Ravello (Rhymes with Jell-O)

Why is it important how you say Ravello? Well, I guess it isn't, but Julie and I have this ongoing debate about pronouncing things. It's not really even a debate. The truth is, Julie is awful about pronouncing anything foreign. She knows it, but I give her a hard time because it's soooo bad. Ravello seems like an easy one, but it got called Ravioli, Rovello, Roviolo, Ravolli, and so on. I finally told her it rhymes with Jell-O, and she said that would help a lot (it didn't). Quite honestly, I think this makes her very charming to Italians because she will try but they don't know what she's saying and they start speaking English.

Anyways, Ravello is a town set above Amalfi and Atrani. It's about a 3 mile, very curvy, drive from Atrani. We took a very jam-packed bus to get there.

SIDEBAR: Why can't we stand in an orderly line for the bus? I don't understand why this is impossible. Once the bus shows up everyone forms a mob circle and starts pushing towards the door. I would like to say that the Brits and the Americans don't have any part of this, but it's everybody.

Ravello was an awesome little town. It was bigger than Atrani and smaller than Amalfi. It wasn't too busy and offered amazing views of the vineyards, lemon groves, and ocean below. We toured a gorgeous garden that wasn't even in full bloom and ate sandwiches (the size of a baby's head) on the step of the church facing the piazza. People-watching in Europe is lots of fun. Especially, our game (previously mentioned) of trying to guess one's nationality. We've added a new one specific for Italians: Are they mad at each other or just being Italian? I attempted to buy two bottles of wine from a lady but due to miscommunication, I only bought one. Plus, she tried to make me feel like an idiot for asking about a wine that I know they make in their town, saying she had never heard of it. I know I wasn't pronouncing it wrong because it wasn't an Italian name (Klingsor). Odd that it has been on every restaurant menu, and that I later found it in Amalfi. We took a very steep walk back down, foregoing the crowded bus. The views on the way down were amazing. We seemed to be walking through lemon trees and almost through people's yards. It was a walk comparable with CinqueTerre.

We rested our tired legs and then made our way into Amalfi to mosey. We ran into our Aussie buddies, which was kind of nice since everyone in town is always stopping to talk to someone, so it made us feel like locals. We struggled to find a restaurant to eat at because we wanted something new but didn't want to get burned. There was a nice place way up the road somewhat secluded from the tourists. It wasn't bad. We both decided that the "fresh" mozzarella we ordered was the worst we had in Italy. The gnocchi was okay, but the simple fish was great. The owner showed us the fresh fish before he cooked it and ran out to show us it fresh from the oven. It was really simple and delicious. Now the debate is do we do Capri tomorrow, Monday?

it was a long way down. . .

a very good and very fresh sandwich