Hike with me to Paradise through the Amalfi Coast
- At November 25, 2020
- By Zia Lucy
- In Paths, walking tour
- 0
Visiting the Amalfi Coast could be one of the best experiences in your life, especially if you add some hiking in your holiday!
A beautiful piece of paradise was chosen by artists and writers, they decided to have a great escape after visiting the most popular cities of Italy. Later in 1960’s the Amalfi Coast became a really popular place for ceramics, lemons, great fresh food and the warm climate.
People come here not only to enjoy the sun and the marvellous beaches but also to discover our culture, admire the amazing nature surrounding us and enjoy our “too Italian lifestyle”. Classic Tours you can do here are: getting a Ferry or a private boat to Capri, visit ancient vineyards, stopping to the archaelogical Site of Pompeii on the way to the airport.
But, have you ever thought about hiking?
There’s a great selection of trails you can take on the Amalfi Coast: Every path is different due to the geographical position of the Coast and its micro climate which changes from one place to the other. You can do half or full day hikes, combining your walks other activities and tours.
Hiking on the Amalfi Coast can be a great holiday for the entire family, a “once in a lifetime adventure”. If you are looking for a longer adventure, you can do one week trekking between Amalfi and Sorrento or vice versa, enjoying off the beaten path and later relax into the beautiful small towns, go to the beach or do some shopping.
Hiking on the Amalfi Coast offers you a different point of view and if you do it with a guide, it improves the quality of your holiday. With a native guide In fact, you are able to connect with locals and discover the hidden secrets of a place. A guide not only points out flowers and places, but also tells you stories you can’t find in books because they belong to the everyday life and to popular traditions. A guide can suggest you the best viewpoint where you can stop and take a selfie and always try to skip the crowds.
Hiking along the Amalfi Coast with a local guide could change your holiday from nice to Paradisiac.
So why not try?
Here’s there’s a list of my favorite hikes (… yes, local guides have favorite places too):
1. Ravello to Atrani via Sambuco
Start hiking from Ravello, one of the most beautiful towns in the Amalfi Coast. Before walking, I suggest to visit Villa Rufolo and then have a pastry at Caffè Calce (my favorite bar for gelato and brioche, they also have a pizzeria for lunch). The hike brings you to San Nicola Convent through a path surrounded by ancient dry-walls, small rivers and chestnut trees. After crossing the Convent, you can take a path to get to Minori or Maiori and walk through a pine forest with some coastal views and lemon gardens at its end. I like going to Minori.
2. Papermills Valley
You can read a description of this hike in this post: http://en.zialucy.com/2020/04/18/paper-mills-valley-hike-amalfi/
3. Path of the Gods
Considered the most beautiful trail in Italy, this hike is suitable for many people (not for those who have knee, legs, heart or balance problems). I’ve done this hike more than 1000 times and I never get tire of it. Me and my guides will be happy to show you the best spots and talk about local legends.
4. Positano to Colli di Fontanelle (path of the 2 provinces) or Le Tese
One of the most challenging hike for length and elevation gain. It’s my favorite for the challenge and the views: Once above Monte Comune, weather permitting, you are able to enjoy the spectacular views on the two bays (Salerno and Naples) divided by the Isle of Capri and the best part of our mountains! If you can’t hike for 13 km with 1000 meter of elevation, I recommend to go for a walk to Santa Maria del Castello through Le Tese Hike (the path where I do a big workout before starting the hiking season).
5. Sirenuse Trail
Considered the alternative hike to path of the gods, This trail is more beautiful and with a bigger variety of views. It’s recommended for people who stay in Sorrento as its start is only 30 minutes driving.
6. Athena Trail
Once upon a time, there was a path getting the Sanctuary of Athena. Nowadays it’s not possible to get to the Sanctuary but the hike is amazing and it looks like you touch Capri with your hands!
Find more info Here: Athena Trail
7. Villa Jovis and Arco Naturale
Emperor Tiberius in 27 AD decided to live in Capri. Here an amazing Villa was built, on the highest side of Capri, far away from the dangers of Rome. Here he reigned and here, according to Suetonius, Tiberius engaged in wild debauchery. Nowadays, it is possible to admire some ruins of this Villa and later you can walk back to Capri, taking a path that leads you to a Natural Arch and above the Faraglioni Rocks. Great spots and incredible vegetation will let you feel the real energy of Capri and you will understand why, from The Romans to Romantic Painters, people choose to have their great escape in this amazing Isle!
Are you ready to hike with Zia Lucy? Feel free to contact Us: [email protected]
How To Get Out of 2020 and stay positive
2020 has been a terrible year? We must find something positive.
I completely lost my job, I couldn’t go out for more than 2 months, when I finally found a part-time job I realized It was just for a few months.
Despite all, I survived… and in a very positive way!
Would you like to know what happened later?
Government closed Campania Region again!
Too many covid-19 cases and a few hospitals to take care of all.
Two days to decide if we were red zone, yellow zone or orange zone… is this a joke? Unfortunately not!
