Arriving in Amalfi, we found our way to our hotel, Villa Lara, which was a couple of kilometers up the main street. Amalfi is a small, very quaint town that was an bustling and important maritime capital in the 1200's . There is a very imposing cathedral (Cattedrale di Sant'Andrea) in the square which was built in the early 10th century (parts of it were anyway).
Cattedrale di Sant'Andrea
The very ornate crypt
Inside the cathedral
View from our hotel over Amalfi down to the sea
One afternoon we headed up to Ravello which is a town further up the hillside where all the wealthy shipping merchants used to live. We wanted to visit the Villa Rufalo which has beautiful gardens and views of the coast.
View from Villa Rufalo
This is a picture of a new auditorium we came across as we were walking back down to Amalfi.... it's quite an amazing building with an incredible view.
After two days in Amalfi we moved on to Positano to stay overnight. It's more upmarket and touristy than Amalfi but a lovely town. We stayed just off the main road into the town so had a good view and a pretty easy walk down to the village.
Looking down to Positano
Main beach
View from our room
Next stop Capri. This is a place that I went to with my family when I was 10 and have always wanted to go back. I did think there was a chance it might not live up to my memories of the place but it's still as beautiful as I remember and still seems to have the best gelato in Italy!
View from our hotel (La Tosca) in Capri town but on the piccolo marina side
View of Faraglioni
After walking through Giardini di Augusto - the beautiful public gardens with amazing views, we stopped to enjoy a fresh lemon granita. The island is full of lemon and orange trees.
We did the obligatory boat tour around the island - which is actually pretty good as you get to see so much of the island. A highlight is the Blue Grotto. Access is through a small opening in the rock (see pic below) and to go in you have to get out of the big tour boat into a small row boat. To go in, everyone has to lie down in the boat and when the tide is right the 'captain' rows and/or pulls the boat in using the chain you can see in the picture.
Once inside, you realise it's quite a big cave and between singing the guys rowing the boats point out features of interest (like the pathway Tiberius used to use to get into the grotto). The water is an amazingly bright blue colour (hence the name) which apparently is caused by the reflection off the white sand.
This is a picture going back out of the cave and shows how small the opening is with another row boat waiting to come in.
We caught the bus up to Anacapri which is at a higher point on the island to Capri town. It's a pretty spot with more of a local village feel than Capri town.
On the afternoon we left, Easter Saturday, the town square in Capri was buzzing with people, showing how busy it must get and we're pleased to be able to avoid the summer crowds.
Clock tower in town square
Our favourite gelateria... the best ice cream I've had in Italy. My favourite flavours - pan fragola and straciatella, plus, they make their own waffle cones on the spot so they are still warm when you have your ice cream. Divine!
Nick choosing his next flavours
And finally, our trip ended in Naples with a stop over so we could go to Pompeii. It was quite a warm day and walking around was a bit exhausting as Pompeii is so big however, it was a good to see.
Nick touring Pompeii
For more professional shots of our holiday, click here for Nick's photo diary on Flickr.
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