More Transit Adventures - Amalfi Edition

We booked a shared day tour of the Amalfi Coast through Mondo Tours. We had originally thought to schedule a boat tour, but had read that the dock at one of the stops (Positano) was closed for construction, so opted for a van instead. (Note: do not, under any circumstances, opt for the public bus. They make it sound cute - and it is cheap. But you will spend hours of your time, standing in line somewhere along the Amalfi coast, watching packed bus after packed bus go by your stop because they have no space.)

The gathering place in Sorrento for the trip was conveniently right in front of our hotel, and our group was small - just 8 people including us. Our driver, Lorenzo, also served as a guide, narrating the entire trip as he drove (and I do mean entire trip), complete with waving arms, sharing photos on his phone, and somehow also navigating the twisty narrow road with the ease of Formula One driver. Here is a snippet:

Lorenzo stopped at a few scenic overlooks, and one time-wasting tourist stop (a ceramic “factory” and optional grotto boat tour), before unloading us at Positano with a few directions and a time to meet back at the van. We had time for a walk down to the beach and a coffee.

We had a choice to go to lunch, or continue down to Ravello and have more time to tour, but once we saw photos of the lunch stop we all opted for that. You can see why:

Then it was off to Ravello, and Amalfi. And here I want to say - I don’t get it. The towns were scenic, certainly…and packed with tourists and tourist shops that were not any different than what we had in Sorrento. Perhaps the holiday crowd affected my perspective (it was the Monday after Easter, an Italian holiday), and maybe the whole experience is better by boat (I suspect it is). But a few pictures regardless (from l-r: view of the gardens at Villa Rufolo in Ravello, section of Villa Rufolo, street in Amalfi, view from Amalfi beach).

Lorenzo had already let us know that we would be late getting back to Sorrento - he guessed closer to 6 pm (usually they are back by 5) due to the huge amount of traffic on the very narrow roads. At some point during the drive to Sorrento, we started to hear a thunking noise from the front wheels. Lorenzo pulled over, checked the tires, saw nothing amiss. The sound got louder. He calls his mechanic (and I am guessing at some of this, it was all in very excitable Italian, complete with hand gestures and imitations of the noise, and holding the speaker phone up so the mechanic can hear the sound, all while making hairpin turns above the sea), and then calls another van driver to (I think) meet at a certain spot to collect us while Lorenzo dealt with the issue.

And suddenly - THUNK.

The front wheel breaks off the van, and we come to a very sudden stop. On a curve. With no shoulder - but luckily NOT on the oceanside of the cliff. I guess?

We have suddenly become a roadside attraction. Cars and pedestrians slow down to marvel at a vanload of tourists and their driver, and a van with a broken front wheel and all sorts of plastic debris scattered across the road. Even the frustrated drivers behind us gawk with dropped jaws as they slowly go around us and see the reason we have stopped. I do not have a photo, but imagine something like this, but messier:

It wasn’t long before one of Lorenzo’s fellow van drivers came to the rescue and scooped us all up for a safe return to Sorrento. I am sure we were not the only passengers who, upon arrival, immediately went off to find a drink.