FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Furore

View back towards Agerola

Temperatures had returned to pre-storm highs of mid-thirties. Coupled with the humidity, we could really feel it this morning on the hike. It probably didn't help that by now, various body parts were more than tired, and that the first 30 minutes was a constant steep ascent. Our destination today was Rifugio Santa Maria dei Monti. Our aim was to get views of both sides of the Sorrento Peninsula, namely one of Vesuvius and Pompeii, and one back down the Amalfi Coast.

After the initial struggle with the ascent, the rest of the hike was rather pleasant and mostly level in the shade. Our lunch at the Rifugio was as usual, simple and tasty. It was fun and a lovely way to end our hiking tour. Having said that, we were all glad to be back in the comfort of the agriturismo! My asthma was playing up today so I opted to stay back whilst the party people headed down to Praiano after dinner to watch a band at a music club in Praiano.

A few quick words before we officially end the tour and return to Naples tomorrow morning...

I've thoroughly enjoyed this tour. The agriturismo was a gem. You see the photos but the reality exceeded my expectations. Vincenzo, our guide, has been wonderful. One can never underestimate the knowledge and tips from a local! The two things I was concerned about prior to trip was the difficulty of hiking in the heat, as well as how much I would enjoy the group setting. As a natural introvert, I was unsure of how I would cope outside the comfort of travelling with my own family or friends.

The hikes turned out to be amazing. Were they difficult? Yes. Hiking in warm weather with flies and mosquitoes, and being drenched in sweat and sunscreen was challenging. However, it was also extremely rewarding. The views were spectacular and we got to see a side of the Amalfi Coast that 90% of tourists would never see.

As for our group, we hit the jackpot! What a fun, friendly and cool bunch of 14 people to be stuck with! It really did make the trip more enjoyable and I never thought that it would be something I would say!

The beginning of the tough climb

That's a big ding-a-ling or ding-a-long

Um...still going up...

Finally! Shade!

Behind me, under that cloud cap is Mt Vesuvius.

Last little bit...

...before we were greeted by this fella!

Rifugio Santa Maria ai Monti

View down the other side of the Sorrento Peninsula. You can see Ravello and just make out Maiori in the distance

Water and wine were waiting for us

Our lunch. Everything from their farm

What an amazing group!

I don't know what this is but it is so yummy (not arancini because it is not risotto inside)

A gift from Vincenzo, a symbol of good fortune in the region

Amalfi

For the first time, Lara and I slept until 06000. Our grand plans for sunrise were discarded. The thunderstorms overnight brought pleasant temperatures in the mornings and evenings. Most importantly, the cloud cover would have prevented us from seeing much anyway. At least that's the story we're sticking to...

Breakfast was buffet style with a made to order egg selection and our choice of coffee. The fruit were surprising super sweet and the cakes delicious. It was a big change from our usual singular pastry and coffee! Vincenzo broke down each day into Plan A, B or C for us to choose from. Today's choices were:

Plan A - Hike the 8km from Pontone to Amalfi going through the Valle delle Ferriere, with free time in Amalfi around 1-5pm
Plan B - Get dropped off at Amalfi and spend your day by yourself until the pick up time of 5pm
Plan C - Stay at the agriturismo and relax

Everyone leaving the agriturismo had to meet at the top of the agriturismo by 0830. Fortunately everyone was punctual and we left on time. We joined the famous Amalfi Drive for about 30 minutes and was able to enjoy the spectacular views without the crazy driving as there was no traffic. The town of Amalfi was also still quiet with the big buses of tourists not having arrived yet. We dropped off the people who opted to do Amalfi only and continued our way up the mountain to the small village of Pontone where the trailhead starts. We'd start off walking at the same altitude for a little bit away from the village, then ascend for about 20 minutes to explore the Valle delle Ferriere, before descending again through the valley to make our way to the town of Amalfi from the back.

The cold meats, cheese and bread selection

Drinks, cereal, yoghurt and honeydew

My favourite table, the sweet stuff!

