Maiori Hike

That Time We Tried To Go To Ravello

TL:DR: we took an epic hike and lived to tell the (very long) tale. Where We Decide to Take a Little Hike The Amalfi coast is known for its hiking. Usually, people trek to the Path of the Gods, reputed to have an excellent view. However, we are marginally lazy, and I am very motion sick, so…

Cars in Rome

Surprising Things About Rome

There is a lot of trust, even for tourists. For example, at a bodega, I picked up some tomato sauce from a shelf in the shop that was far from the owner and harder to get to. The owner asked me how much it was and trusted me to give the correct amount (and translate it…

Street Art in Southern Italy

Sexism in (Southern?) Italy

Throughout our travels, I have been sensitive to how each locale treats women. When I traveled alone, it was actually less noticeable, because I was the only traveler to address. Someone may have thought that men wear the pants, but in the absence of one, here they were, addressing me. But as we travel together, it…

Brioche Gelato Sandwich

What We Ate in Salerno

Dedicato a Mio Padre: We decided to try this place based on a rave Yelp review, and we were pretty happy with it. The service was good, and it seemed like a family-run spot that had only Italians inside (though that was true for most of Salerno overall). They gave us free croquettes as an…

Di Matteo Pizza Box

What We Ate in Naples

Ciao Pizza: We were hungry at the vastly inconvenient hour of 3:30 pm. After trying several places and finding them either completely full or closing up shop until dinner, we found this place on Yelp. It had four stars, so we decided to go for it. Turns out that it was a take-out stand, of…

Salerno's Shopping Street

Surprising Things About Salerno

This town has a lot of shopping. There is a big shopping street – a bit like Santa Monica’s 3rd Street Promenade. It’s a lot of Forever 21 clones, Pac-Sun imitations, Sephora-type stores (plus the actual Sephora), and some versions of Claire’s. One type of store they also have a lot of is pajama stores.…

Salerno's Holiday Lights

What We Saw in Salerno

I have spent hours researching festivals and events that we could overlap with, based on our travel schedule. The Truffle Festival in Langhe? Not for a few months. The jazz fest in Copenhagen? No dice. All to no avail: even smaller festivals seemed to be just outside our travel dates. In Salerno, on the other…

Surprising Things About Naples

As in smaller towns of the Amalfi coast, many bathrooms have no toilet seats. As in Salerno, there are many french fry stands. The drivers here – of both cars and mopeds – are particularly aggressive. They drive wherever and whenever they feel like it, from going the wrong way down a one-way street, to driving 3…

Maiori Waterfront

Surprising Things About the Amalfi Coast

Many bathrooms in this area do not have toilet seats. This applies to both fancier restrooms in public and regular bathrooms in homes. It is not that they can’t afford one: perhaps they find the custom weird? I’m not sure if squatting is the order of the day, or if they sit on the rim. I miss toilet…

Maiori Cheese Small

What We Ate in Maiori

One interesting fact about the restaurants in Maiori: they all seemed to have the TV on throughout the evening. Some patrons watched quite enthusiastically, reminding me a bit of TV dinners. Il Baluardo: Alas, this restaurant did not get us off on the right foot with Maiori dining. On the plus side, the cheese platter…