Cruising the Amalfi Coast

Today was very busy. I had signed up for a Viator tour of the Amalfi Coast, going through Sorrento, Positano, Ravello, Amalfi and some other smaller towns. However, I ended up being the only one on the tour so I got a private car and guide. Below is a picture of the coast taking from the winding roads... 

The weather was perfect... So warm that I was able to wear a tank top!

Positano was pretty much all closed because it was Sunday and people were in church or with their families, so we didn't stop anywhere. That was fine by me, though, because it didn't look as great as it did online. So instead we went straight to Ravello, where I visited the Villa Ruffolo (basically the equivalent of the Boboli Gardens here in Florence). A lot of the architecture on the Amalfi Coast is Baroque or influenced by Arabic architecture. There's a ton of these type of columns everywhere.

This area below was probably my favorite part of the gardens. A beautifully symmetrical garden on a balcony overlooking the Amalfi Coast. 

After Ravello, we started driving back along the Amalfi Coast and stopped in the town of Amalfi for lunch-- the heart of the Amalfi Coast. Since I was the only one on the tour, I ended up eating alone but I had a table right on the harbor so it was nice. I started off with a glass of prosecco.

The first course was a seafood pasta dish with crab and sea urchin. 

Then I had paranza, a typical Neopolitan dish. This is an assortment of fried shrimp, calamari, mullet and anchovies.  I also had a side salad with balsamic vinegar (because that's the only way they ever serve salad, or should I say lettuce, here in Italy).

In Southern Italy, Italians love cooking with lemon so for dessert I had a lemon delight which is basically a lemon sponge cake. It was pretty good. The caramel sauce decorating the plate was even better! 

After lunch, I walked around Amalfi more before heading back to the hotel. I went to bed extremely early because it was so quiet (unlike my apartment). I don't think I've ever slept so much. It was a fun day.

Ciao for now!