The Edge of Glory/Worry

After a couple torrentially rainy days in Naples and Pompeii, I was eager to move on to a new place to potentially escape the rain. My next destination was Sorrento, Italy, which is a good point from which to visit the Amalfi Coast. It was as if someone gave me a little bump, though, and I ended up in a hostel one town over in a place called Sant Agnello. At least the hostel said it was in Sant Agnello, but from how long it took me to walk uphill to it, it could have been on the top of Mount Everest. I asked somebody for directions along the way and they literally said to me, "Oh, it's just up the mountain." On the day that I was supposed to check in to the hostel, I was practically sprinting because I was nervous about not being there on time. Some of the hostels put a scary note on their page that says something like, "If you are not on time to check in, we will absolutely, positively, 100% give your room away, leaving you in the crappiest of circumstances because we are in the middle of nowhere." This is verbatim. By the time I got there, and on time I might add, I was soaked from the rain, which had not gone away yet, and from a serious back-sweat situation. The kicker was, the lady wasn't even there! All this jibber-jabber about being on time, and yet here I am, a smelly wreck collapsed on the ground in a pitch-black hallway waiting for my host to turn up. It turns out she is a very sweet lady, so all is forgiven.

In Sorrento, there are orange and lemon trees everywhere. I don't know if they are fair game or not. Either way, they are healthy, so I wouldn't eat them anyway.

Poster in hostel...maybe she isn't such a sweet lady...

The next day, my plans were to go to Amalfi. I quickly learned that getting there is the fun part. You've never lived until you are sure you are going to die careening off a cliff into the sea because your bus driver is happily babbling away on his phone. It's pure exhilaration. Looking out the window is frighteningly awesome, because in looking down, you literally can't see any road because you are so close to the edge. Frankly, I am amazed by the drivers of these buses. The roads are so tight and winding that they must need a tremendous amount of strength in their arms to pull the wheel back and forth for hours of loops of this road. Or in the case of my Chatty Cathy driver, strength in one arm.

Before I realized that I was on a demon bus.

You can kind of see from this picture how close the bus comes to the edge. Fun!

Along the coast road, the bus passes through a couple different towns. Positano is one of the more well-known towns, and although I didn't stop, it looked wonderful and I heard great things about it. In Naples, I had dinner with two Korean guys, one of which could speak English very well, and the other could understand, but didn't speak it. The one thing the entire night that the guy who didn't speak English did communicate to me was "Positano" and the thumbs up sign. So it must be nice there.

"Positano" -Thumbs up sign-

The Amalfi Coast has many qualities that make it an excellent place to visit, but one of the main reasons people go is to see the way these towns are built. They are situated, like the aforementioned roads, so that they are built into the cliffs of the coast. What this means is that there is a great deal of verticality. Hence, -ugh-, hills and stairs. In spite of these things, my two greatest enemies, I had a lovely time in Amalfi. I was definitely blissed out on the fact that the rain had finally and mercifully stopped, but more importantly, on being in this truly beautiful place. Because they are so vertical, when you get at the right angle, you can see a lot of the towns, which makes for captivating views.

Amalfi.

Also Amalfi.

Seeing all these places along the coast, I couldn't help thinking, why would anyone want to put themselves through the trouble of living here? I mean other than the fantastic views, lovely people, abundance of delicious seafood, and general excellent quality of life. But can you imagine having to get a washer delivered?!? In addition to the towns, while driving along, I could often spot lone houses way up on the hill. My first thought is always, "How do you even get up there?" And second, I think about how these people sometimes have to haul supplies up this mountainside, and how I'm usually too lazy to even walk the 20 feet to get the groceries from the car.

Not a great picture, but you can see the ridiculously located houses. How do you get there?!?

The ride back from Amalfi was even better than the way there. It had all the fun and excitement from the first ride, driver on a phone included, but this time also involved a five minute Mexican standoff. Basically, our bus and a van reached a one-lane bridge at the same time, both vehicles continued driving onto the bridge, and then, obviously, both had to stop in the middle. The first minute was tense because there was complete silence, and the drivers weren't even looking at each other, just looking off into the distance, feigning indifference, waiting for the other to move. Minute two switched things up because now the drivers were staring at each other, murmuring things under their breath. The third minute turned things into high gear because now both drivers are yelling at each other. Reaching minute four was when the frenzy began. In addition to the lines of cars honking around us, the native Italians on the bus are standing up and getting involved in yelling at the van driver too. So many rude hand gestures! So many! Meanwhile, I'm sitting gleefully in the back of the bus hoping this moment will never end. Minute five was where the dam broke and the bus driver opened the door, remembering to grab his can of whup ass out of the glove compartment on the way out, and it was at this juncture that the van driver decided it would be in his nose's best interest to back up. Who even needs television?!?

Tip #2: It is imperative that you sit on the right side of the bus.

Tip #3: Always validate your train ticket, because the time you don't will be the time they check.

The Numbers

Pizza slices eaten: 3

Top bunk placements: 1
Photos taken: 61 out of 85

Rude hand gestures witnessed: Approximately 73