Today was about driving away from the Italy the tourists know and dipping my toes in the Mediterranean on a rocky beach in Amantea, Calabria.
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| The water felt cold at first. Then when d gotten used to it, I was sorry I hadn't worn a swimsuit. |
As we drove away from Sorrento this morning, I said, "Wasn't it nice to not use the car for the past few days?" Much to my surprise, Lou said, "No! I prefer this to that." "The car to the sidewalk?" I responded in shock and disbelief. Lou said he feels more in control behind the wheel than walking in the sidewalk. I don't understand how that can be but to each his own.
Traffic was extremely light driving from Sorrento to Amantea. It was interesting to watch the terrain change the further south we drove. The temperature rose and fell depending upon our altitude.
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| Salerno |
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| "Keep left!" said TomTom. Whew! |
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| A little difficult to make out but we saw a few solar farms. |
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| We saw more than a few wind farms. |
Autostradas in the north are much, much nicer than those in the south. There are only snack bars as opposed to restaurants. And the bathrooms are not as well-equipped. No toilet paper. I believe we stopped three times, the final time for a reasonable imitation of lunch.
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| I was expecting something like Takis and got something like Cheetohs! |
We got to our hotel, La Tonnara (which I've learned means fishing net) after first going to the wrong hotel called Grand Hotel La Tonnara. Which of the two hotels was totally unimaginative when coming up with a name?
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| Can you see the Grand Hotel La Tonnara in the background? |
Minutes after we checked in, we were out on the beach. The rocky surface made for difficult walking but over an hour spent rock collecting. Which ones to take, which ones to leave behind. We watched the end of the sunset from our balcony while polishing off the last of our limoncello.
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| Time for a selfie. |
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| Sunset and limoncello |
Being totally lazy, we ate dinner at the hotel. There aren't a whole lot of foreigners that come here but we met a couple from England who wanted an inexpensive beach vacation and an American woman named Karen who taught English in Calabria for four years and is now back for a visit. She's written a book and a blog which I'll investigate at some point since she gave me her bookmark.
We're hoping to get to Milazzo early enough to spend time with Lou's cousins tomorrow. Better get ready for bed. Buona notte.
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