Lunch in the Eagle's Nest

 

Today we headed south from Naples, past Mt Vesuvius to explore the delights of the Amalfi Coast. Our first stop was at the stunning hilltop village of Ravello. We walked the village back streets and stopped at a little trattoris for coffee before heading into the Villa Ruffalo to explore the magnificent gardens.

The gardens are preparing to host a Wagner concert and so a temporary stage was set up with the most amazing backdrop of the Amalfi coastline from every seat, although when I looked, the stage was propped up on scaffolding over 100 metres above ground level on the side of the hill. I loved the sculpture of the man covered with birds - the original ' hen pecked husband'??????

From here, we ventured further along the coastline to the pretty village of Amalfi itself. It is summer holidays in Italy and the traffic is crazy!! These coastal roads are so narrow and winding – to pass the cars had to literally fold in their rear view mirrors – a couple of times, I found myself breathing in and holding my breath to give them more room to pass. We wandered around the village of Amalfi, shared a limoncello flavoured gelati and then headed up the 65 steps to visit the cathedral of St Andrew of Amalfi, a stunning building which is the centre piece of the village. Across the road, the beaches were full with sun worshippers – all lying on black pebbles – a strange sight to us – we have such beautiful white sandy beaches at home and this sand was so hot and uninviting.

From Amalfi, our next stop was high in the cliffs above Positano for lunch – whoever thought that they would put a village so far up the rock face, and the narrow winding road caused a few anxious moments. We had read about Trattoris La Tagliata on trip advisor and in Rick Steves books, so we were keen to try it – and it definitely lived up to its reputation.

There isn’t a menu – further down the cliff face is a vegetable garden, and everything except the pasta and prosciutto was growing there this morning – ‘Mumma’ cooks whatever she wants from the garden – and a feast was delivered to our table.

When we arrived and climbed down the stairs over the side of the cliff, we were greeted by the waiter who announced that ‘you are so lucky – today you have the best table in the restaurant’. We were impressed until we heard the same greeting repeated to each successive group of diners!! Mind you, I don’t think that there was a bad seat in the whole restaurant – the view was stunning from all directions.

And then the bottles of water, red and white wine arrived at the table – to be removed and replaced as soon as they were empty – no wine list either – we were just given the house bottles which were very palatable.

Soon the food arrived – eggplant in a tomato sauce, bruschetta with a tomato and basil topping, bean casserole, broccoli, spinach, chick peas, tomato salad, enormous buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto, fresh crusty bread rolls – the plates seemed endless.

And just when we thought we couldn’t eat any more – the main course arrived – platters of gnocchi, ravioli, cannelloni and rigatoni with pesto sauce – so delicious.

The gastronomic adventure continued when the platters of chocolate decadence arrived – we were too full to do them justice I must admit. The meal was not over yet though – a large platter of white grapes was the final course – with glasses of limoncello, of course. What a feast and all for 25 euros each.

Completely satiated, we headed back down the mountain, to re-join the road to our next stop, Sorrento. The local products are the drink Limoncello, and each store has lots of products made from lemons - the most enormous ones I have ever seen - more like large grapefruit!!

Our guide Paulo was an excellent driver - every time we had to stop to allow another vehicle to pass he would say ‘Mumma Mia – just close your eyes – that’s what I do!!!???’ Very reassuring especially since every car has huge dints in the sides – a great place for a panel beater to start a business – although maybe they just don’t go to the trouble of repairing the damage!!

Finally we returned to the ship for another great sail away as the sun set over Naples and with Mt Vesuvius dominating the background, as we  headed to Civittavechia – the port for Rome tomorrow – the adventure continues.
Ps - For some reason the pics are in the wrong place - will fix later.