would you like to have this climb to your home after a hard days work or even worse after tipping back a few with your buddies. Good thing our hotel wasn't up one of these flights of stairs carved out of the rock or I would have been making use of our medical insurance. There is little or no space for parking cars so most have the smallest cars you can buy and they squeeze them so close to the rock and leave only about six inches between the car in front and the one in back.
We took an excursion to the little town of Positano and this is what the road looked like. Doesn't look like there is room for two buses to pass at the same time does it. Well these are skilled drivers who help each other, know just when to stop and when to proceed. We saw virtually no road rage while there and there were a lot of incidents where there could have been. These people work together. We were on two mini buses because of the narrowness of the road but those are full sized buses from the cruise ships coming towards us.
The drivers would have to reach out and fold in their mirrors or lose them as there were just inches between.
Crazy bikers checking to see if there was enough room to slip through and if there was they were giving it the gas and going through it. Quite entertaining some times but scary too as we thought we might be seeing some horrid accidents.
This is the amount of room on the other side. We could have picked a bouquet of flowers if our windows had been opened. The drive was half the fun of the trip except for some people who had a fear of heights. Coming back we were on the sea side of the road and you could only see down, no road was visible.
Look how beautiful. The water was so clear and blue because there is no silt. Where there is some sand the water is milky.
You have to do a lot of stair climbing in this country.
The little village built up the hillside.
We took a break and stopped at this fruit stand for some fresh squeezed orange juice, delicious, and a look at the view. Fantastic!
Yes this is a lemon!. These big boys are a thick skinned, sweeter version of the ones we are used to. The Italians make a liqueur called Limoncello that apparently is delicious but it packs a punch of 24% alcohol. I wouldn't try it in case I liked it so stuck to their delicious wine.
See that guard rail in the middle of the picture? That's the road we were on to get where we are. I don't like the way it seems to sag in places but it did the job for us. Can't imagine what it is like when it's pouring rain.
Now here is where I get confused. I don't know if this is Positano or Minori but I don't think it matters a lot, I will just tell you about what we are looking at. All along this coast there were constant attacks from the Moors and Etruscans. As a result there are different styles of buildings and a definite Moorish influence in the finishes. The religious buildings have tiled domes and fronts. We didn't go inside but I'm sure they are quite different from the cathedrals in the other places.
A closer view of the tile work.
Yes they really do hang their clothes out to dry on the balcony!
Now I'm pretty sure but not positive that this is in Minori and the style is definitely Moorish. A Muslim guide showed us the village before we caught the boat to the Isle of Capri. There is a warren of small alley ways behind the larger buildings and one would have to know their way or get lost fairly quickly. Part of the reason was to trap invaders in dead ends of these alleyways and then safely shoot them from above or pour boiling oil on them.
The area is famous for the ceramic work, a small sampling. You can find large tables complete with chairs to match done in this style.
On the boat to the Isle of Capri in the background.
We had to take a tram from the harbor to the village shopping area half way up the island. It was quite smoggy that day so I didn't think the views were that great but those from our group that took the extra tour to the very top of the island said the views were incredible.
This was originally a monastery but is now the school for the residents of the island.
Our director mentioned that we would not want to take the walk down to the beach. Could this be why? Down is ok, up..forget it.
The modern day version of the glass slipper. My foot sure wouldn't have fit because my feet were so swollen so guess I'm descended from the ugly step sisters. One of the best things about coming home was normal looking feet and no more heat rash!
I hope this video works for everyone. I wanted to show the traffic situation on Capri and it is actually a sampling of what it is like to drive in any crowded part of the tourist areas. The best part is that when I was filming it I wasn't paying much attention to the people, just the lady directing traffic. Then when I was watching it for the tenth time and saying crazy tourists oblivious to how close they came to being hit, I realized that it was the people from our tour group heading out for their trip to the top of the island. Heads up guys, smile you're on candid camera.
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