The Amalfi Coast on Lady Fiona

After the craziness of Cannes and Southampton boat shows Matt & I were repacked and heading for the Amalfi Coast.

We had been invited to join some friends on Lady Fiona, Lagoon 620, unfortunately unable to make the full week we ended up joining them in Amalfi as the anchorage in Capri had been a bit bumpy the night before so they headed round the coast and met us in the marina. 

We were greeted by rain but there are much worse places we could have been.  We ventured straight up to Ravello on a tourist open top bus as this was quicker than finding a taxi and off we went up the winding road.

Ravello is perched on a hill top over 365 metres high, it’s villas and vistas have enchanted visitors for centuries; famous actors, authors, composers and artists have been known to come here for refuge and inspirations.  We visited Villa Rufolo, from the gardens, looking out to sea it was difficult to tell where the sea and sky met, we benefited from the lack of visitors in the rain as we wandered around almost on our own.

Our foodie friend, then wandered us out of the piazza and further upwards and we had lunch at The Belmond Hotel Caruso overlooking the pool, the weather didn’t bother us as we ate pizza, pasta and fried seafoods.

As we wandered back to the bus stop we then wondered where all the tourists had come from as we’d had such a peaceful visit, again, with the rain and cruise ship tours, it was quicker to jump back on the tourist bus and head back to Amalfi town than try and get a taxi.

We headed back to the marina, where Greg & Michelle were waiting for us and listened to our tales before they laid the table for dinner.

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Our first course was an orange, beetroot and avocado salad, followed by lobster linguini with a touch of chilli, dessert was lemon sorbet with caramelised pineapple. It was a delight to be dining on Lady Fiona again.

The next morning, it was still wet but starting to improve and after a glorious breakfast we wandered into Amalfi, a town that I have such fond memories of, we window shopped and stopped for cappuccinos before heading back for lunch onboard.  One of the group had been far more adventurous and had headed up the back of the town into the hills and up to the watermills.  We were wowed with a duck salad for lunch with a ginger, sesame and soy dressing.  We had a lazy afternoon lounging around as the rain had stopped and we finally ventured onto the top deck!

We went out for dinner, the recommendation came from the guys on the dock, Matt & I had a lovely dinner but not everyone faired so well.  So we decided to head round to the piazza for pizza and ice-creams, on arrival, suddenly I was back in the Amalfi town I remembered, all the cruise ship passengers had gone, the stairs to the church were empty and Matt and I reminisced the early mornings, sneaking off the yacht before the guests woke for fresh pastries and having a quiet cappuccino while the town was just preparing for another busy day. 

We woke to blue skies and after breakfast we were off to Positano.  Anchoring in the pretty bay we all went swimming, there was a bit of chop from the passing boats but Matt did manage to do 1 lap of the yacht standing on a paddle board.  We then headed ashore and under Greg’s instruction headed left and up the stairs, stairs and more stairs, suddenly we were all relieved not have been there in the August heat!  We made it up to the road and decided we’d have lunch at the top. A fine view across the bay, we had a mix of Italian delights and relaxed in the late September sun.  We then started our journey back down, this time a winding road full of linen shops, art galleries and Amalfi lemons.  As we returned to the yacht we all agreed Positano had a very relaxed feel and was our favourite place, the others had already visited Ischia and Capri before we arrived, Ischia was a close second.

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We watched the sunset from the top deck with a gin and tonic and then had dinner onboard.  We started with a melon, prosciutto and blue cheese salad, followed by steak, asparagus & roasted potatoes.  Dessert was a simple chocolate and strawberry flowers sharing platter.

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Our final day onboard, another leisurely breakfast, then today we were lunching at a place that is difficult to reach by land so most guests come by yacht.  Conca del Sogno, for those that ever had the pleasure of dining at Harmony Hall in Antigua between 2001 – 2007 under Riccardo and Marie-Lisa, this is the first place I’ve ever compared it to, the shrimp and ricotta ravioli with a lemon and clam sauce was divine.  If we had time we would have stayed all afternoon but we wanted to make one last stop before departing. 

Back onboard, anchor up and we were off to Sorrento, again another town we’d only seen from the sea, we jumped in the rib and headed ashore at Marina Piccolo, then took the lift up to the top.  Wow, another completely different town, this was busy with tourists but also people going about regular life, there was a mix of shops, the main street was mostly chain stores and boutiques and the tourist shops were found in the back streets. We headed back down the winding steps back to sea level where Greg picked us up and whisked us back to Lady Fiona and then delivered us safely down the coast to catch our taxi back to the airport. 

Back in the office it feels like a whole other world but what a fantastic escape from the autumn that has now arrived in the UK. I now feel I can truly say I’ve seen the Amalfi Coast. 

This winter experience Lady Fiona in the Caribbean on take an adventure in Croatia in Summer 2020.

charter@diyachting.co.uk

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