My Travel Blog

This was the street where my dad’s great grandma Carmella lived, with my dad pictured in front of her house. Over 100 years ago, she left this town and took a one-way trip to America. The town, Campobasso, had a lot more life than I expected. It is the capital of a small region in South Central Italy called Molise. Unfortunately, we didn’t walk around the town much and only went to Carmella’s house. The language barrier was a major factor as the people we tried to talk to didn’t speak any English.

My dad found Carmella’s birth certificate online and had one of his Italian friends translate it. He tracked down the exact address and we hunted it down in real life halfway across the world from our family home.

Carmella’s husband, Sabatino was from another town called Morcone, that's only about a 20-minute drive from Campobasso. It was smaller and more secluded on top of a hill. The view of the Italian countryside was incredible as you could see rolling hills for miles. We could even see Campobasso! At the very top was an old castle that provided a lookout for people protecting the city from intruders hundreds of years ago. It reminded me a lot of Enna, Sicily. I am proud that relatives on both sides of my family were from small towns on top of a hill in Italy.

My dad and I were drawn to a grass park next to a river where we imagined our ancestors running around playing soccer in their days. The deserted park was about the size of a soccer field and surrounded by trees and fences. It made for beautiful photos and had a religious mural painted on the only nearby building.

The Amalfi Coast had the craziest driving conditions I ever experienced. I expected it to be bad, but it was 100x than expected. Amalfi driving was a narrow, barely two-lane road, with wide busses, mopeds lane splitting, and impatient Italian drivers honking. Every time we got on the road was the most stressful ride of our life. When we finally arrived at the town we were staying in, Minori, we had to drive up a one-lane road to find our accommodation on a lemon farm on top of a mountain. Then, after parking, we had to climb 150 stairs to reach the house. It was worth it, though, for the superb view. I liked it being off the beaten path in nature. The next morning, we went to a legendary pastry shop upon the recommendation of our tour guide in Sicily, Mimo. They had over six pages of pastries and cakes on the menu. It lived up to the hype - truly incredible.

The most famous hike on the Amalfi Coast is the Path of the Gods. It was another insane drive to get up to the trailhead. We went the wrong way down a one-way road with no way to turn around. We had no choice but to open someone’s gate and go into their property to turn around. They came outside and yelled at us in Italian. Anyway, the hike lived up to its name. It was a long, narrow trail with goats, donkeys, horses, farms, and rock climbing alongside. About every mile, there was a bend to overlook a new town below, along the coast. We only went halfway and turned around to go back to the car because we had plans to go to Ravello later that day.

My dad was interested in Ravello because they have a classical music festival at two famous villas on the cliffs every year. We toured both villas, and the stages were platforms hanging off a cliff. I would be scared to play music there. Besides the festival, Ravello is best known for Villa Cimbrone, a bougie event space with magnificent gardens and a terrace hanging off a cliff with statues of historical figures. I snapped this picture of a random woman posing on the terrace. What a beautiful picture!

The town of Amalfi was accessible and lively. We went there for an afternoon and evening spent at the beach, exploring the Greek and Arab architecture at the Amalfi Duomo, dinner at a restaurant recommended by our tour guide in Sicily, and lemon granita. The gelato shop had at least four unique variations of lemon gelato and granita. Positano, on the other hand, was quite difficult to get to. The entrance and exit was a one-lane loop off the main drag riddled with tourists strolling around. It took forever to travel the loop and get back on the main road. The town of Positano was nothing to write home about. But the beach at the bottom was something out of a movie. Standing in the water and turning around, seeing the houses built into the hillside, I thought, “Is this real? Am I dreaming?” I can still picture that visual in my head vividly.

The insane driving was inescapable. It was clear you needed a moped on the Amalfi Coast. I now know for next time. We stayed at an ancient monastery on top of another mountain. It is now a family-owned olive-farm agriturismo run by three generations of women. They provided delicious buffet-style dinners every night, accompanied by their homemade olive oil and bread. To the South, there was a view of Sorrento, and to the North, a view of Naples and the Vesuvius volcano. People don’t realize how much volcanic activity influenced Italian history with Etna and Vesuvius (I haven’t even mentioned Stromboli). The tour guide from Sicily I mentioned before, Mimo is from Naples, and he said he lives every day scared that Vesuvius could erupt at any moment.

There were clothes and bedding hung out to dry outside every apartment window. Some locals joked that drying laundry is their “National Flag.” Also, the city had many more local people out and about than other cities I visited. Many other big cities in Europe seem to be dominated by tourists. However, Naples was dominated by the locals. It was a melting pot of different cultures as all types of people walked in the streets. Even though he played almost 30 years ago, Maradona’s influence was all over the city. Maradona, considered one of the best soccer players ever, played for Napoli for most of his club career. Every street vendor sold a version of his jersey, and there were murals of him everywhere. Lastly, my dad and I went to the famous Naples theater. It ended up being a surprising highlight. The architecture was unmodified and original from 1737, with a perch in the back middle, where the king would watch the shows. It made me time-travel back to that period.