The Path of the Gods (Sentiero Degli Dei) is a hiking trail on the Amalfi coast stretching between Agerola and Positano on the Amalfi coast in Italy. I was staying in Agerola so I began there, finding the trail through a crack in the town square (Bommerano area). I actually hiked a third of the trail one day and then slipped on loose dirt, fell and hit my elbow super hard, and had to hobble back to my hotel to ice it. But the next day, I was told that there were going to be live musicians playing along the trail so I decided to try again! I ended up taking a wrong turn, which you will read about below, so I missed the musicians but I’m so glad that I did the whole trail. It took about 3 hours because of my weird, high detour. It was a super hot day but but man oh man were the views gorgeous. Plus, I’ll do anything for a good photo.

Click here for photos from the rest of my trip on the Amalfi Coast.

I always find saints in the most interesting places in Italy.All sorts of neat broken-down houses along the trail.View of the little town of Praiano.A funny story goes along with the photo below. The bottom of the photo is the trail you are supposed to take. The very top of the photo (it’s much higher than it looks) is where I ended up somehow when I took a wrong turn on the trail. I suddenly realized “I have not come across a single person on the trail for the past hour, this is strange.” I went to a nearby cliff edge, looked down and saw a bunch of hikers way down below on the trail I was supposed to be one. So I had the quite the interesting and long experience trying to navigate my way down this old vertical vineyard that separated me from the main trail. Each row is about 5 feet high and you can’t see the row of steps to the next row until you are directly beside it. haha. It was a vineyard labyrinth – so much pacing back and forth on each row trying to find the stairs to the next row. I was chuckling at myself the whole way down. Man was I dirty by the time I got to the main trail again. The end of the trail, coming out into the little town of Nocelle. A little old Italian woman watering her flowers took one look at me and handed me her garden hose. I was covered in dirt from the trail (it was so dry it would rise up in a cloud with every step and stick to my skin) and I was sooo thirsty so the garden hose was like a gift from the Universe. haha. It was all worth it though!Another saint discovery in Nocelle.These guys were delivering a bunch of paintings and helped me find my way to the bus stop. So much cool Amalfi Coast art. Seems like every other store in Positano sells them.

 

 

The adventure continues from Part 1 of my trip to the province of Pescara, Italy in September to photograph Serena and Marco’s wedding….

I took the photo below at the church where Serena and Marco got married, when they first showed it to me a couple days before the wedding.  The church, built in 1007, is called San Liberatore a Mailla.Serena and Marco’s good friend Luigi, took me to such a cool area of Pescara on one of his days off. This amazing broken-down church was just sitting on the side of the road and I asked Luigi to stop so we could check it out. Gorgeous! This would be so cool for a wedding ceremony…Luigi then took me to the area of Campo Imperatore. So different than the landscapes I usually see in Italy! Wow. The area is apparently known as Italy’s “Little Tibet.” Luigi said an old Clint Eastwood movie was even filmed on these planes.K, this was awesome. This is Il Castello di Rocca Calascio and it’s the castle from the old film Ladyhawke, starring Mathew Broderick. As a huge fan of 80’s movies, it was pretty fantastic to see in person. : DNext, we went to the picturesque town of Santo Stefano di Sessanio. This town has an amazing history. It was left in ruins for years (after an earthquake, I believe) until a man by the name of Kilgren, funded the restoration of a large portion of it. He turned the town into a series of vacation apartments called Sextantio Albergo Diffuso. Other parts of the town are continuing to be restored.Ancient door (left) with what looks like a cat door in the bottom.Luigi took us on a different route back to Spoltore, over the grasslands of Campo Imperatore. Absolutely gorgeous and stunning. It’s a popular place for bike trips.

Staying in the cute little town of Spoltore, in the province of Pescara, Italy, a few days before and after Serena and Marco’s wedding was such a great experience. It was an area of Italy I hadn’t explored before and as I mentioned in Serena and Marco’s wedding blog post, their friends and family were so amazing in immediately embracing me as a new friend and showing me their beautiful province of Pescara. My time here was definitely one of the highlights of the year for me.

 

The man in the photo below was so friendly to me and even brought me inside his home to proudly show me the historic exposed beams in his ceiling (it was too dark to get a shot unfortunately). Before leaving, I took his photo and he gave me a huge hug and kiss on each cheek.While in Spoltore, I stayed at the charming Ottocento B&B. The light was so beautiful in my room and I loved the arched brick ceilings. It had been beautifully restored. The B&B was made up of 4 levels, with a room and little living room area and bathroom on each floor for each guest. It felt like having my own little apartment in Italy since the owner didn’t live at the B&B. I loved it!This was the actual key for my room at Ottocento. Le sigh. : )One day, Serena’s good friend Ambra’s boyfriend, Riccardo used his day off work to show me some towns in the area. Such a fun guy and a great day. Driving with Riccardo is like a ride at a carnival. haha. He drives super fast along swerving country roads with his knees while using his hands for his phone or to change a CD, etc. I found myself clutching the door a few times. haha. He is a good driver though – I don’t know how he does it!

First, Riccardo took me to the beautiful fishing village of Ortona. This area is famous for trabocchi, which are extremely cool fishing contraptions on stilts. I found them really fascinating.Such a cool, barnacle-covered anchor!Many of the trabocchi have restaurants right on board so you can eat the freshest of fish. Too bad I don’t like seafood. I’m sure I missed out.More trabocchi lined up along the coast.A collection of treasures, fished out of the sea.Forgotten nets and used nets.

Riccardo stopped so we could take a closer look at a vineyard (and steal a bunch of grapes!). I noticed most of the vineyards in this area of Italy grow their grapes in a tented fashion. It would be fun to have a picnic underneath the shade of a row.Next, Riccardo took me to the town, Lanciano.Another night in Spoltore, Serena and Marco’s awesome friends, Luigi and Daniela, took me for dinner at Pizzeria da Osvaldo. I got a margherita pizza and oh my goodness it was amazing. The owner, Osvaldo (seen below) is 88 years old and apparently still goes to work every night in an I Love New York T-shirt. Adorable- I love this man. Buonissimo pizza Osvaldo!After dinner, Luigi and Daniela took me to this amazing gelateria, L’altro Gelato in the city Pescara. It was voted one of the 10 best gelaterias in Italy! I believe it. I tried a mojito-flavoured sorbet that tasted spot-on and the 3 ice cream flavours I had were so creamy and delicious. Italians are amazing hosts. I had tried to pay for dinner at the pizzeria and Luigi and Daniela wouldn’t let me, so I ran to the till at the gelateria to pay and the girl working knew them and said, “I’m sorry, but they will kill me if I let you pay,” drawing a finger across her throat for emphasis. Too funny.Daniela (left) and Luigi (right) with L’altro Gelato owner, Livio (middle).I know I could have gotten a way better shot of this ice cream but I was much too eager to eat it.