All these are home baked!

What a beautiful way to start the day. That's the garden of the agriturismo and the town you can see in the distance is Praiano

Just show again how high we are, that's what we see if we look up

The longest traffic light in the Amalfi. Vincenzo says the timing is sometimes off and the light goes green on both sides lol. The Italians!

The hike was so beautiful and much better than expected! A good chunk of it was in the shade and Vincenzo kept it at a good pace, so if even if you weren't a hiker you'd be able to manage. He stopped often enough to give information and for everyone to keep up without feeling pressured.

The Valle delle Ferriere so called because of the presence of ironworks, can be divided into a few "sections". It starts high in the mountains and ends down near the town of Amalfi. There was an area with a microclimate with prehistoric plants. It was like a mini play area. Luckily for us, the recent rains meant that it was not as dry as it was before.

Further down, the due to the presence of ancient paper mills also run by water, the Valley is often called the Valley of Mills. Amalfi paper was once what gave the republic its wealth and power. The industrial revolution and a flood sadly brought this into decline. The Vatican is now the only client, using the Amalfi paper for important documents. We saw the ruins of the mills in the mountain, reclaimed by nature, looking a bit Lords of the Ring-ish.

View from the start of the trailhead. That is Amalfi that you can see at the bottom

Those are zucchinis!!

Starts of nice and paved

Becomes less civilised

And we finally enter the forest

Old derelict structures everywhere

Hiking towards the prehistoric "pocket"

We emptied our bottle to refill it for "cold" water

One of many, many waterfalls

Part of the fossilised moss wall

There are salamanders here but we couldn't find any

To give you a sense of scale

The pre-historic fern and why we came

Time to swim! The water was freezing. Maybe akin to an ice-bath...our legs were frozen by the time we finished so maybe that's why we could continue!

Continuing our way down into Amalfi

We started seeing more walls

Very old paper mills

Almost like a movie set

Finally where we actually met OTHER people. Why? Because this was rated the best farm to table restaurant in the area by Forbes

We just stopped for a lemon slushie. One could also have the alcoholic version

We had to keep going

This area grew...lemons! Whilst Furore where we were staying grew wine.

sfusato amalfitano lemons. Known for its sweetness and size

By the time we arrived in Amalfi for our free time, it was packed and to be honest, a little unpleasant. Vincenzo was somewhat sad that his childhood playground was not the same for his children. They did not have the same freedoms as before because of burgeoning tourism. Of course, he was aware that tourism was how he made his living but he felt that more responsible tourism would see both tourists and locals still being to enjoy the area. He pointed out the main sites of the very small town as we walked through and showed us the meeting point where we would be picked up by the bus at 5pm.

He offered for those who were interested to join him and his daughter, for lunch and a swim. A secondary option of an additional hike to see the tunnels up the mountain was also offered, from 4-5pm. As many many steps were involved, we declined that one...

Following a local in his home town was a no-brainer. We walked us to the edge of the town where the beach was not as hectic. He also managed to sweet talk the owner of the restaurant to let us use the facilities without paying! The food was a little slow but the servings were large! We were all starving by now.

The swim in the sea was nice. It was no Australian beach, but the water was the clean, we had somewhere safe to put our things, had use of a change room, AND there was a freshwater shower on the beach. There was also a cave nearby which Vincenzo took us to explore. We parted ways after the swim as Lara wanted to look at the shops. I didn't know that she wanted to gram the gigantic lemon gelato in the gigantic lemon in the gigantic bowl complete with a branch...We thought about going into the Cathedral as it was stunning but didn't have the appropriate so gave it a miss. By then it was 5pm and we were all glad to see the minibus picking us right on time. Still not sure if our driver Michele was lucky or extremely skilled at judging time because the traffic was crazy and busy.

Dinner was again pleasant. There was a lovely cool breeze, food was good and the company was delightful. Yes you read correctly, COOL breeze. What a big different that made. We were definitely tired but ready to tackle more tomorrow!