Villa
la Madonnina: OUR FAVORITE EXCURSIONS
Sorry, most sections not yet finished. Work in progress (I hope)
Close
to the villa:
(finished)
-- Marina di Praia
-- Fiordo di Furore
- Praiano
- Amalfi
- Positano
- Capri (finished)
- Ravello
-
Excursions to Pompeii and
Paestum are described in the culture
section
Close
to the villa: Marina di Praia and
Marina di Furore (Fiordo)
Beside the
always present
spectacular views from the Amalfitana to the sea and the surrounding
landscapes, for me these two ravines are among the most
beautiful natural highlights of the whole Amalfi/Positano coast. Both
are deep ravines in the rugged coastline which lead down to the sea.
Both were fishing villages since early
days. For
Marina di Praia this is true also today. Both ravines are very
romantic.
Both jewels of the Amalfi coast are in walking distance from the villa
la
Madonnina. For Marina di Praia you head left and after passing
the
tunnel a road
leads down
to Marina di Praia. If you go by car there is a public (fee) parking
down
in the valley. Marina di Furore is a bid further.At the gate
you
turn left and walk about 20
minutes. It can also easily reached by car. Park the car close to the
rock
on the mountain side of the street. Longer walks which touch also the
two ravines are described in my
favorite hikes
Marina di Praia is the port for the community of Praiano, which is positioned higher up on the mountain.Today it is still the port for
fishing on a small scale. From here the fishermen start with their
rowing boats which you see in front of the villa. But today Marina di Praia is mainly a place for swimming and dining. There
a number of good restaurants all run by families. See my
favorite restaurants. You find a also an diving
station, where you can rent equipment and book a diving lesson or
excursion. You can also rent boats, get a water taxi, or
start in
summertime excursions by ship to destinations along the coast
and
Capri.
Fiordo di Furore:
Today a bridge spans the fiordo, a narrow ravine with impressive steep
walls on each side. If it would not be part of the Amalfi coast this
would be an attraction of itself.
You may be satisfied with
having a look down from the bridge down to the beautiful valley. To
have a closer look I would first walk into the valley using a path
which starts on the right (eastern) side of the bridge and you can walk into
the valley as far as you like. On the way back go down to the bottom of
the valley and visit the museum, if you are interested in industrial
and movie history.
Originally the sea reached far further
into the valley - it was a
real fjord - and was therefore a save port - the only really save one at
the whole coast. Therefore it was early a shelter in case of in case of
storms. But these characteristics made it also an ideal base for
pirates. Later it was the port for Furore a hamlet 300 meter higher on
the mountain. A narrow path connected the fjord with the village, in
which agriculture was base for their living.
In the 17th and 18th century the easy access from the sea in
connection with the water coming down from the mountains made it an
ideal place for a couple of industries: mills for wheat, a bakery,
paper production and lime kiln. In the museum down in the ravine you can see how
intelligently these industries worked together. In the same building the water was first used to
produce paper - made of old cloths- then one floor lower the power of the water was
used for milling grain. The flower was the base for baking
bread in the bakery. The heat of the oven was used to dry the paper and to heat the
rooms of the miller on the top of the building.
In the valley there are
also lime kilns using both the available lime and water. Wood for the fire was cut in the valley or brought by boat. The
heat that is generated during the process was also used to dry the
paper and the lime was also used to make the paper white. Today we
would call this a closely integrated industry. The port allowed an easy
transport of the grain and wood to the valley and the end product to the markets. All buildings are nicely
restored and are due to the commune di Furore and very much due to the
initiative of Paolo well maintained.
At the hillside there are old fishermen houses which became famous when
the film director Roberto Rosellini shoot there the movie
"Amore" - his
masterpiece. At that time he was in love with Anna Magnani, who
was also the chief character in the movie. They both bought one of the
tiny monazzeni (fishermen's houses). One called the "casa del
dottore" (the house of the doctor) and the other the "villa della
storta" (the house of the sprain) which can be visited. But then letters from Ingrig
Bergmann arrived asking Roberto for a role in one of his films. When
Anna learned this she got so upset that in a local restaurant she threw
a pot of spaghetti in his Roberto's face. The sad end of the story was
that Ingrid took Anna's place both in his movies and his heart. Anna then
never visited her monazzeni again.
