AMALFI COAST FOR WORRIERS
It seems so unfair using the words 'worry' and 'Amalfi Coast' in the same sentence. The images leaping out at you from travel magazines give a blithe impression of drinking, relaxing, shopping, and laughing children with hi-viz flotation devices practicing fluent Italian with the locals. This is true: it is possible to drink, relax, shop, and laugh very well on this, the Italian Riviera, in a variety of scenarios: hotels, B&B's, villas, bus tours, etc.
But to Worriers, what appears on the surface to be Nirvana in a glass can actually be a series of major - and minor - stressors which can leave you feeling exhausted on your way back to the airport at the end of your trip. We've been to the Amalfi Coast three times, twice in luxury hotels and once in a private villa, and although each visit in itself was a dream holiday experience, this Worrier had the most enriching, and relaxing holiday, in a private villa.
"Pwah! Private villa! Huh! I should coco...!"
I know it sounds ever so posh and elitist to book a private villa, but for Worriers, this adds a particular layer of insulation and protection from worry that really is worth the extra Euros. Let me open a door into the WORLD OF WORRY for those of you who don't. Worry. Here is a list of worry buttons which can easily be pressed on holiday:
*Transportation *car sickness *transport connections *food poisoning *transportation *lost & stolen luggage *sunburn *falling rocks *drunk drivers *jellyfish *transportation *cash points closed * Non-English speaking people *transportation *mosquito bites *traffic *queues at attractions *transportation *menus printed only Italian *illness *bratty children (yours and others) *blisters *stairs *sore feet *hangovers and yes, *transportation
Seriously. The list is endless. For some Serial Worriers (aka Generalized Anxiety Disorder) the list is twice as long. It's a miracle that some people ever leave the safe confines of their own homes. But why should The Amalfi Coast be off-limits to those who worry? I can't think of a better antidote to the World of Worry that a week in Amalfi couldn't sort, if you do it right.
The secret is to rent a private villa which comes with a top notch team who care for you. I can highly recommend the villa we used (La Villa Madonnina, owned by Frank Lerchenmuller, an Austrian) and from the screeds of listings online I think there is a huge market out there for you to choose from. I'll give you all the contact details at the bottom of the page. Our rental included maid service (who can also cook-in, if you wish), gardener, a Fill-the-Fridge service, and access to a large listing of restaurants, boat hire companies, taxi services, wine-tasting excursions, etc. Everyone involved in this team has a fierce loyalty to Frank, who is a delight, and this makes all the difference. If all communication breaks down and you just need a bit of Management, having a villa owner who is readily available online or by phone is incredibly reassuring. We got a welcoming call from Austria upon our arrival and it was just one of those little anchors that kept me attached to the real world while I was in Nirvana.
Now go back to my worry list above and see just how many of those worries get knocked off the list just by having these services available to you.
I need to talk to you seriously about The Road. If you ignore the realities of The Road you will spend your entire holiday stressing about The Road. It is a hair-raising experience, but by using local drivers who know the road really well, you will achieve a level of confidence as a passenger which will allow you to look at the view and enjoy it, while you travel. Apparently, some of the most unpredictable encounters on The Road are because many tour bus drivers don't know the road really well because they are from out of town, and apparently they have a high turnover rate which means they are from out-of-town, are maybe new, and don't know the road really well. This isn't an across-the-board criticism of all coach drivers (did you catch that? That little worry I just had, just then? I was worried about hurting the feelings of coach drivers....) The local taxi drivers recommended by our villa were amazing. After the first three minutes in the first taxi I just took a deep breath and gave into the experience of travelling on this breathtaking stretch of coastline and I was actually able to tear my eyes off the road and have the confidence to take photos, and point out stuff to my family, and laugh, and have a conversation, without tearing the leather off the dashboard with my gnawed-down fingernails.
Oh, also, many little coastal towns in this area define their borders vertically, as well as horizontally. This means that the boundaries of Praiano are along the coast but also way up that unbelievably sheer cliff face. When we left the villa for the airport in Naples, we travelled for nearly ten minutes up, up, up, deep into the high hills above the coastline, switchbacking back and forth on tiny hairpin bends. Our driver suddenly remarked: "This is also Praiano.We are just driving above your villa now". I looked, what seemed to be miles down the cliff face, towards the receding coastline, and realized that Priano goes up, as well as across, giving a completely different geographical experience. We were amongst vineyards, now, and chestnut forests, having left the seafood restaurants behind in favour of homemade sausage and mozzarella products. When you book a taxi or airport transport, give them an indication of which part of the the town you want, if you know. It could make them ten minutes late, easily, if they guess wrong.
Let's attack some more worries. The Language. It's okay. Really. You'll sort it, whatever you're trying to accomplish, you'll get it across, somehow, either with a phrase book, a picture, Google translate (which can actually translate entire sentences for you, which is a real help) or, as I resorted to on several occasions, truly terrible mime skills. Or just ring Frank. P.S. Try avoid having to mime 'jelly fish'. Your dignity probably won't survive it. I don't think they even have jellyfish in Amalfi. Google it.
