Naples to Maratea

Thursday October 16, 2008

You probably got the idea from the last post that we found Naples to be hectic and faster paced than other Italian cities. Then we picked up our car for the trip to southern Italy! Driving in Naples is something to behold and, if possible, avoid at all costs. The rental agent told us how to get out of the city which involved driving down a few one way streets the wrong way. Then we got into traffic, where we had to make a left turn across a line of traffic going the opposite way, helped only by the fact that the other two lanes to our right were also turning left with us and acted as a block to keep the cars in the oncoming lane from running into us. All this on streets of an city already chaotic, partially due to the fact that they seem to have determined that traffic lights and street name signs are superfluous! Thank Garmin for that GPS. On the other hand, the GPS sometimes seems to have a mind of its own (one that doesn’t work too well). For example, after leaving Naples, we headed for the Amalfi coast and were sent by the GPS down a street that was closed. It does that every so often and never finds it necessary to apologize.

Anyway, after leaving Naples we went south to the Amalfi coast road. This is a beautiful and famous drive along the coast from Sorrento to Salerno. Mary Ellen was concerned about the trip, as she had been on the road before and knew it is to be quite narrow and winding with sheer drop-offs on the seaside, the rock face on the other, full of blind curves and tourist and local busses making passage difficult. (She folded in the passenger side rear-view mirror to preserve its integrity.) She didn’t have the requisite faith in my driving ability. She does now. We were detoured by the GPS so we drove south to Salerno on the Autostrada, then back north on the coast, with a drive up a mountain to the lovely Ravello to see the views, the old duomo, charming piazza and lots of ceramics shops. Back on at sea level, we continued to the gorgeous Positano, turned around, and drove back south to Salerno. The weather was somewhat overcast but the views were still beautiful and the drive was exciting for both of us. Lunch was in a spot overlooking Positano and the coast.

From Salerno, we headed into the part of the trip that neither of us has ever seen, the Mezzogiorno, or southern Italy. It was still overcast but we could see mountains rising around us and, on some of the hills, old towns that looked like something out of the middle ages and may have been. Our destination, Maratea, is a small town along the coast that looks convenient for exploring this area. We are in a large apartment on the second floor in a very small group of not particularly attractive houses about 500m from the beach. The mountains around seem to be wild and attractive. We will be exploring the area tomorrow and report on the results.

Tom (with editing and improvements by Mel)