We decided to rent a car this time. The Amalfi Coast is best explored on your own in a car, getting into the nooks and crannies of the area. We both obtained our international driving permits from AAA, which are valid for one year. I prepared by mastering all the vocabulary necessary for being in a car. A flat tire. Una gomma terra. Where is the nearest gas station? Dov'è il distributore di benzina più vicino? Turn right…Voltare a destra. Not only that, but I printed out a copy of all the road signs, in color of course, which we kept in the glove compartment of our Fiat 500.
Driving along the Amalfi Coast is not for the faint of heart; nor is riding shotgun. The roads are windy and narrow, with tour buses turning tight corners and motorcyclists zooming in between the cars and buses. But Chris was a champion driver and not fazed by the driving habits of the locals.
When we left the Amalfi area and ventured inland, the autostrada (country roads) was not bad at all. The superstrada is what they call the highways and they, too, were easy to drive. There were posted speeds and for the most part, people followed them. To tell you the truth, driving on the Los Angeles freeway system is far scarier than any superstradas in Italy.
There was one experience that was hair-raising though. We were staying in the little village of Santa Croce del Sannio in the province of Benevento, a few hours south of Rome. This is where my grandfather was born and where some cousins still live. Chris and I decided to take a drive one late morning between breakfast and the big dinner meal of the day that was going to be served about 2:00. We set out to the nearby town of Marcone and took the Via Strada Bocca della Selvo that was a wonderful drive up in the mountains. There were no other cars on the road, so I decided this was a good time to get behind the wheel and officially drive in Italy. Up until this point, I was serving better as the Italian speaking co-pilot who could read the signs. The beauty of the area reminded us of driving in the Rockies with the majestic mountains, although they were not nearly as high as the Rockies. We came across cows, goats, hay fields, and gorgeous wildflowers.
The drive back was not as peaceful though. The sky clouded up informing us that a storm was imminent. We got to the autostrada and came to a sign that pointed us to the right back to Santa Croce del Sannio, but to the left we saw the town of Santa Croce del Sannio and the church spire which we had visited the day before. We decided to follow the signs but after about 5 miles or so, we found ourselves climbing a mountain getting further from the spire. So we decided to turn around and follow our nose back to the spire of our village.
Shortly thereafter, the rain began to fall and by the time we reached the village it was pounding down, making visibility nearly nonexistent. We didn’t recognize the turn to our cousin's house, but thought we should try it anyway. The road started off very narrow, but kept getting narrower and narrower. Soon we found ourselves at a dead end with an apartment door staring us down. We were not on a road after all, but rather on an alleyway. So Chris had to back up in the blinding downpour through the narrow alley. He was a master; I was a mess.
At some point we also hit a curb and our hubcap popped off. We couldn’t just leave it there cause heaven knows how much the rental car agency would charge us for a new one, so Chris went out to retrieve it, getting christened in the Italian rain.
Tough times call for tough measures. Chris had an iPhone and though we were not going to use it because of the roaming charges, we quickly opened the Google Map and inserted my cousin’s address. Lo and behold, we discovered we were NOT in our hilltop village but rather in the hilltop village of Sassinoro, which also has a church in the center. Duh! That just about describes every little village we passed.
So no more following our noses when driving in a new area. We kept an eye on the iPhone and made it home about 20 minutes later, albeit late for dinner.
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| Driving in the mountains along the Via Bocca della Strada. Our Fiat 500 can be seen on the right. |
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| The mountains here reminded us of the American west, but on a smaller scale. |
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| Lots of cows and... |
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| ...goats along the mountain road. |
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| See, I DID drive in Italy too! Notice the impending storm clouds starting to roll in... |
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| Driving along the Amalfi Coast road. |
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| The Amalfi Coast road (ocean to the right) |
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| The Amalfi Coast road |
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| Looking up at the Amalfi Coast road from a boat. |
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| Looking up at the Amalfi Coast road from a boat, winding its way into another tunnel. |
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| One more shot of the Amalfi Coast road from the boat. This blog focused on the driving experiences in Italy, so that is why the focus of the photos is on the roads. | . |
Would we drive again in Italy? Absolutely! However, we will be sure to have a local map in the car and be ready to put on the iPhone map. Don't be afraid to drive in Italy, just be prepared.
Does anyone have a driving story to share?
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