If a local person in a tourism and service industry occupation wants to increase his business, he/she will either speak, or have access to, the English language, written or spoken. I sense a real pride, on the Amalfi Coast: the pride of individuals who love where they live, and love the fact that other people love it, so much so that they will brave air flights and rail journeys and taxis and car-sickness in order to experience it too.
Bratty kids. Well, hey, they're everywhere on the planet, but if you look at the triggers for brattiness you'll probably be aware that many children (who haven't yet developed appropriate emotional control) may not adjust well to new environments, and can suffer from a whole host of sensory issues which can make their little lives a nightmare. Luckily for me, my children are nearly grown and those days are behind me, although I still fall victim to other people's parenting scenarios on holiday; we all do.
Here are a few bratty-triggers, for starters: *sunburn *sand-in-your pants *too much sugar *not enough sugar *too much or too little food *boredom *electronic-device-withdrawal *weird food *weird language *excessive heat or cold *unfulfilled expectations *uncomfortable or unfamiliar clothing *freezing-cold swimming pools *scalding hot sand or tarmac *missing friends/amores back home *missing domestic pets back home *forgotten teddy bear *no book-at-bedtime *altered routines *not enough f****** electrical adaptors *jelly shoes *an item in a shop window not bought for them by a really mean Daddy *sunglasses *hats which must be worn at all times *sunblock and the yucky feeling of wearing it *ultra-bright sunshine *rainy days *museums *Mom's terror of The Road *Dad's insistence at ordering in Italian in restaurants (when it is clearly written in English, with numbers next to it, right on the menu.)
Sometimes kids just don't enjoy the sort of holiday stuff that their parents enjoy.
Now, look at this list and ask yourself: can you honestly say that you yourself, as an adult, haven't had some, or all of these feelings yourself, at some point? You've just learned to control yourself better - or maybe you haven't! Have you ever been bratty, yourself, on holiday (goodness knows I know I have....) ?
A private villa hire can help ease the pain of many of these bratty-triggers, and if you need some quiet time, a private villa means you are only surrounded by your own children and their potential for brattiness, without putting yourself in the proximity of the brattinesss of others.
We experienced such kindness in Amalfi, which wasn't motivated by the need for a tip (American tippers take note) but by a genuine, human, understanding of what was needed and what would make your holiday experience better. For example, in the last days of our visit, my husband ran short of cash and needed to find a cash point to stock up for tips, travel expenses, etc. He rang a local taxi and the driver took him to and from a local cash point without charge because, well, he's human, he just saw a thing that needed doing, and that it could easily be him in that situation someday, when he visits the U.K. Not having to pay a taxi fare in order to visit a cash point was just so kind.
I am 57 years old, and I still get excited by wood-fired pizza ovens (much to the annoyance of my children). I love watching them shuffle the pizzas around so they don't burn, and toss logs into the fire, and I love trying to second-guess which ones will come out next, and which one is going to be mine, and why doesn't the dough fly all over the place when they make them? Apparently wood-fired pizza ovens may soon become a thing of the past, courtesy of EU directives about air pollution, or some such nonsense. In La Brace, Praiano (the oldest established restaurant in Praiano) they let me hover around the wood burner without limit, and check out the langoustines on the grill (when they're raw they look like they're stuffed with bubble wrap, but after a few minutes on the grill they turn into that succulent and aromatic flesh which is so worth fighting through the hard shells to get to.) They gave our sons a first taste of Limoncello (watching this was well worth the price of admission) and when I enquired about the ricotta cake but didn't order any because I was too full, they kindly brought me a small plate with a taster sized portion. That's just kind. I look forward to making my own ricotta cake at home, now that I know what to expect; I'm sure it won't be half as good as theirs, though!
I could go on-and-on about travel, and triggers, and anxiety-busters, and I probably will in subsequent posts. But can I just leave you with an idea, a goal, for your subsequent holiday plans: LET'S TRY NOT TO MAKE ANY HOLIDAY OFF LIMITS TO YOU BECAUSE OF ANXIETY.
Let's look at some types of travel, and how you can acknowledge the dangers, fears, and delights, and how to make this achievable for you, if you are a worrier. Sort of like the WORRIER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. I had a very anxious journey through Rome recently, utterly spoilt by a negative blogger's impression that the whole of Rome was riddled with thieves and pickpockets whose goal in life was to do me down. I believe that there are pickpockets in Rome, and many other travel destinations no doubt, but I think providing positive awareness of a problem rather than banging in the Worry Nail would be a kinder way of imparting information to the prospective traveller, worrier or otherwise.
Please go to The Amalfi Coast. Allow yourself to be in the postcard, and feel smug about it. It is just beyond the limits of the English language, how lovely it is. And if it means putting in a bit of overtime at work to push the boat out with a private villa then I would encourage this. Having compared the two options, hotel and villa, both of which are magical, a villa can alleviate many of the travel issues that may dog you when you are abroad.
Here are the details of services we used on our trip:
VILLA LA MADONNINA (www.amalfihome.com) Frank Lerchenmuller
AMALFI TAXI Praiano Taxi Service: Gianluca Aiello +39 347 335 6845, g.6.aiello@gmail.com
LA BRACE restaurant, Praiano
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