So guys, after discovering that I am at home again, without a job, with a broken Iphone and lots of sunny days outside, I started using some positive methods of how to get out of a 2020 existential crisis.
Good News: This lock down is a bit easier, we can go out for a fitness workout. Thanks God I am not feeling like a prisoner into my own house (which is very comfortable though).
When you are out of your comfort zone you realize you are able to move on. You can’t make future plans, you can’t do what you like, you can’t see your family and friends every time but there’s an energy helping you to survive and you must release this energy.
How did I release this energy?
With Simple things and here are some suggestions (I hope it helps you too):
1.Make a Plan of Things to do
You have lots of free time you never had before and if you have nothing to do, It’ll end you’ll get bored and depressed. So try to find a plan of things to do and make a list.
2. Hiking Therapy
I know the Amalfi Coast has the best scenery in the entire World and I must consider myself lucky to live here, but hiking really helped me. it doesn’t matter whether you are in the most scenic place of the Heart or just in the Green Park close to your house. The most important is to walk!
It’s not only necessary for you stay fit but it really helps your mind to keep away bad thoughts and have happy dreams at night. Walking into Nature really helps because it improves your creativity, it strenghtens your body and mind and gives you positive energy.
Well… if you can’t do Hiking Therapy, you can try to stay fit at home by using different Apps such as
http://: https://www.kaylaitsines.com
At least those apps help you to stay fit and do some workouts.
I really missed traveling and my job. As a tour guide, my job is more like having a holiday on the Amalfi Coast with my customers and showing them hidden corners, describing the places with incredible stories. In a positive way I know we will travel again and I know maybe you need to get some inspiration for your next trip to Italy. So, I started making some short videos on my YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GduTZmfh4fw
Read more»Vali Myers and her magic world of femininity
- At November 16, 2020
- By Zia Lucy
- In lifestyle in Positano, Positano
- 0
Vali Myers, a unique character of the authentic Amalfi Coast lifestyle in the 60s.
Vali Myers was not only an artist who refused a lifestyle scheme imposed by modern society. She represents an inner conception of connections between the femenine world and Mother Nature.
I remember when I was a little girls and I used to watch her on the pier, catching the small boat with a red fish sign which used to bring her at Adolfo’s restaurant. I was fascinated by her tattoos, her long skirts and her beautiful and wild red hair. She was the lady who inspired me for loving art and nature. At that time, lots of artists who created that unique cultural soul of Positano died or had gone. I only had the possibility to see Vali, Nureyev and Zeffirelli walking on the streets of Positano at a time when our beautiful Positano was becoming an international Jet Set place.
Many people at tat time were wondering if She was popular…
I don’t think She cared and for sure we didn’t care. It was important what she represented for us: a free soul, a pagan spirit, a woman who taught us how to deeply connect with Nature.
Who was She?
In 1952, Vali left Paris, together with her companion Rudy Rappold, after a hard period of life. They arrived in Capri but, as it happened with many artists who were looking for a simpler life, they moved to Positano. Here they restored an old wreck sited outside the town centre, and area called Vallone Porto which nowadays is a protected Natural Reserve, unique for its microclimate and flora.
Surrounded by an incredible vegetation, sheep, dogs, frogs and her beloved Foxy (a Fox Vali saved and adopted), Vali and Rudi embraced an ecological lifestyle that anticipates the hippie search of ascetic and ancestral life where man speaks the same language of Nature!
With her eclectic paintings representing the feminine world through a mystic trance, Vali became muse of Francesco Scavullo, Patti Smith and Marianne Faithfull.
Between all, Vali inspired Gianni Menichetti, an important artist for Positano, who still lives in Vallone Porto and protects this hidden corner of Positano:
Gianni first arrived at Vallone Porto when he was 18. Not long after his arrival, Gianni became Vali’s lover and willing slave, and she, his Goddess, mentor and muse. With Vali as his teacher, Gianni learnt fluent English, a wealth of poetry and literature, hundreds of songs, and a charming collection of colloquial Australian sayings:
http://www.giannimenichetti.com
Vali never had kids, She once wrote:
“I use the mythical Madonna figure a lot in my art. The center of life is female – we all come from our mothers. I’ve always drawn women or female spirits. I feel deeply about this – who gives a damn about some guy on a cross? My mother’s creativity was smothered after she married and raised a family, but she was supportive of me – even my father expected me to carry on in her footsteps. I prefer to have no kids but lots of animals.”
and here’s what she wrote about Marianne Faithful:
“Marianne Faithful turned up one day with her boyfriend to see some of my work. I thought, who is this scrawny little guy, so I said to him, what is it you do Micky? How would I know who the bloody hell Mick Jagger was? – I wasn’t interested in Mick Jagger, I was always into Marianne. She was a real fighter.”
For extra info, you can visit the following websites:
https://www.valimyerstrust.com/about-vali-myers/
https://www.rocaille.it/vali-myers-the-witch-of-positano/
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