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Photo Contest September 10, 2016 – Amalfi
Contest Photo – Amalfi
We were surprised at how many people identified Amalfi in our photo contest. We can’t seem to stump our well-traveled friends! The winner of the contest is Chuck Diefenderfer of Jekyll Island, GA, whose name was randomly selected from the 27 correct responses.
Amalfi’s town square
Amalfi’s Cathedral
Amalfi was one of the very picturesque ports on our 7 day cruise along the Amalfi Coast aboard the Star Flyer, a real sailing ship.
It is a prime tourist port with lots of shops and restaurants. It has a rich history dating back to the 6th century. It’s most well known attraction is the Cathedral of Amalfi with works by Michelangelo and Bernini. In Amalfi, we had some of the best olives that we’ve ever tasted at a local restaurant — and they were free.
Amalfi is a good jumping off point for Ravello, a popular spot along the Amalfi coast. One can take a bus to Ravello from Amalfi, but beware of traffic during summer months!
On our trip, we also visited the “picture postcard” island of Lipari, one of 7 small islands of the Aeolian archipelago. We opted for the only excursion offered by the ship, a motorcoach tour of the island which offered us many opportunities to take wonderful photos from high in the hills. We also stopped at “Marisa”s Place where we sampled Malvasia, the local wine, as well as many flavors of delicious cookies.
It would be inaccurate to classify Messina as a picturesque port. While we found that Messina itself has little to offer, an excursion to Taormina is a must from this port. The town is perched on a terrace overlooking the sea so we got wonderful photos. The highlight is the Grecian theater famous for its size and acoustic qualities. It is still used for open air performances.
View from the hills of Lipari
Entering Taormina’s main street
View of Mt. Etna from Taormina
Looking down a street in Pompeii
Sorrento is another port, beautiful on its own, where one can enjoy shopping and restaurants. However, the main attractions are nearby and you will have difficult choices. We chose to visit Pompeii, buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. You will walk the streets of Pompeii and visit wealthy patrician homes just as they looked almost 2000 years ago.
Herculaneum is another (smaller) city destroyed by the eruption that buried Pompeii. Folks who went there told us that it was a great experience. Workers are still excavating the town.
The third choice for Sorrento is the famed Capri. Those who chose this tour raved about the beauty of Capri and they said a highlight was a visit to the Blue Grotto. You need to get to Capri by boat so you should be aware that it can be a rough trip. However, the waters were quite calm for the folks who visited Capri from our ship.
Picturesque Ponza Waterfront
The final port on our itinerary was the picturesque fishing village of Ponza which, according to legend was the home of Circe who seduced Uslysses. This port was teeming with vacationing locals. While in Ponza, you could easily take a local boat to one of the beaches, take a different boat to visit Ponza’s grottos or simply walk through the town. We ate lunch at a restaurant overlooking the tiny harbor where two Star Clipper ships were anchored – our Star Flyer and the larger Royal Clipper.
Call for more info about the Amalfi Coast. This was one of our favorite destinations!