Off to Puglia 2004

[29 February 2004].

Sunday is our last day in Amalfi. Another storm last night and on into early morning but a serious break of sun comes at last as we sit down for breakfast.

We (or rather Susie) finish packing up after breakfast, pay the bill and get our things to the car – we left it to the hotel to park when we first arrived. A wise choice since we have come to see over the last few days that even at this time of year finding parking can be a challenge. 

So at about 9 am we are off to the Greek temples at Paestum south of Naples before heading over to Puglia, a trip of about 80 km. This is definitely a place to see. Not one but three enormous very well preserved Greek temples dating to the 6th century BC. This is truly one amazing place. 

From Paestum we backtracked to the A3 superhighway and go toward Avellino to pick up the A16 to Bari – at the toll gate we pick up our ticket but run into a small glitch when we finally go to pay the toll with our credit card. It won’t take the card although it is signed for that and we had no problem on the A1 in using our credit card. We find this happened again on the A14 between Cerignola and Bari as well. We quickly learn to have ample Euros on hand. 

On the way we check out the exit for Cerignola ovest (west) – this is where we think we will get off for Stornara on Tuesday when we go to find the airfield Susan’s dad flew in and out of for some months during WW2. Some snow in the mountains and even bits on the highway but it’s a gorgeous sunny day and traffic is light (it moves fast anyway). After a drive of a bit over 400 km we arrive at our lodgings for the week, Masseria Salamina near Fasano. (Masseria are fortified farm complexes, many of which are working farms.)

We unload and unpack and relax until dinner (8 pm). There is no menu and no wine list (house red or white or both and we opt for a bit of both, plain and rather basic tasting). For starters we are brought each a plate consisting of eggplant, zucchini and a soufflé-like slice of heaven. Also bruschetta with a tapanade spread probably with red peppers. The primi course consists of thin-sliced artichokes with ground meat in a linguine-like pasta. For the secondi we are given a rolled sausage with French fries. For desert they bring out crème puffs and various sliced fruits (orange, kiwi, bananas and melon).

balcony of our apartment

one of the olive trees at the Masseria

Exploring Amalfi 2004

 [28 February 2004]

Torre Zirro overlooking Amalfi

A serious storm Friday night, wind, rain, hail. In fact  since we have arrived here it is been one long crescendo of wind and rain and of course the crashing waves on the rocks right beneath our window adds to the overall atmosphere.

Woke at 8:45am Saturday morning – decided we have to start setting an alarm –and the day begins (or continues) very stormy with occasional breaks.

The sun finally comes out in the early afternoon and we head off to explore Amalfi. Susie and I spent the next couple of hours just walking around – the town goes back up inland quite a ways in fact – and we see a couple of shops we want to check out later when we go out for dinner. We have decided that although the food and wine and service at the hotel is very good we want to experience some of the other local flavors. We find a restaurant we plan to come back to, Ristorante Il Tari.

One shop is open and tasting a number of interesting locally produced liqueurs. We try the one called Finochiette – served out of the freezer like limoncello – and end up buying two bottles. We also tasted a “green” limoncello they had as well – from young fruit apparently – but found the flavor not quite up to what we prefer. We also see way too many of the crème flavored liquors with fructose syrup added. No thank you very much.

Amalfi was once quite well known for its paper production and we find some locally manufactured watercolor paper for me to try out in my printer back home.

It’s then it’s back to the hotel to relax. Which appears to be our major occupation right now. Relaxing. It’s even gotten to the point where we have to relax between relaxation sessions.

So it’s back out in the evening. We head back to the liqueur shop for two more bottles of Finochiette and then to dinner at Il Tari. We have another bottle of Greco di Tufo, which is quite good. We’re having a hard time finding mediocre wine.

 Since the restaurant seems to specialize in fish we have the fried fish appetizer: shrimps, anchovy-like fish eaten whole. Susan has grilled swordfish and I have stuffed whole squids (stuffing was chopped squid, cheese and breadcrumbs), along with roasted eggplant slices, sliced buttered potatoes and buttered thinly sliced squash maybe? The food was quite delicious and the service was very good.

 Back to the room and read for a bit before lights out.

Bussing around the Sorrento Peninsula

 [27 February 2004]

We awoke at 8:20 am Friday morning to some sun but it was only a tease for much of today would be rain and clouds. Anyway, we had breakfast at 8:45 in the hotel (we were on the breakfast plan) and we head down to the central piazza along the waterfront to catch a bus to Sorrento. Our plan is to stop at Positano on the way back. 

The bus trip takes some 2 hours to go 28 km so you get an idea of how slow the road along the Sorrento Peninsula can be; the traffic in Sorrento was made up of one long gridlock, rather like NYC at rush hour. And this was February! We were trying to imagine what it must be like in June. Plus it was cold and raining. So we just got off the bus at the train station depot (the terminus in Sorrento) and back on another bus a half-hour later after having a coffee at a bar across the street. 

