Tuesday ~ June 21st, 2022
This morning, we checked out of our hotel and were picked up by our driver and a guide for our hike, Gaia! The driver held onto our bags as we started the hike in the town of Bomerano, which was nestled into the slopes of Monte Peruso.
The Sentiero degli Dei or “Path of the Gods” hike is ~4.7 miles long, and takes you along a path passed farmlands, vineyards, and houses tucked into the cliffside (checkout the mules lodging below!). Gaia was extremely knowledgeable on the vegetation in the area and stopped to show us herbs that were used for various health remedies.
Halfway through our hike, we took a detour to Antonio’s place, a local shepherd, who hosted us in his old farmhouse overlooking the sea. He prepared an amazing spread of cheese, breads, olive oil, and honey with fresh produce from his garden. He even provided a wonderful glass of homemade wine, which he carries up on his mule from the town below each morning. We learned the stories related to his family of breeders and farmers.
After eating, we learned Gaia had a surprise for us. She had carried a bottle of champagne and plastic flutes with her in her backway all the way to Antonio’s. She also prepared an Italian song of celebration, which she preformed with Antonio (and other hikers who stopped in at Antonio’s with their guide). Everyone was given a traditional instrument to play while they sang. When Tristan was given his unique instrument to play, called a putipù, I was instructed “not to laugh at my husband”. 😂 I was intrigued!
The putipù is a friction drum traditionally used in folk music of Southern Italy, in particular of Naples and surrounding regions. It consists of a cylindrical sound box closed at the top by a stretched membrane, with a bamboo cane attached at the center. To play it, you wet your hand and make upward and downward motions on the bamboo rod. Please go Google the sound and imagine what it looks like when being played (it was hard not to laugh)! I was kindly given the less awkward instrument to play that consisted of wooden blocks you tap together. Afterwards, they popped the champagne and shared with everyone that we were honeymooners!
Everyone gave their congratulations and celebrated with us. We had no idea this was happening, and were so happy to take part in something so special! Tristan and I are both introverts, and if you told us we would be the center of attention amongst complete strangers in an unplanned celebration playing funny instruments in the mountains of Italy, I’m not sure we would have believed you. We loved it!
This was such a beautiful experience and literally the breath of fresh air we needed after dealing with crowds in each city we explored! From high up on the mountain, we admired the islands of the gulf, the Faraglioni of Capri, and our next destination: the beautiful city of Positano.
After another 30 minutes of hiking, we entered a town outside of Positano, where our driver came to pick us up and drop us off at our gorgeous and final hotel of the trip, L’ Ancora. We had a superior room and the view was perfect (*chef’s kiss*).
After a much needed rinse, we began to get ready for dinner. We stopped by Restaurant L’Incanto for a drink and took in the spectacular city.
For dinner, we thought we had a reservation at Chez Black, since we called ahead of time, spoke to someone from the restaurant, and confirmed plans for 8 pm that night. When we showed up, the host sassily told us it was impossible to create a reservation day of and we needed to sit on the bench (literally) to wait to be seated. About 45-minutes later, a different host tried to fix the mess (that happened to a few others, too) and said “oh yes, you had a reservation, right? I will seat you now” 😐. Yeah, okay. Despite the hiccup, the pizza I ordered was actually delicious.
We had an amazing, adventurous day in Italy!
