M: Today did not go as planned, but it was great nonetheless! No matter what we end up doing on this trip, the day is always good.

We planned to go do a hike called “The Path of the Gods”. Savanna was not exactly the most excited to be going for a hike, but she agreed to it. I think I promised her a piggyback ride if worst came to worst! We trained out to Salerno with John and Anthony, then hopped on a bus to Amalfi. The bus ride was packed, with people standing in the aisles getting jostled about as we made tight turn after tight turn driving along the Amalfi Coast. On one side of me there was a guy rapping and singing in Italian, while on the other side there was a lady with a giant bag on her lap so neither of us could move, and a very passionate young couple. Riding along in this hot bus sandwiched between everyone and looking out at the view, all I could think was that there is nowhere I’d rather be.

We arrived in Amalfi and realized it was too late in the day for us to get to the hike, do the hike and get back to Naples. Instead, we embarked on a different hike from Amalfi.

S: Everyone seemed kind of bummed that we weren’t going to get to hike the path of gods, and I was not at all sad. I had done zero research in the hopes that seeing it for the first time after a long arduous hike would make it totally worth it… So I didn’t really know what I was missing. But I honestly now am so happy we missed it because we went on another hike instead that we dubbed ‘The Path of Ghosts.’

The Path of Ghosts (actually a place called Scala) starts off with a long stone stairway, which leads higher and higher into these jutting rocky cliffs covered in dense dark trees. Slowly the stairway faded into a dirt path. Literally though – there were stairs, and then half stairs, and then bits of stacked stone and then dirt. We passed by at least a dozen decrepit abandoned stone buildings, with caved in roofs and plants growing every which way out of the barred windows. I had a great time poking fun at Meaghan throughout this hike, which as it turns out is quite easy. As soon as you get this girl into a dark forest all you have to do is walk behind her and lazily toss rocks into the bush without her seeing and she panics and gets all jumpy and flappy-handed! Suffice to say John and Anthony and I had a great time dragging her into the basements of old buildings and daring her to peep into holes in stone walls. She gets this wide-eyed look like ‘good god oh god why?!’ But her mouth usually peeps out a quiet ‘what?!’ The ghosts can’t hear you Meag you can speak at a normal sound level.

Anyway the path led us partway to The Valley of Ironworks, where we passed a bunch of cute waterfalls and crystal clear pools. One of which contained a frog that has replaced my position as Meaghans Best Friend. After a bit more exploring around the area, and before the sunset, we made our way back to the Amalfi Coast.

M: For dinner John, Anthony, Savanna and I went to what may be the restaurant with the best atmosphere in the entire world, Nennella. As soon as we walked up, we knew we were in for a treat. We didn’t know what was what on the menu so we told the waiter to bring us whatever he wanted from the €15 four course section of the menu, and un bottiglia di vino of course. We were brought dish after dish and shared them all between the four of us. The food was really good, but it was the restaurant party that made the night memorable. It was a crowded sidewalk and the waiters danced around between the tables, joking with the patrons the whole time. It wasn’t a choreographed dance routine or anything, they just had the music blaring and the waiters would dance as they served food and brought wine and honestly anytime their booties felt the music. We spent probably three hours here, and as the night wore on it only got better. We sat outside and soaking it all in. A big new table arrived and people at the table were getting up and dancing together in the middle of the restaurant between bites of food. We sat around the table laughing at ourselves and having fun saying “un’altra bottiglia di vino” with exaggerated hand gestures. Inspired by the dancing and the wine, we also started choreographing our own dance on the way home. We only got about three steps in though, so it’s good we’ll be seeing John in Rome!

S: The party was so much fun. If I’ve learned anything so far in Italy it’s that simple pizzas are the best, and that the phrase ‘un’altra bottiglia’ rolls really easily off the tongue…. Especially after you’ve said it a few times!

S&M