Along the coast

De Anne and Joyce agreed that a top attraction they both wanted to see was the Amalfi coast. With myself and Gene, Joyce's husband, we set out on a three hour tour.

A day pass on the area buses is 7.50 Euros. Armed with passes and Rick Steve's tour book we jockeyed for position on the bus, secured seats on the righthand side of the bus and settled back for the ride.

Of course the views of cliffs, islands, and precariously perched villas were stunning; however the ride itself was the most memorable. The Romans had strung watchtowers all along the coast connected by foot paths. It seemed the only improvements made in 2,000 years was the addition of some asphalt. No valuable real estate is wasted on roads. 

The bus, being the big boy on the road, exercised it's "might makes right" and enforced it with constant blasts from the air horn at each hairpin turn. Cars not heeding the warnings were required to back up as the bus filled the turns and never yielded. Huge mirrors are installed at all hairpin turns. Every bus and car in this area exhibits multiple signs of driver mis-calculation. Sidebar: Lisa found a high curb on day one with her rental car and left some paint behind - the result of two five foot wide cars on a nine foot wide road.

At numerous points along the way the only thing visible out our bus window was the Mediterranean Sea several hundred feet below. Passing through small hamlets our bus was inches from the walls of homes - in fact, all homes have front doors recessed a couple feet. Otherwise tenants would play traffic roulette with every egress.

The skill of our bus driver was evident by only scrapping a wall once during the 35 kilometer journey. The driver did backup once for another bus, much to the chagrin of cars behind who expressed their dismay via horn.

Since none of these vehicles belonged to me it was a very entertaining side trip.