The sunrises here … it is like some mythical place of beauty. The array of colors stun me each day.
Before heading out for the day, we wanted to get a photo of Michele since he was so incredibly helpful. He truly made this leg of our trip easy and so pleasant. We highly recommend staying at La Maurella for him alone.
We headed into Amalfi this morning to explore the town and have lunch. While still quite touristy, it wasn’t as crowded as Positano. On the bus ride into town we saw the donkey caravans coming down the hill – apparently this is the only way to make heavy deliveries to some of the homes on the hillside.
We started by heading into the Arsenol Museum that is just across from where the bus drops you off. The museum proudly displays the towns maritime history in what was once a hugely rich sea power. Here they made ships and it boasts one of the earliest compasses invented. It was interesting to see all the old maritime tools once used. And the architecture of the museum was also gorgeous.
After wandering the museum, we started exploring the town. We found a lemoncello manufacturing shop in Amalfi where they made it on sight. They did not allow photos or videos in the shop, or I would show you these huge vats of cut up lemons within some alcohol of some sort, fermenting. It had been passed down through the generations, with the young man we spoke with being the third. We bought some to bring home and oh my goodness it is better than anything we can buy here.
We continued to wander around the town, finding ally ways that were not frequented by the masses. The cathedral had a long staircase leading up to the entrance where tourists stopped to rest and we saw a video crew filming two models later in the day.
We continued on our way up the hill towards the old paper mill, exploring. Amalfi is rich with color and history, like most Italian towns. It is definitely on the poorer side than the touristy places we have seen so far, but it was still so beautiful.
Along the way passed a fountain with clay figures depicting an almost fairy like scene and then further up the hill we passed an outdoor presepi, or Nativity scene.
We ended up at the Paper Museum that has been around since the 13th century. We took a tour, learning how they made paper through the ages – starting with cotton and then finally moving on to paper as we know it today. The process was fascinating, as were all the old tools to create and press it. The area was carved into the hillside with a natural creek used to power everything – you can even hear the Amalfi River running beneath the main street within Amalfi. The engineering capacity long ago was amazing.
From there we headed into a smaller piazza to grab lunch. We met a man and his 14 month daughter who are from NY and are travelling for three months. His wife was working this morning in their Air B&B while he tried to wear his cute daughter out. Unfortunately I didn’t get photos, but she was adorable. After wandering the town a bit more, we decided to head back to our hotel and stopped along the way to get the one last present for our moms.
Since we have been eating our way through Italy, we decided to skip dinner again and just stay in and relax. We have been doing a decent job of combining the relaxing with the sight seeing, so it really has been a wonderful balance.
