Thursday, June 14: we were woken up by the sound of rain. The soothing noise lulled all of us back to sleep again until about 10:30 am. After waking up we immediately walked back to Amalfi using this amazing back tunnel/alleyway system. It was amazing to see all of the homes up close. Plus the alleyway led us up the mountain to a beautiful view of Atrani (of course we had a photoshoot here).
The walk to Amalfi took a little longer using the alley, but we made it eventually. Sena and I bought earrings from a street vendor (for the upcoming wedding) and we walked around the town for a bit before deciding to tour the amazing 9th century Cathedral in the plaza. Amalfi Cathedral is amazing. Statues, frescoes, paintings, and intricate mosaics decorate the hallways, and is home to the relics (and bones) of the Apostle Saint Andrew.
A few things to note about the cathedrals in Italy: 1. Silence is expected in the cathedral and crypt areas. 2. Men are not allowed to wear hats inside. Women are allowed to wear hats. 3. Men and women must dress “respectfully” i.e. shoulders are covered, skirts/shorts must be below the knees, no bare exposed midriffs. Unfortunately for us, we did not plan out our day, and therefore did not know we needed to follow a dress code… Sena and I were able to adjust our outfits to be able to pass into the cathedral without uproar, but poor Bryn was singled out by a (probably a ghost) woman that made her wear a paper shawl to cover her shoulders. I swear this woman disappeared as soon as we walked away. PLUS we saw plenty other people that should have been more covered up. For some reason Bryn was the only one asked to wear this (loud) paper shawl. SHE ROCKED IT THOUGH.
The entire cathedral is gorgeous especially the crypt where the relics of Saint Andrew are kept. All of the walls and floors of the crypt are covered with gorgeous tile mosaics and stained glass depictions of biblical scenes. There is a huge statue of Saint Andrew in the middle of the room, with an illuminated hollow box situated below it. People are encouraged to deposit donations into the box after praying.
We finished waking through the cathedral and went back to our apartment to change into beach clothes. We went back to the delicious pizza place we ate dinner at previously and ordered pizza to go. Despite the cold weather we laid out on the beach and enjoyed our piping hot pizza. Eventually the cold weather go to us and we ventured back into town for a real meal and to watch the world cup games. We ate a lot at dinner and decided it was a good idea to explore the part of Atrani up the mountain.
We followed one of the alleys to a staircase then followed the staircase for about 30 minutes. It was a long staircase. Along the way we ran into several stray cats. Turns out Bryn is the cat whisperer and made friends with an adorable little fellow <3 We made it to a plateaued portion of the mountain, sitting above a waterfall. The view of the city from here was fantastic in the night so was stayed here for a while and took in the sights. This was enough walking for us today so we made our way back to the AirBnb. All three of us were exhausted and went to sleep immediately following our trip up the mountain.
