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Amalfi

 

Amalfi

We travel down from Rome to Napoli on one of the high speed trains. The train hit speeds of 300 km/hour and travelling on dedicated tracks, the trips was smooth. We had a drive meet up at the train station, and from there we were taken to what seems like a second home, the Hotel Villa San Michele. We have stayed here many times and each time we find it one of the most enjoyable segments of our vacation.

The Villa San Michele is a relatively small hotel. It has very pleasant rooms, very friendly and accommodating staff, and a great location. The hotel is very highly rated in all the major travel sites, and well deserved of the high ratings it receives.

It is an easy walk down the road to the town of Amalfi. One of the pluses of this hotel is the bus stop right outside the Bar, across the road from the hotel.

This makes it very easy for trips into Amalfi, Sorrento, Salerno or Ravello. The bar is great also. The drinks are great, there is a store with everything you could want and they will even make you a custom sandwich.

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Amalfi Coast

The Amalfi Coast is one of the most scenic areas of Italy. That is saying quite a lot.

Hotel Villa San Michele

We stayed at the small and very pleasant Villa San Michele, it literally hangs of the cliffs above the water.

Chris Grant in Amalfi

The water is great. Here Chis Grant enjoys some time on the jetty of the Villa San Michele.

Amalfi Life

There is always lots going on in Amalfi with people of all sorts. Wedding at Saint Andrew's Cathedral, real market people along via del Duomo, the main street that runs through the town, and the beach just outside the main gate from the piazza dell duomo.

Atrani

The little town of Atrani is about 700 meters from Amalfi and it has always been a favorite place to visit. The main entrance to the town is from the beach (the road crosses over the main piazza well above street level). From the main piazza there are endless little stairwells between the traditional white houses that climb up the sides of the steep mountains. This beautiful topographic was part of the reason the flood that took place the next day was so tragic.

Piazza at Atrani

In Piazza Umberto, in Atrani there is a small piazza that does not suffer the mark of tourism. The fountain dates from the 12th Century. It was amazing to visit Atrani one morning, only to have the town devastated by a flash flood that evening.

Piazza of Atrani

Here Piazza Umberto has been destroyed. In the late afternoon, the water from the heavy ran rushed down the mountain side, along the gully and into the river that runs below the main street of the town. The amount of water was too much and the river overflowed and the water washed down the narrow street like water being forced through a pipe. Everything in its path, cars and soil, was washed into the piazza. Equipment was in place that evening to start the repairs.

Beach at Atrani

The beautiful beach at Atrani was washed out as the water ran down the main street, flooded the piazza and then rushed and flushed much out to sea.

Beach at Atrani

Beach chairs in disarray. Cars were flushed down the street and out onto the beach, many cars were destroyed.

A walk to Ravello

Earlier, on the day of the big rain, Chris, Carmen and set out to do the Ravello Walk. This is a long, what seems to be a never ending climb up small stairs and paths up to the town of Ravello. I walked up from Amalfi to the hill top town of Ravello. Great views as we made the steep climb.

Views on way to Ravello

The walk to Ravello offers great views. Below is a birds eye view of the town of Minori.

Ravello

I had two trips to Ravello this year. The visit with Chris and Carmen at the end of the "big climb" and then a a visit the next day when Karen and I took the bus up. Oh, the bus was very comfortable.

Cloisters at Villa Rufolo

Always a pleasant visit, we went through the gardens and the remains of the Villa Rufolo. The Villa was built by Nicola Rufolo, who was one of the richest nobles at the time. In its time, the Villa boasted it had more rooms then there were days in the year. The Rufolo has the remains of the cloisters that were added in the 18th century.

Amalfi Coast

 

There are videos of the terrible flood on U-Tube.