Subtitle: Getting up very early on vacation for a beautiful
morning hike.
Here I am, entirely too early, getting ready to head out the door:
This was my last day on the Amalfi Coast. I made it count! In the lead up to my trip I did a lot of research on various hikes in the area and decided that it would be nice to have a local guide accompany me.
Lucia of Zia Lucy is a great
companion on this hike.
She's a native who lives in Nocelle and her home is literally at the very
end of the main part of the Pathway of the Gods. She hikes this path several times weekly in
all seasons and her boyfriend is a serious trekker who travels to other regions
and countries for his hiking adventures.
She is pleasant and fun and very knowledgeable. She is
also very reasonably priced. When I made
my plans I decided that given that there is a bit of traveling involved to get
to the trail head in Bomerano (and early to boot) it might be easier just to
have a native along to make sure I was on the right buses - as well as having
someone to talk to.
Her website:Lucia and I first met on my first day in Positano when I did the intro to Positano walking tour. She knows a lot of people and many times people stopped to say hello while we were walking around. I also ran into her a few days later - she was conducting a tour with some people I had met at lunch the day before - I had recommended they contact her. We made our plans to meet in front of the Alcione (my lodging) at 630 AM so that we could catch the early bus to Amalfi which is where you catch the bus that goes to Bomerano.
We were on the SITA bus just before 7 AM on a Saturday and take heed - it was already filling up. Make sure to sit on the side that looks over the water, if you can - the views are just stunning. I was glad to let someone else do the driving on the coast. The drive was mostly without incident although there was at least one spot where our bus met another bus and the one coming in the other direction had to slowly inch backwards to make room for everyone. Naturally the other drivers on the road are very impatient and once a small space cleared between the buses we watched people in their tiny cars trying to cut ahead and zoom through the hole - which only serves to slow everyone else up and especially because you can't see what is in the other direction. Lucy watched this all and commented drily: "Now let's watch this festival of stupidity" which I thought was just hilarious. That is a great quote to use when watching drivers pull silly stunts!
As we drove along the coast I briefly wondered where the House Hunters
International property might be found. I
had corresponded with the owner although I knew I wouldn't have enough time to
look it up on such a short trip. She's
wayyy up in the hills above the water.
Maybe some other trip it would be interesting to visit. I wonder if she will turn it into a B&B,
or if it would be their private home. I
don't know.
We made it to Amalfi and had a little bit of time to walk to
a grand old caffe Pansa and get some pastries and espresso. Then back on the bus to take us to Bomerano.
We arrived in
Bomerano pretty close to 9 AM and stopped at a bakery to get a variety of
cookies and then another small caffe for water and espresso as well as a pit
stop before the walk.
You will see a number of people prepping for the hike in
this little village although once we started walking we passed a few people and
then we were alone for the most part. Here
are a few photos taken at the beginning of the hike. 
As we walked, Lucy talked about the different flowers on the
trail and some of the history of the area.
She told me that the fall, and especially October/November, is her
favorite time. Apparently the water is
still warm enough for swimming in October.
She also said the winter seas get very intense blues. If you follow her on Facebook (or Positano
Daily Photo, also on Facebook) you will see some frequent photos of the region.
Here are some flower photos:
More photos. You can
see how high up you are hiking, and the stunning views over the water. One of the photos is Positano
from a distance. I'm sure you can find
it. You can see various Saraceno towers
in these photos, too.
There is a certain part of the hike where you emerge from
what appears to be some farmland, with grapes and lemons growing, and then BOOM
you have the whole of the Amalfi Coast ridgeline in front of you. You can't miss it. Here is the first photo:
And here is the ridgeline
from various spots. As we near
Nocelle you will see very clearly the Faraglioni of Capri off in the
distance.
And then we reached the end.
There is a B&B in an absolutely fantastic location with stunning
views along the coast - it's maybe 100 feet from her own home. We stopped by there for some orange juice and
espresso and I took some more photos. This B&B was very nice and modern with a
beautiful terrace as you can see from the photos. It's also very reasonably priced - rooms in
May through September (high season) are under 100E. Bear in mind if you stay here you would have
to take the toodle bus down to Positano each day.
Here are the photos from Nocelle:
After we had our beverages we said our goodbyes. Lucy showed me the shortcut to get to road to
meet the bus near La Tagliata, where I had dined the day before. It was a 15 minute walk, give or take, and
then I met the bus and headed back down to Positano. The day was not hot (although it was warming
up as it was noon) and I could easily have stopped for lunch and then walked
the rest of the way down but I decided to take the bus back to town and clean
up for a lunch on the beach.
To be continued...
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