Oct 12, 2021
In Italian, Grande Giro means a big tour. For us this meant driving the Amalfi coast. So this morning we set out to drive to Positano and Almafi over the mountains from Sorrento. The road is very tortuous. This is especially true with the narrow winding roads and the chaotic drivers on them.
The road started with not a lot of traffic and beautiful vistas and dramatic drop-offs down to the sea. We were amazed to see vertical little towns and garden terraces as the population clings to the steep hillsides. But trying to get into Positano proved to be impossible with cars parked all over the place occupying half the lane you are driving in. As we got closer to the city, the trucks, buses, cars, motorcycles, people and dogs jump out at you from nowhere. It felt like playing a video game but only this was real life with no reset button other than dropping over a steep cliff down to the sea.
So we passed on Positano and ended up in Amalfi where we scored one of seven parking spots left in the city. We then caught our breath and had a wonderful tour of the cathedral of St Andrew which was amazing. Then we had a wonderful lunch with the best sea bass we had ever tasted! After our great lunch we drove back to Sorrento over the breathtaking mountain pass which took about one and a half hours to go 20 miles.
