This was one of the best drives of my life.  If you ever have the chance to see the Amalfi Coast, see it.  This is not some ride through the same sea-side villages you’ve seen in other places:  it is something very different.  It’s a community that is literally built into the cliffs and rocks that overlook the sea, and this gives it a feel of something like a human bat colony, or an ancient hive.  Photos can never really do it justice, but I hope they can give the reader an idea of what to expect.

I was lucky enough to have a good friend from Slovenia drive into Italy to join me on this trip.  Starting from Rome, we first headed south to have a look at the famous abbey at Monte Cassino.  I had wanted to see it for a long time; it was the site of a famous battle during the Second World War where the invading Allies were confounded by the stubborn resistance of the German army.  The monastery was completely rebuilt after the war, and occupies an area larger, we are told, than Buckingham Palace in London.

 

 

We then headed south towards Naples, passed Mount Vesuvius, and then drove further south to see Sorrento, Positano, and Amalfi.  The photos below tell the tale.  This is a drive that every traveler to the region should make an effort to make.  Humans have lived among rocks and cliffs before–the Anasazi Indians of the American southwest are an example–but no community has carved out such an existence amid this kind of oceanic beauty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thirty-Seven is available in print, Kindle, and audio book format: