Today we spent about an hour on the bus driving at a snail's pace to get to Amalfi, which was only 10K away. I think I might have been able to walk there faster. When we got there, we hopped directly on another bus that took us to a town called Ravello that sits up a lot higher on the hill. Ravello is famous for music and pottery and has a spectacular view down to the coast and of the terraced hillsides. The terraced hillsides, for me, were one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. Those hills, or even I dare say mountains are enormous and many of them are completely terraced from top to bottom. Someone told me that it took hundreds and hundreds of years for people to terrace them by hand, one at a time. For some reason, that was one of the aspects of our trip that amazed me, even more than all the art and cathedrals. I really want a terraced hillside with grapes growing on it someday!
While in Ravello we walked around the town, saw the view and ate a delicious lunch of bread, tomatoes, and buffalo mozzarella that Justin bought before we left. I will never get sick of that meal. The girls found a friend, who was a little girl just Bea's age to run around with. I can't remember her name, but she was really darling. I talked to her mother and she told me that her daughter is so rough and tumble that she sometimes worries about her. She gets criticized for letting her go outside in shorts and no socks in the winter because that's what she wants to wear. And, she doesn't fret about germs like most Italians do and when I told her that's how I parent my kids, she was so excited. I even told her of articles I have found that tell parents not to wash their kids' hands after they play outside in the dirt so their bodies can get used to the germs in their surroundings and she was thrilled to know that I was on her side. The girls ran and ran and ran around the piazza, laughing and playing together even though the little girl didn't speak Italian and vice versa. She did say "bye bye" in the end, which I could tell the parents were proud of because she figured out how to say it all by herself. The family wanted to get together with us but they were staying there in Ravello and we were all the way in Praiano and it just wouldn't have worked out.
We hopped back on the bus down to Amalfi and spent the rest of the day on the beach there and ate pizza for the umteenth time before returning to our cute little Praiano. Oh, and we met an American family in the water that had twin boys, one who was going to sign on with the hockey team here in Salt Lake City. His mother was probably in her 40s and was probably one of the fittest women I have ever seen. Seriously hard body and her sons were muscularly gigantic. They had their girlfriends there and the mother's sister was also there with her 5 kids, a couple of which were adopted. Henry played with their younger sons and was grateful for someone who could speak English!
Then once again. Bus and home.
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