Cruising the Amalfi Coast

When tasked with figuring out what to do with our last day in Italy, we were torn.  Did we want to go explore the ancient ruins of Pompeii?  Or drive along the infamous Amalfi Coast?  Both are great options.  It was a win-win situation no matter what we decided to do.  

After talking it over, we decided to have a treat yo self moment and hired a private car to drive us along the Amalfi Coast.  My parents' neighbors are from that area originally and recommended that we use Italy Limousine for our trip.  It was pricey for sure, but it did not disappoint.

Our drive/guide, Lorenzo, showed up at our B&B at 9 o'clock in the morning to pick us up in his Benz (treat yo self!).  We made a quick espresso/cappuccino pit stop (duh) and then we were off!

Lorenzo did a great job answering our questions and pointing various things out to us as we drove along, like the different citrus trees.  From time to time, he'd stop at an overlook on our drive so we could take in the view.  While there were a few moments where language was a bit of a barrier, we still had a good time and lots of laughs.  

In front of Vesuvius and the valley below

We stopped at three cities on the coast - Ravello, Amalfi, and Positano.  We were given 45 minutes to go explore each.  Not a lot of time, I know, but it was enough to give us a taste of each.

The first town that we stopped in on our tour was Ravello.  Out of the three that we visited, Ravello was my favorite.  I think that's because it was small and had the least amount of people in it.  Staying there for an extended period of time probably would have gotten boring for me, but walking around it for a little was absolutely perfect.

Our next stop was Amalfi, which had no shortage of people.  The streets were absolutely jammed packed with mostly tourists.  We spent our time there walking up and down one of the main drags and popping into some stores.  At the end we walked out by the sea, which gave us some fantastic views.

The last stop on our tour was Positano - the pearl of the Amalfi.  Lorenzo recommended a restaurant to us for lunch - Ristorante da Costantin.  This restaurant is situated high up on a hill, so when you look out you see the entire town.  Since we had a hook up, a table was reserved for us with a breathtaking view of the buildings and sea below.  I spent a lot of lunch marveling in the beauty of Positano, as well as the ingenuity it took to build the towns and road that goes along the coast.  These were all built into the side of mountains, which is mind-blowing to think about.  Humans can do really phenomenal things when they put their minds to it.

Our view with lunch.

After lunch, we walked around town to burn off some of what we ate.  We followed the windy streets down to the beach, stopping in multiple stores along the way.  I got to stick my feet in the water, and it felt amazing since it was so hot outside.

Towards the end of our time in Positano, it started to pour.  We ducked into a cafe, hoping that it would pass.  It was there that I discovered the life-changing caffè freddo (frozen coffee that's like a slushie).  I'm sad that I waited until my last day in Italy to order one because it was fantastic!  After checking the time, we braved the rain to head back to the car.

It was an exhausting day.  I was having a really hard time keeping my eyes open on our way home.  But towards the end of our ride, I started to wake back up.  As I was gazing out the window, I started to wonder what would happen if the car broke down.  Would someone else come get us so that we could continue on our way?  Would we be stranded wherever we were?  What's the procedure for something like that?  And then, just as we started to enter the port of Naples, our car died.  The engine strait up cut out.  Luckily, Lorenzo was able to pull off to the side of the road so that we weren't in the middle of traffic.  He opened the hood of the car and lots of smoke came cascading out.  Our guess is the car overheated.  That's something that got lost in translation.  He did, however, keep apologizing for it, but honestly we weren't phased by what had happened.  It was hot outside and it was obviously a fluke occurrence.  We weren't upset at all, and I did my best to make that known.  

While Lorenzo was trying to figure out what to do, another driver from a different company pulled over to help him.  After speaking to each other for a few moments and making a couple of brief phone calls, we were told that Italy Limousine would pay this driver from another company to take us back to our B&B.  Since we had no other option for getting back, we piled into the new van so that we could go home.  I realize that sounds really bad, but it wasn't.  The van didn't look like a windowless one a creeper would drive around while offering small children candy.  There were windows and everything. 

Looking back at it all, I'm really happy that we had someone take us around instead of renting a car ourselves.  If one of us had been driving, then both of us wouldn't have been able to take it all of the beauty the Coast has to offer.  We also didn't have to worry about things like making sure to gas up the car and finding parking.  Also, I probably would have a full blown panic attack if our car broke down just outside the port of Naples.

Am I sorry that we skipped Pompeii for the Amalfi Coast?  Absolutely not.  I think we made the right choice.  And I do recommend Italy Limousine if you are looking for someone to give you a tour of the area.  The only drawback, in our opinion, is that you have to pay for it in cash.  Other than that, it was well worth the money and was one of my favorite things that we did in Italy.  Thank you so much, Jimmy and Juliette, for such a great suggestion!