Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast

We had a fabulous time in Rome and we were a little reluctant to leave.  But we must move on and see what the next place brings.  Our next destination was south, to the Amalfi Coast and we stopped along the way at Pompeii.

The time Andrew and I were here last, it was summer and stinking hot.  Today the weather is mild – perfect for exploring this extraodinary city. The older girls have both studied Pompeii in Humanities, so they've been looking forward to seeing the city first hand.  It did not disappoint:

From there we ventured further south to Amalfi – my favourite place in the world.  We settled into our lovely apartment with stunning views down to Amalfi.  It was just on dusk and the lights were twinkling away in the valley.  We went to bed excited about exploring this beautiful coast in the daylight tomorrow.

The rain started sometime in the early hours of the next day – and it did not let up.  Late morning, while we were hanging around the apartment waiting for the rain to ease, Isla came to us complaining of a sore tooth – a quick look in her mouth told us she needed to see a dentist that day!  Excellent – we’re in a small hilltop village on a Saturday – you’re lucky if the local supermarket is open.  With the help of our awesome host we found a dentist in a small village just up the coast – Minori.  Andrew, Isla and I jumped in the car and quickly made our way to the kind dentist waiting for us at his rooms.  The rain was getting heavier and heavier and the narrow walled roads were like mini rivers – it was nervous driving.  We made it Minori and found the rooms – an older man with no English, and clearly limited training in dental hygiene – my dentist friends back home would have a panic attack just looking at the state of the room.  But desperate times require desperate measures and our faith was placed in his hands.  Turns out Isla had been brewing a serious tooth abysses – resulting in a ‘grande infection’ in her gums – that I understood!  He poked and prodded her without any anaesthetic, while she wept silently and I played dental nurse – he made it obvious to me I was not the nurse he required – repositioning the sucking machine I was holding many times!!  Isla was a champion and we left with a script for antibiotics and instructions that in 5 days the tooth must be extracted – 5 days from now is the 26 December – Merry Christmas!!

With the tooth dealt with we began the wet and wild journey back to the apartment to the other 3 girls.  We tucked in behind a bus not far from the apartment thinking it would pave the way for us.  All of a sudden the bus came to a dead stop, seconds later a wave of water hit the bus and then us.  It was muddy water full of debris, we could smell the dirt in the car.  What had happened up ahead, we can only assume, is perhaps something had burst it’s banks.  We let the water subside and then made our way upwards in what had become a fast flowing river/road.  We rounded the bend (almost home) and the bus had come to another stop, only this time we could see why.  There was a large tree blocking the road, there had been a large landslide and the only road in and out of the town was completely blocked – to say I panicked would be a small understatement.  We again made contact with our saviour (the apartment owner) who directed us to safe ground, near his home, and then on foot guided us to the apartment.  The 15 minute walk was mostly down narrow stone walkways – that had also become small rivers and waterfalls.  We were already wet before the walk, after the walk we were wet EVERYWHERE.   But we were back at the apartment all together – albeit trapped in this small town.  The following 15 hours were an anxious wait.  I sat up most of the night watching and reading the alerts – by 6AM it was time to get out of the Amalfi Coast.  The rain had stopped for a couple of hours, they had cleared the road (for now), but more severe weather was on it’s way.  The coast road was closed and I was worried another landslide would trap us or harm us.  The first landslide was only about 400 metres from our apartment – to close for comfort.  So under the cover of darkness and as the rain began to fall again we made a hasty exit from the Amalfi Coast.  I’d had about 2 hours sleep so my emotions leaving the coast were a mix of extreme exhaustion, relief and devastation – we’d come all this way and failed to see any of this beautiful part coast.  We hope that the Amalfi Coast doesn’t suffer anymore than it has in the past 24 hours. 

We made it back over the mountain and down into Naples and pointed the car north – not really knowing where we were headed, just happy that we were safe and dry.