Prairie Boy

Sunday Oct. 23
Sunrise happened around 7:00 this morning. What a glorious sight with the rising globe illuminating a swath of gold as it splashed across the rippled water.

Sun rise over the Mediterranean.

Breakfast at Hotel La Perla was spectacular with lots of options including croissants with homemade marmalade, created by the mother of our server, Rafaela.  On our way to the bus we noticed a Pomegranate tree with fresh fruit hanging and a Morning Glory covered hillside that grew so fast it captured a scooter, tossed the rider off and stalled the bike in mid stride.

Pomegranate tree.

Watch out for fast growing Morning Glory.

Then we were off on an adventure on a local bus to Amalfi about 10 km. down the road.  Don thought the tickets at 2.40 Euro were quite inexpensive for a ride that completely destroys any midway ride at the local fair. The bus loaded with 40 to 50 people manoeuvres impossibly tight corners on roads riddled with scooters darting in and out of traffic, cars, vans and other buses brushing within  millimetres of each other. Here is a video Don took while standing at the front of the bus.

You can get a sense of the thrilling possibilities for a tumbling adventure if the bus misses a corner as it rounds the overhanging cliff.  All the while our eyes are popping and heads spinning as we view these ancient stone houses clinging to terraced cliffs on one side while the calm Mediterranean gently washes up on the shore below.

View from inside our bus.

Amalfi Coastline.

We landed safely in Amalfi and quickly crammed into a bus with 50 other tourists on an excursion from a cruise ship parked in the harbour.  Another midway ride up to the small town of Ravello.

Cruise ship in Amalfi.

Ravello is home to a spectacular concert hall designed by Oscar Niemeyer and only opened in the last year.  We were very fortunate to have a delightful young woman show us around the facility and answer all of our questions.

Linda sitting in a very expensive chair designed by Oscar Neimeyer.

Don took this video to help give a sense of this acoustically designed building.

We wandered Revello for awhile people watching, shopping and eating.  Groups of pigeons had been assigned areas for clean up in the public square and were dutifully carrying out their duties.

Two pussy cats with their staff of two.

Your guess is as good as mine on this one.

Our map director, Pat, then coached us onto the path that returns wayward pilgrims from Revello back to Amalfi. While not as hair raising as the bus ride up, this trek held it's own adventure as we used our sleuthing powers to imagine signs pointing us in the right direction. Passing by terraced fields with vineyards, munching goats, and clucking chickens juxtaposed with narrow passages between people's homes with washing hanging from lines nearly brushing the tops of our heads created a delight of sights and sounds.

Narrow walkway past beautiful wall decorations.

Pendulous gourds hanging from their vine.

We eventually arrived back to Amalfi, caught another bus back to our hotel, collapsed for awhile and then headed out to have a wonderful meal at a local restaurant.  Now it's off to bed.