Amalfi Coast Trip – Day Four Summary (Sant’Agata to Sorrento)

And so the last day of walking was upon us already. The morning started well, with my card payment going through at the hotel (their machine hadn’t worked the day before). The breakfast for Steve, Bev and myself was substantial and I’m sure that the staff didn’t mind clearing up Bev’s coffee spillage. There was pleasant views over the countryside and Bev and Steve enjoyed their play in the lift.

We waited for Gordon to arrive from his luxury hotel and I was disappointed that he didn’t arrive in a carriage pulled by horses. Instead he jumped out of a little car and you could see his eyes were glistening with excitement at the walk ahead. Bev and Steve had another little play in the lift of our hotel and we were ready and waiting for the adventure ahead.

And then there was an incident. Another bloody dog decided to walk with us to our destination, just as with the previous day, the dog wasn’t that good with traffic and liked running out. I don’t know why we are attracting so many of the dogs in this locality, but such is life….. We think that the dogs are perhaps looking at Gordon’s bag and wanting to mate with it, but we’re not sure.

I won’t give the finer details of another little incident that happened, but Gordon ended up getting a view of Bev that she hadn’t expected him to see. All very exciting for him.

As some conversation, Gordon explained about his little medical issue whilst we walked towards our first destination, which was Bagni Regina Giovanna, the site of a Roman villa. I knew that there was a beach there and Bev wanted a little swim about, so we bravely marched off there. Bev couldn’t really keep up, but we had a chat and decided that if we walked quickly that would inspire her to walk faster.

We got to the beach and there was a sign nearby saying that there was no swimming, although it’s clearly a popular swimming site and the sign just seemed to be warning that there was no lifeguard. Bev dived (well, waded clumsily) into the water, whilst Steve had a paddle and then a swim. Gordon sat on a rock and I padded in about four feet, which more than enough excitement for one day. Bev pretended to be a mermaid, Steve pretended not to know her and Gordon briefly considered having a little paddle.

The swim reinvigorated Bev and she was ready for her afternoon wine, which was fortunate as there was a nearby restaurant and bar. Gordon ordered the most expensive thing on the menu and we enjoyed the breezes from the sea. Very lovely and we enjoyed looking at Bev’s sunglasses.

We then walked back into Sorrento and Bev irritated everyone (by everyone, I mean me) with her constant demands for photos. We decided to try the tactic of rushing off to see if that inspired Bev to walk faster, but again, that didn’t work. She mentioned later something about her being ill so she couldn’t keep up, so we realised why she wasn’t inspired.

There was a little incident where Steve and Gordon nearly ended up sharing a room, which would have made for an excellent series of blog posts. Unfortunately, that situation got resolved and they enjoyed their snacks and quick 20-minute lesson on how to use their keys to get into their accommodation. Bev also confused the B&B we were in and we nearly ended up in one room as well, until I mentioned that we did have two rooms booked. The hotel we were in didn’t have some key facilities that I might like, but it did have a shower where guests can change the colour of the lights, so I was entirely satisfied with this.

Bev and I left the hotel to meet up in the town’s square and we started to head towards a beer place which looked lovely. Anyway, that was shut. Then it started raining, so we got wet, before meeting up with the others in a cafe on a market square. There the waiter actually irritated me more than any waiter I can remember in some time. Bev liked him as he was chatting her up, Steve, Gordon and I found his behaviour entirely off-putting. But it worked as Bev bought wine and snacks that we didn’t need. The waiter, I think, was left in no doubt of what I thought of him. Bev then had a dilemma of whether she gave 50 cents in tip, as that was all she had, or whether she should keep it. She kept it.

Then we went to the beer place again. That was shut. But opposite was a decent restaurant that had excellent reviews. And I for one was very impressed, although a couple of us walked in looking like drowned rats. Bev then tried to get the staff to set fire to her biscuits, but they refused as they didn’t want their restaurant to burn down. I was very pleased with my seafood platter and then panna cotta, and the others enjoyed the food. Bev moaned about the lighting, but she enjoyed her meatballs. Gordon looked ill, but he felt better after ordering the most expensive thing on the menu, a rather large pork chop.

Then we went to the beer place again. Which finally wasn’t shut. They had a large selection of beers and there were some interesting options on there, although very little dark beer. However there was one which met my requirements and Bev ate nearly all the crisps as she needed salt.

It was still raining outside so I wanted to rush off back to the accommodation. Unfortunately Bev was faffing about, so we decided we’d see if rushing off made her walk faster. Pleasingly it had better results on this occasion, and before we knew it we were back in the accommodation all safe.

So, it’s sad that the walking element of the trip is over and this is my final night in Italy, although the others have an overnight stay before flying back Friday morning. It’s all been very lovely.