Thurs Aug 1, 2024
Hi All! The word of the day again today is WOW! I forgot just how beautiful the Amalfi coast is. So we were saying wow at every turn!
Amalfi is a town in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (4,314 ft high) surrounded by dramatic cliffs and coastal scenery. It is the main town in what is called the Amalfi Coast which also includes Positano, Ravello and Sorrento. It was a major trading power between 839 and 1200 and thus had the significance to be able to build the huge cathedral of St Andrew (more about that later).
We did a morning excursion that lasted about 4 hours but it was so hot it felt a lot longer! We took a boat ride along the Amalfi Coast to this little fishing village called Cetara. We also had the cutest Italian tour guide named “Lello” which he said was short for Ravello. He said this was what Amalfi was like before all the tourists. He also gave us a short tour of Cetara and took us to the church of St Peter and we walked around.
We then road the boat back along the coast to the town of Amalfi. Lello again gave us a short tour of the town and took us to the main square which sat at the base of the huge Cathedral of St Andrew. He explained how the church was over 1,000 years old and held the bones of St Andrew who was actually killed in Greece while spreading the Gospel.
He took us on a tour first to the Cloisters where you could see the Cathedral Bell Tower with its Moorish cupola. We also saw a fresco from 1,000 years ago painted in the Giotto style. We then toured the original church which is now a museum with gold and silver artifacts from many years ago. We then went into the crypt where we saw where St Andrew’s bones were buried. Our final stop was inside the Cathedral and the mostly Baroque style of it. On the outside were these massive bronze doors that were cast in 1057 in Constantinople. Overall, this was a very impressive Cathedral for a town with a population of 5,000 people!
After that we did a little shopping (yeah, we’re looking at you grandkids!) but then got back in the ship to get out of the heat. We showered, rested and got our late afternoon snack of freshly popped popcorn. It tasted even better than Seabourn’s!
That’s all for now. I’ll send an update after dinner. Hope everyone is having a great Thursday!
The Wandering Italian 