Greetings from the caldera of what may be the world’s most dangerous supervolcano. We all know about Yellowstone, but did you know that Naples, including the harbor where we’re docked, sits on the massive and restless Campi Flegrei supervolcano? The people in Naples certainly do, and monitor it carefully. But that’s a story for another day, hopefully far into the future. Look it up if you’re interested.
Though we docked in Naples, we wanted to see the Amalfi coast south of the city, which is renowned for its beauty. There are two good ways to see it—by car from above or by boat from the sea. Hey, we’re on a world cruise, so we picked the boat, which meant starting with a bus ride to Salerno, where the tour boats are based.
There wasn’t anything picturesque about the bus ride, which took us south to Salerno by a main highway that was inland from the coast, but it did provide us with a good view of Mt. Vesuvius as we passed by. Vesuvius hasn’t erupted since 1944, and the locals are getting antsy, since in the past it has erupted on roughly a twenty year cycle. Happily, it was quiet today and gave me something interesting to look at and ponder during the ride.
Salerno is tour boat central, and our 200 passenger craft was just one of several running tourists north to Amalfi and back. It was hot and humid again today, but the bright sunshine and sparkling blue waters made for excellent viewing of the pretty coastline and mountains. The trip to Amalfi took about 40 minutes, and we were fortunate enough to get great seats on the boat, with an open window and unobstructed view of the scenery.
We docked in Amalfi a little before 10:00 am, and after a short orientation tour by our guide we were turned loose to spend a couple hours exploring the town, which we made full use of. Amalfi is very photogenic, so pretty photos weren’t hard to get. The town is pinned between the sea and the mountains, and the only place it’s flat is along the waterfront. From there any exploration of the town involves walking uphill.
Happily for those who weren’t inclined to take on the incline (see what I did there?), the single most beautiful and important building in town is right on the Piazza del Duomo, the main square, at the very bottom of the mountain. The Amalfi Cathedral is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to Saint Andrew, and it is stunning. It has been redone many times, and its facade is a mixture of Byzantine, Norman, and Arab elements. They all work together to marvelous effect. Adding to the grandeur, the Cathedral towers over the square, because (sorry, some climbing involved after all) it sits atop a wide set of 62 stone steps. There is an elegant portico at the top of the steps, providing some protection from the elements, and massive bronze front doors that were cast in Constantinople nearly a thousand years ago. We were able to enter briefly, and the interior is beautiful too. See my photos below.
There is a wide main street that climbs straight up the mountain from the square, and it was lined with gift shops, souvenir shops, restaurants, and tourists, lots and lots of tourists. Vacation season in Europe is July and August, but clearly a lot of people were getting started a day early. The truth is that the town was jammed with tourists to a degree that it was hard to move around on the Main Street. However, here’s where a tip from our guide paid off.
When we exited the church we didn’t go back down the steps to the plaza, but found a narrow side exit off the portico leading to an even narrower alley. We took it, and that alley led to another, which led to another and another, always uphill, and generally parallel to the main street. These alleys were narrow enough that at times we had to squeeze past people coming past us in the opposite direction. But here’s the thing—there weren’t many people. Often we had these tiny alleys all to ourselves, and exploring them was really fun. There was no guarantee that they wouldn’t end abruptly and force us to retrace our steps all the way back down, but that was part of the fun.
Eventually we did pop out into a small square that adjoined the main street, and this is where hunger took over. With a little less than an hour left before our time to leave we had to make a decision. Either we could get a table at one of the several cafes and restaurants on the main street and have a nice meal, or we could grab something on the go and use our remaining time to see more of the town. We chose the latter option and scored yummy personal pizzas from a vendor on the street, folded and wrapped in paper in a manner allowing us to eat and walk. Perfect.
We used most of that remaining time window shopping, taking photos, and trying to avoid being trampled by the hordes of our fellow tourists or run over by the occasional cars that actually squeezed up and down what clearly appeared to be a pedestrian street. Still, we had a good time and returned to our tour group’s meeting point satisfied with our visit and ready for the return boat ride to Salerno. The ride back was just as pretty as the ride out, and our bus ride back to the ship in Naples pulled in a little after 2:30 pm, giving us plenty of time to prepare for tomorrow’s epic visit to Rome.
Oh, one more thing before I finish. Last night at 11:00, well after I had posted the report of our day in Siracusa, we sailed past the small island of Stromboli, and got to see one of the world’s most active volcanoes erupting. It wasn’t anything dramatic, but we could clearly see orange lava spurting upwards against the dark sky. We didn’t get any good photos, but I’ll include the best one we got below. What a neat ending to a great day.
As I said, we’re in Rome tomorrow, and I’ll be back with a full report, so stay tuned.
Our tour boat looked a lot like this one.
Took this from the dock in Salerno. This is one of four similar bridges I could see from here, which should give you an idea of the terrain.
The first of a few photos I took during the boat ride from Salerno to Amalfi.
Lots of tour boats.
They use every inch of buildable land, though there isn’t much.
You can see why this region is so popular.
Coming in to Amalfi.
On the pier in Amalfi.
Preparing to enter the town.
And this is how you enter the town, through an arched tunnel.
The main square in Amalfi from above.
The first thing you see when you enter the town into the square is the magnificent Amalfi Cathedral.
The portico of the cathedral is impressive.
This bronze door was cast in 1066, nearly a thousand years ago.
Inside the Cathedral.
The Cathedral ceiling is amazing.
This is the main street up through the town, jammed with tourists.
Houses are built right over the street.
With no shops or restaurants off the main street, there were no tourists either.
These are the type of alleys we spent most of our time exploring. No tourists.
We got lunch to go at this shop so we could use our time to keep exploring.
They grow big, beautiful lemons in this region of Italy.
If it can be made from lemons, they sell it here.
Back down in the main square, we were fortunate to see the procession from the Cathedral after Sunday mass.
Obligatory selfie in front of the Cathedral.
Back outside the tunnel entrance to town. Note the ruins on top of the Mountain.
Closeup of the ruins on top of the mountain.
On the drive between Naples and Salerno we got a great look at Mount Vesuvius.
Finally, this photo is from late Saturday night as we sailed past the Stromboli island volcano. It’s not a great photo, but it does show the volcano spewing orange lava above the island’s main town. Stromboli is one of the world’s most active volcanoes.
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