The bus to Positano was something I can live without ever doing again. Picture the car rally up Pike’s Peak in Colorado but with buses. Anyway, we get off the bus at the first of two stops in Positano – the bus doesn’t actually go down into the town but rather stays high up along the ridgeline. So we walk and walk and walk in the rain down to Positano. In fact we don’t even go all the way down since the shops are closed – many for the season. 

We stop and get our tickets to return to Amalfi and then begin the climb up the other side of the town to the bus stop (Fermata SITA). We get the bus about 4:40 pm and arrive back in Amalfi at about 5 pm. This leg was a bit more relaxed. We walk around Amalfi a bit and bought a local light red wine, “Tramonti” Costa d’Amalfi (Giuseppe Apiulla viticoltore) before heading back to the hotel to relax and get ready for dinner. 

Dinner was at 7:15 (they only serve 7-8:30 during the week) and started with spaghetti in a putanesca sauce: capers, anchovies, garlic and olives with tomatoes; another wonderful way to begin a meal. We both ordered poached red snapper, with sautéed broccoli and oven-browned potatoes. The wine is a bottle of 2002 “Vigna Cicogna” Greco di Tufo. Delicious! 

Off to Italy and the Amalfi Coast 2004

 [25-26 February 2004]

We leave JFK at 7:30 PM 25 February on ALITALIA. The flight is a bit bumpy, the food lousy, the wine OK (a white from Sicily), the attendants grumpy, and minimal communication between crew and passengers. 

Our plane arrives Roma Da Vinci airport at 9:50am Thursday. Luggage retrieval slow, but we use the time to get Euros from Bancomat, sit and have a (decent) cup of coffee. Go to Avis for our rental car, a Ford Focus (upgrade) wagon with zero deductible. Hit the road for Amalfi. 

Drive to Napoli: from FCO “ring road” to the A1; switch to the A3 in Naples for Salerno. Rain off and on but not bad weather. Naples is not terribly impressive; very industrial and generally unattractive, at least from the autostrada. The A3 is a tight drive through Naples, due to massive construction but traffic moves swiftly – and you had better do so as well. 

 We exit the A3 at Vietri sul mare, onto SS163 for Amalfi and follow signs; still rainy and very overcast. The drive to Amalfi is slow and tedious, very curvy and lots of switchbacks, just a hint of what lies further down the road as we will find out the next day. Still traffic is not bad. Anyway, after 3 hours and about 300 kms we arrive at our hotel in Amalfi, the Luna Convento. 

that's our hotel in the far distance at the outcrop of rock

Perched on a spur of rock as you come into Amalfi, the Luna Convento was originally a 13th century monastery reportedly founded by St. Francis. The entrance sneaks up on us but unlike many other places along the Costiera Amalfitana we can at least pull over off the road to the hotel door. We step inside and take the elevator to the 2nd floor where the reception is located. Very friendly and very efficient, Mr. Ciccone the manager checks us in and takes care of our car; we decide not to use it for this leg of the trip and will rely on public transport. As it turns out this was a wise move. 

We relax in our room, get showered, cleaned up and have dinner at about 7pm in the hotel dining room (their other restaurant across the road and perched on the rocks overlooking the sea is closed until after Easter). Giovanni is our waiter, and there appears to be only one other couple dining (and probably staying) at the hotel this evening, although this will change by the weekend. 

For dinner Susan starts with the Cream of Asparagus soup and I have the homemade pasta, stubby thick spaghetti about six inches long, with tomatoes and mozzarella. The soup is light, but rather rich in flavor, very smooth in texture and in flavor as well. The pasta is nicely al dente and the mozzarella in small bits just melts right into the sauce; a wonderful idea for sure. For the secondi Susan and I both have the sea bass, poached in what seems to be a very light blend of oil and lemon. The vegetables on the side are absolutely delicious: artichoke hearts and potatoes sautéed, or so we are told but like the vegetables from the following night we were at loss to explain exactly how the artichokes were prepared since they were extremely tender and yet not “mushy”. 

We go to bed at about 9:30 pm, sated and ready for rest but are both awake by 1am! We read for a bit and finally turn off our lights at about 3 am. Very windy and rainy in the night; this too will be a harbinger of what lies ahead for the next couple of days. Also we discover that just the right amount of wind/air is getting through the seemingly impenetrable walls and under our door, which in turn makes an ear-piercing whistle. At first we are at a loss as to what it may be but after finally deciding that the culprit is our door we shove a towel under the door and the sound stops. We will have to do this every night we are in Amalfi since the wind rarely diminishes.