Reaching the tip of the peninsula

11/7 - Annunziata to Punta della Campanella, then Sant Agata sue due golfi

As I said before, the peninsula was quite large, and so I started to have second thoughts about taking a day to get all the way to the tip when I could easily cross to the Amalfi side instead. It is not just stubbornness that kept me on track. All my life I have had an insatiable curiosity to get to the end, to the top, to the bottom, as far as I could go. I remember the tree in back of my childhood home, and how I would terrorize my parents by climbing to the very top, where the younger branches would crack under my weight. 20 years later, that same explorer's urge has inspired this walk, and within this walk, a desire to reach the very tip of the Amalfi coast. It was not enough to hit the major towns, not for me.
So, resolving to "lose" this day, I walked to the very tip, almost touching the isle of Capri with my fingertips. There, alone, I climbed the old guard tower and surveyed my surroundings, leaned over the edge, and etched this mini victory in my memory bank, now rich with snatches of colors, smells, and feelings from this walk.

I knew I had a long way to go, as the Amalfi Coast was much longer than the Sorrento coast, so I did not linger here too long. It was time to take the high road path, blazed and marked by the Club Alpino Italiano. These guys are my heroes, and I am proud to be a member, as they have faithfully marked and maintained many of the best trails I have used on this trip. This trail, called 00, showed me a different side to this peninsula than the one I had seen so far. I walked along the coast, up mountains, along pine tree goves, into sub-tropical forests, onto tiny beaches, and through all types of the native vegetation. If the day before showed me the beauty and simplicity of untouched villages, this day was all about the virgin and silent nature. Need I even point out that in six hours of trail hiking and mountain climbing, I did not run into a single human being? The mere inaccessibility of these places keep them pristine and wild for thsoe with the time and energy to leave the beaten path.

Even with the luxury of having left my backpack at the hostel, this was still no easy walk, as the terrain along the coast was frequently up and down. So, with the wretched early sunset fast approaching, I stopped short of my objective and caught the bus back once more.

After a supermarket feast of bread, locally produced scamorza cheese, salami, prosciutto, tomatoes, an orange, and chocolate on the fancy polished wood tables in the hostel, I sat down at the top-quality keyboard in the lobby, and played a good hour, nearly exhausting my "performance-quality" pieces. I even had an audience, a couple from Coronado, CA (a nice coincidence), and a couple from Melbourne, Australia. After I had finished playing, we chatted for a while, and when the Coronado couple went to bed, the Australian couple (Brett and Heather) bought me a few pints from the hotel. So, enjoying the fruits of my labor, so to speak, I happily sat with these great people until two in the morning. I am not sure if I have said this before, but Australians are among my favorite world travelers. These two, for example, had worked in the UK for two and a half years, saved money, and were now floating around Europe for six weeks, with plans for a four-month stay in South America early next year. Nobody knows how to do it like Australians, I am firmly convinced. Not to mention that they never turn down a pint, a sure sign of their good sense and can do attitude!