One Unforgettable Experience

A couple of entries ago I asked the question: is it just as much exercise going down the stairs as it is going up the stairs? I answered my own question today: YES!

After 34 years of marriage you would think that my husband would step in when I make a silly suggestion and be like the parent and tell me “No”. But he just went along with my hair-brained idea because he said deep down I really wanted to do it!

What is it you might be asking? It is walking downhill from the town of Ravello to our town of Minori! We rode the bus up to Ravello today and spent a couple of hours in this beautiful, quaint town. It sits high on the mountain and overlooks the other smaller towns and the sea. It is a very cultural town with the claim to fame that Wagner set the second act of his opera, Parsifal, in the gardens of the Villa Rufalo which is here in Ravello.

Many concerts are performed in the Villa Rufalo. You can just imagine sitting on the terrace of this beautiful villa, overlooking the water and the gardens, and listening to music of every kind.



Ravello also has a beautiful piazza that overlooks terraced hills and a wonderful cathedral right on the piazza that has the most glorious, marble altar.


It also has bronze carvings on the life of Jesus on the doors but they are being renovated at the moment.

Upon leaving Ravello, we walked to the bus stop and the bus was a few minutes late in arriving. Impatient person that I am and realizing that we would probably miss our next connection in Amalfi, I mentioned to Jim that we should just walk down. I suppose waiting for another bus in Amalfi wouldn’t have been bad but the Oceania Cruise Ship was in port (our favorite) and many tourists were in Amalfi touring. Since we do not consider ourselves one of them and didn’t want to add to the congestion, I again suggested “Why don’t we just walk down to Minori?”




(we are standing on the terrace of Ravello taking this picture and have to walk to that little patch of beach in the center of the picture)

This is a well-known hike as well as hiking to the other towns on the Amalfi coast. Most of the towns have hike paths and we often see hikers with their gear arriving in our town of Minori from another town. There is even a hiking map that gives the general direction and time it would take to get these other towns.

Knowing that we were going downhill most of the way, and the fact that I could see our town way in the distance, I thought surely this would be a piece of cake and we would get to experience something that all guidebooks say is a must! This is where Jim should have stepped in and knocked some sense into me. But no, he just let me decide and off we went.

First of all we went the wrong direction and climbed about 150 stairs up. I asked Jim if we were really going down to Minori as the stairs in the distance only seemed to be going up. I finally turned us around and went back to the town square and made Jim ask someone where the path to Minori was. Once we found the right path, we headed off; Jim with his camera and I with my ceramic purchases! (Girls: not as heavy as grandma’s Le Creuset cookware but close!)

Down and down we went. Ravello sits at about 1500 ft above sea level and we had to go down to sea level. Each stair was about 6-8 inches high so we did at least 3000 stairs! This doesn’t count the area we walked from Ravello to Minori, that’s just getting off the mountain. I soon realized that doing this in the noon day sun wasn’t the smartest idea of mine but there is no turning back once you start this hike. There are no roads that cars go on, just beautiful, terraced villas with lemon trees and grape vines and hikers!

Of course years and years of people have walked these same stairs coming and going to the towns. Everything was very old and worn and narrow. Areas where it was shaded had moss in the cracks of the stones. It was really very charming and something you could only see by walking. Though we were the only hikers on the trails today, in cooler weather I am sure these paths are well traveled.

What kept me forging forward was the fact that a street market was setting up when we left this morning. There were many shops that I knew I would like to stop by and see so I kept putting one leg forward, then another, down and down and down (in my good black pants, nice shirt and black shoes, no less)!

We finally reached our little town and Jim started heading towards our apartment and I said “No way, just let me look at the street market”. We headed across the street and it was CLOSING for the day! I couldn’t believe my luck (or Jim’s luck)!

So no shopping for me and I looked across the street to our little apartment and with horror realized we still had another 120 stairs to climb: up this time!!!!

We made it and Jim says I really wanted to do this so I could tell everyone we walked from Ravello to Minori. My legs are still shaking, my rear end has muscles that I didn’t know existed, and I have developed a greater love for city transportation than ever before!
It was also one Unforgettable Experience and I know that even though I am grumbling now, I will always remember the walk from Ravello to Minori.

By the way: we can now walk up all 120 stairs without stopping for a time-out! It only took 5 days. Print this post