Sunday 9th
My sister wasn't feeling well, so I went to Amalfi by myself. I got a seat by a window on the ferry so could look out at the coastline, which was certainly impressive and beautiful. At one point there was an enormous cave halfway up the hillside which dwarfed the huge block of a hotel in front of it.
Amalfi is a slighty larger town than Positano, and of course very pretty. Finding myself in the Piazza del Duomo I climbed the 62 steps up to the cathedral complex to get out of the heat. The original 9th-century church adjoining the current 10th-century cathedral is now the diocesan museum, and of course both are architecturally lovely and varied, with elements from a range of styles like Norman and Byzantine.
The cloister was gorgeous, a little white-walled Arab-influenced oasis filled with palm trees and low topiary hedges. Ancient painted frescoes and decorative mosaics are still visible on the museum walls to varying degrees, stunningly colourful, and holes in walls and gratings in the floor offer glimpses of the changes over the centuries. In the nave of the 9th-century church is an exhibition of diocesan treasures including bejewelled gold chalices, mitres, crucifixes, reliquary heads, and creepy medieval wooden statues of holy figures. The cathedral's impressive crypt holds what is believed to be the relics of St Andrew.
After resting in the cool, peaceful cathedral for a while I left in search of lunch. Hunger, heat, and tiredness meant my already-poor decision-making skills were virtually non-existent and after wandering up and down the same street once or twice I ended up getting a pizza topped with smoked mozzarella, anchovies, capers, lemon peel, and olive oil. I was intrigued by the lemon, but it was a silly choice which I immediately regretted, both getting a takeaway pizza in a busy town where there was clearly nowhere to sit to eat it, and getting something with such strong flavours. I ate it crouched down in the shade at a street corner, balancing the pizza box on my knees. I quite liked the lemon zest on it. But I definitely should have got a cone of fried fish instead.
After that disappointment I treated myself to a giant lemon sorbet served inside a giant Amalfi lemon. Which was lovely and refreshing! (But a lot for one person, haha.) The crates of giant lemons everywhere and shops full of the same colourful lemon-decorated ceramics (which were very pretty and I regret not buying something) made me realise that although there's a quaint feel to these places and things, it's still all mass-produced on a huge scale. I also bought a pastry from a bakery before heading to the marina for the 3pm ferry back to Positano.
My sister was feeling a bit better and met me at the beach, where we stayed for a couple of hours. We were due to do a sunset boat trip for our last night, but an enormous thunderstorm hit shortly before departure so that was cancelled. We, along with a hundred other people taken by surprise on the beach, sheltered under an archway just behind the beach and waited for it to pass. It didn't. After probably an hour the lightning, wind, and rain eased off slightly and we decided to go. We were already soaked through and shivering from the wind, so climbing the steep steps back up the cliff to the hotel would at least warm us up.
When the rain stopped we went back to Caffe Positano for dinner. I wanted comfort food so ordered spaghetti and meatballs.
I left for Naples the next morning, too early for breakfast at the hotel so I bought a few pastries at the airport. My sister went to Amalfi for a few hours before an evening flight to continue her European adventure. The heat and busyness of a tourist hotspot in August meant the trip wasn't what we'd hoped, but it was still a really lovely gift and I enjoyed getting away to Italy for a few days with my sister, seeing all the beautiful scenery and picturesque towns, eating yummy food, and swimming in the sea.
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