Praiano:
For more
information see the excellent official web site of the Commune di
Praiano: Praiano
Amalfi:
For more
information see
following web site: Amalfi
Positano:
For more
information see: following web site:
Positano
Capri:
Capri
is very worth while visiting for two reasons. One is that it has
a beautiful shoreline, with wild, impressive cliffs, the famous
Faraglioni islands
and the blue grotto. The second one is the beauty of the inland, with
spectacular views to the ocean, beautiful villas, spectacular rocks
formations and remains from Roman empires. We like both.
To explore the 17 km shore of Capri
you can either go around the island with your own boat or with an
organized tour where you get everything explained. You get an idea of the beauty of the coast, when you see my photos from
the trip from the villa along the Amalfi coast to Capri in the Photo gallery.
See the info/activity section of our web site for information how to
book a boat or a trip. Now, what is about the famous blue grotto?
First it is really worth while to see - it is magic - if you are in the
cave alone or with only few at the same time. This is possible
if you go there after 4 pm. Then the boat people who row tourists into
the
cave are gone for their well deserved leisure time and counting their
tips they got from the tourists. Now you can swim into the cave -
if the
waves are not too high. But you should know, that it is officially
forbidden, though many do it. If you join an official visit, it is
still magic, but be prepared that it will be very crowded, even noisy
and the visit is short. First you crawl from a larger boat to a smaller
boat, which brings you into the cave. The guide in the boat tries hard
to find a reason to get a tip for the few minutes ride.
Capri inland. When
you arrive in Marina Grande you have two choices to get to Capri, the
main
town of the island. Either by cable car or bus. I would recommend this
is only if there are not too many people waiting at the ground/bus
station. We prefer to take a taxi. The town of
Capri itself
is nice but I would not spend too much time in the center as it is very
crowded in the in the
season - unless you want to have a caffee on the
famous Piazetta or invest your money
in one of the numerous luxury shops in the streets leading to the
Piazetta.The last one in my view a waste of time
unless you have an unforseen, urgent need - like buying an engagement
ring, calm the temper of your wife/husband with a nice gift. Not surprisingly there are luxury shops like Bulgari and others which you find in every
metropolitan city. But no need to worry about the crowds. The laziness or to
be fair most often time
constraints of the tourists help us. Only few people walk further
than a couple of 100 m from the cable car station. Therefore, walking a
bid further let you enter a calm world with natural beauty,
nice villas and spectacular views. 
I have three
suggestions for you to discover this.
One is to walk to the arco naturale
- the natural arc. Have there a
lunch in the restaurant Le Grotelle (see the restaurant section). To go
there takes you about 30 minutes of easy - not steep
- walk. Afterwards visit the arco naturale (see the photo) and if you
are fit for a very
nice walk, return in the direction of the restaurant and the take the
path going down. You pass the cave "Grotta di Matermania" with
remains from the Romans, then walk around the slope of the hill, then
pass the
futuristic red villa Malaparte and the famous Faraglioni
islands, which you can see from the Amalfi coast.
Later the path leads along gardens and nice villas till you get
back to the Piazetta of Capri. Total walking time is about 2 hour 10
minutes.
The other proposal would be to take a taxi to Annacapri - the second
town on Capri higher up in the mountains. There is the museum villa of San
Michele,
dreamed up and built in the first halve of the last century by a Swedish physician Axel Munthe. A
remarkable
personality with many outstanding skills. One of them which made him
famous was that as a writer. He
wrote world bestseller "The book of San Michele".
It is written as if it would be an autobiography, but as we know today
a lot is fiction and describes how the author wanted that the
world sees him. Nevertheless a book worth while to read. In
any case I would visit his fabulous villa which is today a museum,
built in a
very, very panoramic position. Open all year and every day. See the
opening hours in the link and see there the web site of San Michele.
When you have time left and weather is great, go to
the ground station of the chair lift which takes you to the summit of
the Monte Solaro within 12
minutes. 
The
360 degree view is breathtaking. Below
your feet you see Capri and the Faraglioni islands, further outside the
Amalfi coast till Praiano on one side and Sorrento, Napoli and
the Vesuvius on the other
side and to the north the islands of Ischia and Procida. The lift is opererating all year.
Another proposal is to walk to the Villa Jovis - a Roman villa or better palace of the
emperor Tiberius. It is situated In a very panoramic position on the eastern edge of
the island. You can also visit the villa and get a guided tour. You
find the sign at the Piazetta which guides you to the Villa Jovis.
For more
information about Capri see
following web site: Capri
Ravello:
For more
information see
following web site: Ravello
-
Excursions to Pompeii and Paestum are described in the culture
section
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