Stinging in the rain

Hoping for good weather today, we (along with Bonnie Bakke and her sister Grace) packed up and got onto the bus...that's gonna take us to the Amalfi Coast.  (a little Soul Coughing for ya).  With the Jones arranged tour, it would've cost something like $70 but we took the regular bus and it only cost $9!  The views of the coast and cliffs were pretty good, as good as you could expect for an overcast day.  We stopped in Positano, a town made famous in the Audrey Hepburn film Roman Holiday.  It was amazing!  This little town, crammed into the cliffs, homes built seemingly on top of each other all the way up the rock walls.  Bonnie and Grace had received some advice to go to the restaurant Chez Black and that the proprietor, Rosario, would take care of us.  At the end of our walk down to the small beachfront in town, without even looking for it, Chez Black was right there!  

Doran, Bonnie & Doug with our server Rosario

So we hung out there for several hours, taking in the beautiful view of the town and the sea while enjoying lunch and great service from this excellent eatery.  We had a little more time before the bus came to take us on to Amalfi and we decided to meet up again an hour or so later.  Everyone did their own thing for the most part, from taking in Art Galleries to more shopping to eating Kinder Gelato (best so far!!).  The weather was getting worse though and this would be the turning point of the day.  

Dave on the beach

We all got together again and walked up to the bus stop.  As we waited, we all debated if we should continue on to Amalfi or head back to Sorrento.  We decided that we would take the first bus that shows up, whichever way it was going.  Unfortunately the Amalfi bus showed up first.  Someone at the bus stop has said they heard the busses weren't going all the way there, that there was something wrong with the road.  When we got to the edge of Praiano, we found out they were right.  The bus stopped and no one did anything, and eventually the bus driver just yelled a "Hello!?" and explained that we had to get out and walk 1 km to the other side and take a bus from there to Amalfi.  We debated again if we should go but we figured this might be our only chance to see Amalfi so we went on.  The walk, in the rain and into the wind mind you, was actually 2km!!  There was, of course, no visible reason why the bus could not sally forth onto Amalfi.  Once we arrived at the other bus stop we waited, in the rain and cold wind for the bus to show, not knowing when that would actually be because the schedules were WAY too messed up from this wrench in the well oiled Italian bus system (the seats were oily from their hair, the transit system sucked! (jk))  Finally a bus came to end our suffering and we drudged our way to Amalfi.  I slept almost the entire way and woke up to us getting off the bus.  We went in to a couple stores and Wendy bought an umbrella.  

In the rain at the bus stop in Positano

The next thing I knew, Jeni, Doran and I were on a bus headed back to Sorrento.  Cold, wet and generally tired of things, we said "Amalfi Shmalfi" and got the heck outta Dodge!  The others said they were going to take a cab back.  We had already paid for a round trip ticket so we just counted our blessings we were out of the weather and going home.  We had to walk the 2 km again, this time it was easier with the wind at our backs and took no time at all and the bus was there when we arrived, things were looking up.  Then after 10-20 mins of the bus not going anywhere we asked when it was leaving and they told us it would be ANOTHER 45 mins until it left...ugh!  With a bus full of teenagers yelling and laughing, the wait seemed more like 45 hours!  Finally the bus started and we headed back to Sorrento.  We decided to get food at a restaurant Patti Bosco had recommended and it was only ok at best.  My Penne all' Arrabiatta was very good but the service and the bread was bad AND they charged not only a seating fee of 1.50 Euro but also a 15% service fee that ISN'T for the waiter...weak!  Bad day (relatively) #2 behind us, we sauntered back to the Hilton and called it a day.  So it looks as though April Fool's Day was indeed a joke this year...a bad one.