Tom`s travels: Amalfi Coast (4-11/06/2016)

As nearly every year we had organized a week in June to come to the town of Positano, where my grandmother always rents a hotel room for seven days. We departed from Verona airport and reached Naples airport 45 minutes later. From there we took a taxi and reached Positano around midday. For the next two days we spent the time in town and at the local beach of Fornillo. On the 6th however, I decided to head to Ieranto Bay, on the western end tip of the Sorrento Peninsula. So I took a bus from Positano and got off right before Sant'Agata sui Due Golfi: from there I walked for about 2 hours or 8km and reached the small village of Nerano. I then decided to take a quick swim at the Spiaggia dei Tedeschi (Germans' beach) in Marina del Cantone and then resume my walk. From there it was another hour to my destination; the walk was very pleasant, and the views were amazing, it ran along a beaten bath just below the mountain crest with the bay of Nerano on one side with crystal clear waters and then reaching the medieval tower of Montalto with a sheer dropping cliff on either side but with beautiful views all around. I then started my descent down towards the beach passing through wonderful olive trees and by different types of cactuses until I reached the bottom. There were 2 spots to choose from, an actual small beach with a few people already laying down on it or a concrete platform jutting out over the water that used to be part of what was a mining complex operating here until the 1950s. I opted for the platform and after setting down my stuff I immediately diving in the inviting wonderful water. There were plenty of fish and the water was cold yet very pleasant, I then dried out and relax for a few hours before it was time to get back on my feet and walk back. I detoured around the industrial ruins to take a picture of the view across the bay towards the island of Capri and then resumed my walk back. After reaching Nerano again I took a bus to Sorrento where I then caught my connection to Positano. After another day relaxing in Positano's beach, on the 8th we decided to go to Capri. We took the 10:30 boat that reached the island in about half an hour, we then descended into Capri's main port, Marina Grande, and got on the small bus that brought us to the top in the town of Anacapri on the western side of the island. From Anacapri we then took the lift all the way to the highest point of the island, the Monte Solaro, with wonderful views all around particularly towards the Faraglioni. We walked back down to Anacapri where we strolled around the town center and visited the church of San Michele which had an amazing majolica floor mosaic depicting the original sin and paradise filled with animals. We then headed to the Villa San Michele, built by Swedish physician and author Axel Munthe in the early 20th centuy, with views over the port and towards the Sorrento peninsula. The interior was very nice (thoufh the ticket was overly priced probably cause it is owned by Sweden) the gardens were exquisite with many plants and flowers and a terrace with an incredible view, overseen by two statues of sphinxes one of the Etruscan period and the other Egyptian. Below the villa we took the so called Phoenician steps (allegedly by the phoenicians) that took us down towards the Marina Grande. Having some time left we decided to take a plunge in the nearby beach called Bagni di Tiberio, which used to be a roman villa right on the waterfront/ After a quick swim we headed back in time to catch our boat to Positano.