This Is The Life

After such a hectic three weeks in Italy, we thought that our last days should be a time to pause, relax and reflect.  Enter Amalfi.  Situated on the Amalfi Coast overlooking the azure blue waters of the south coast of Italy (just above the ankle), we were just hoping that the reality would live up to the pictures we had seen.

So we hopped aboard the bus to to Amalfi and then proceeded to hold on to dear life for the next two hours.  Picture a two way street the size of a one way street on the edge of a cliff that plunges 100m down to the ocean.  Now picture a bus travelling along this street at a fair speed.  Now picture impatient aggressive drivers coming the other way and you'll get some idea of the experience.  You know that in reality the bus driver has driven this road many times, and most likely the other dirvers have also, but in the back of your mind are the stories you see on CNN about 42 people on a bus going over a cliff in some exotic destination.  However perilous the journey, the views out the window were amazing and we couldn't wait to get to our hotel perched on the side of the cliff.

So we cuddled together, watched the sun set over the ocean and reflected on all our amazing Italian adventures

After walking the 200 or so vertical steps with our overloaded backpacks, we were eager to find our hotel and colapse, however we first had to negotiate the traffic on the 'road from hell'.  You see there are no footpaths on the narrow road and if you take the picture outlined above and add two Australian backpackers to the mix, then you'll get some idea of the experience.  Obviously we did make it unscathed to our hotel and were once again blown away as we walked out on our own private balcony.  The views were absolutely amazing (if we could find a computer in Europe that will allow us to down load pictures we would show you) and ours for the next two days.

The Amalfi Coast is reputed to have of the most beautiful coastline in Europe and we hopped on a bus to Positano to see for ourselves.  I am still amazed at the skills of the bus drivers who travel that road.  We made it to the beautiful Positano with the town's buildings seeming to grow out of the cliffs they are perched on.  We decided that a picnic lunch on the beach was in order and so made the 15 minute trek down to the pebble beach.  We found a secluded spot at the base of a cliff and sat there in the winter sun, simply content just to be.  The different colours of the water were beautiful, again taking pictures hoping that they would capture the moment.  The rest of that afternoon and the next was spent drinking wine and eating cheeses on our balcony and marveling at how lucky we were.

As we sat on the balcony, it was amazing to realise in just one more day our Italian leg of our trip would come to an end, and we would board an overnight sleeper train to Paris.  So we cuddled together, watched the sun set over the ocean and reflected on all our amazing Italian adventures, and dreamed of the adventures we were yet to have.