Another four hour drive, (so google says but it lies) but it's always more, even going on highways at 130 km per hour. We finally arrive but we realise that my friend’s finger had worsened and he had the good sense to say he’d better go to the hospital. But we were in the south, not many people spoke English, we were so lucky that when we arrived at our room, the woman there was incredibly helpful. She called a taxi and translated when he arrived there.
Luckily he went, as soon as he got into see the Doctor, she put a tourniquet on his finger, which unsettled him considerably as no one spoke English. He had the presence of mind to ring Angela, our host and she translated. I had stayed at home thinking he’d come back with antibiotics. I was with the woman when she was talking him through it. It was severely infected and they would have to remove his fingernail! Then I had guilt that I hadn’t gone with him. He returned an hour later with a horror story re southern Italian hospitals. They had asked a big burly lad to come in and hold him down whilst they removed it with no anaesthetic, local or otherwise, offered. He said it was excruciating. I’d just been reading a book set in Italy in WWII and that’s what they did in wartime to get people to confess! But the Doctor had said it was lucky he had come then and that the infection could have gotten into his bone. We concluded that the pain had been worth it. We didn’t understand why no local anaesthetic was applied but as we told this story during the rest of our travels with the mention of Salerno hospital, people would make the sign of the cross! 'Ah, the south, they would say, that's not where you want to get sick!'
We needed alcohol, (he obviously more than I) and luckily, as in all of Italy there was not one but three across the road and as the alcohol did it's job, he was ravenous. Salerno is a port city and known for it's seafood, (I chose this town because it was cheaper than staying in all the famous towns of Positano, Ravello etc). We had an excellent seafood meal that night with a top up of more alcohol.
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The next day we found a chemist as the hospital had given him no antibiotics and no information on how to look after it. The difference between Australian and Italian chemists is that here chemists can prescribe antibiotics and pain killers, which they did and they suggested ways to dress it (which was a nightmare after we tackled it later that day and which then required more alcohol). Equipped with a bag of bandages, sterile solutions, pain killers etc we then went to the vegetable market which was crazy. The noise from the vendors shouting their produce was loud and boisterous. We found the first tiny fragolini, wild strawberries and the flat peaches they have here that are so sweet, there was wild asparagus and rotund deep purple eggplants, if only we had a kitchen!
And then we headed to the harbour and found a place overlooking the water. We lunched on a plate of prosciutto, local cheese with fried pizza balls and zucchini flowers stuffed with smoked ricotta and anchovy. But the heat was too much and we headed back to rest until the evening meal.
We’d been told about Mamma Rosa’s but nothing prepared us for mamma. We walked in and she was at our table before we’d even got to the menu, a tiny plump little woman of means. She recommended a few things and left us to decide. We chose too much but ate everything. The plate of vegetables was amazing - caponata, roasted red capsicum, some strange vegetable that we’d seen at the markets and our favourite green. Then came the grilled squid with a simple sauce of lemon and wild mint and a green olive oil. Then fried sardines with onion and mint. The plates were beautiful, all fish related and the dishes enormous. A big carafe of wine and the price! So cheap. We went home satiated.
The next day we explored the old town and lunched on stuffed fried sardines; squid with fennel and wild mint and the best fried zuchinis ever with balsamic and mint and good peasant bread with that greenish hued olive oil.
We went back to Mamma Rosa’s for dinner. Too good not to. We had the local pasta with mussels, lemon rind and grated fresh pecorino and then a plate of mussels and seafood in a garlicky sauce. And yes, our days were filled with food!
But he was on the mend so the next day we got the ferry to Amalfi. We passed by houses and villages hanging precariously on rocky outcrops.
I’m glad we didn’t go by the bus, the road hugging the cliffs looked scary. We were on our way to the famous garden in Ravello, Villa Rufolo . We caught a taxi up the very tiny windy road. Looking over the edge we saw lemon groves espaliered on the hillside of the deep valley as we wound our way up and were delivered to the tiny town of Ravello.
We stopped for a quick caffeine fix with a crispy pastry filled with lemon custard and almond meal. And then off to the famous villa, past caper bushes and gardens filled with lemon trees and vegetables. Villa Rufolo dates back to the 13th century with remodelling in the 19th century by a Scottish aristocrat and the beautiful gardens were added. Richard Wagner, the famous German composer and Greta Garbo stayed there.
Stunning gardens, statues, incredible views and after that we looked around the town. Beautiful ceramics shops everywhere I found a beautiful plate that was like nothing I’d seen before, I wanted it badly but it was too expensive. I gave up and we went for lunch of fritto misto, (fried seafood) and a plate of chicory and then whilst I waited for the taxi, the friend said he was just popping in to see the shop and he came back with the plate!
Then down to Ravello to have the famous lemonade made with the thick skinned lemons that are used for Limoncello. And after that we had a Cedro liquor at Bar Francese, one of the oldest in Ravello and then home.
That night we went to a place where they had ceramic fishes swimming along the colourful walls. We had a strange hot pot with cannellini beans and mussels with croutons that I wasn’t sure about and then a potato and chicory pie with octopus and roasted capsicum sauce and truffle pasta.
The old town at night was beautiful, all lit up with warm lighting and interesting shops, marine based!
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