We woke up feeling a little sorry for ourselves this morning and so a slow morning doing school work was the easy way out for our aching thighs and calf muscles. By 2 o’clock in the afternoon we were a bit more nimble and headed out for a coffee. Ravello was our destination as we had heard from Ollie and Lizette (fellow travellers from Denmark staying below us in Furore) that it was a pretty place in the hills to visit.
Every single time we leave our apartment here in Furore we have 6 of the tightest hairpin bends followed by a series of cliff turns and overhanging by-passes to traverse. The trip to Ravello was no different apart from having to drive through the seaside town of Amalfi in which every car has to go through the one round-about that is connected to the main bus terminal and car-park. The traffic jam here was completely insane. It was an utter dead-lock and we were in the middle of it. Some young Italian men left their scooters and directed cars and busses ahead, other older Italian men directed with their hands from behind their steering wheels and Paul simply drove the CRV like it was a piece of limp spaghetti around impossibly tight turns and between busses full of tourists and policemen blowing whistles. Even though it was complete chaos, everyone was in good humour and the time passed eventfully.
Ravello was in fact a lovely little town with a quaint piazza by the side of a church and some ancient ruins. Here we found exquisite Italian ceramics and beautiful hand-painted dinner settings to dream about dinner parties and alfresco meals at home.
www.ceramichedalena.com
After our coffee and biscotti we continued on through the town to the Gardens of Villa Cimbrone. www.villacimbrone.com
Six hectares of historic parkland perched above the Amalfi coast. Since the 11th century this property has been owned by nobles and enormously wealthy families as its much desired position and expansive fertile land were richly prized. In the early 1900s a very wealthy and influential Englishman came to Ravello after his Grand Tour to rest and recover from the early death of his much loved wife. The intense happiness he felt here spurred him on to buy the property in 1904 and turn it into “the finest place in the world” as a dedication to his beloved wife. The landscaped gardens are a mix of traditional English and Italian.
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| Some of the frescoes by the side of the road we pass everyday |
www.ceramichedalena.com
After our coffee and biscotti we continued on through the town to the Gardens of Villa Cimbrone. www.villacimbrone.com
Six hectares of historic parkland perched above the Amalfi coast. Since the 11th century this property has been owned by nobles and enormously wealthy families as its much desired position and expansive fertile land were richly prized. In the early 1900s a very wealthy and influential Englishman came to Ravello after his Grand Tour to rest and recover from the early death of his much loved wife. The intense happiness he felt here spurred him on to buy the property in 1904 and turn it into “the finest place in the world” as a dedication to his beloved wife. The landscaped gardens are a mix of traditional English and Italian.
The Terrace of Infinity is a natural balcony, adorned with 18th century marble busts. It is incomparable to any view and both time and distance feel infinite from this point. Other sites to behold at this luxurious estate were ‘The Avenue of Immensity’, ‘Eve’s Grotto’, ‘The Rose Terrace’ and ‘The Temple of Bacchus’. All exquisite and just ever so slightly left to overgrow to add to its romance and timeless splendour.
SplendidLee
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