The Blue Ribbon Highway

Aaah, the "blue ribbon highway" hahah .... I don't know if I can ever explain this well enough, but I will try. From Sorrento to Positano and Amalfi, you have to get there via "The Blue Ribbon Highway". And when I say "highway" I don't mean a typical highway that you would see in Canada. HA HA umm no!! From Sorrento to Amalfi, it is only about 35kms, BUT it takes you two hours to get there. YES, you read that right, 2 HOURS! The highway is pure switch backs, winding around the coast on a road that is not meant for two cars, but one at the most. We took the local bus to get to Positano and Amalfi (each on a different day) and it was quite a treat. The highway was built for horse and carriage, so at most turns, only one vehicle can fit. Here we are on a big massive bus and it can barely make the turn. At every corner it would honk, sort of to warn oncoming traffic we were coming. The highway is right on the cliffs, one side is mountain, the other side, cliff, 1000m down to the ocean straight! No room for error at all. The speed limit is 50km/h and I would dread going any faster then that (and really, I don't think you could go any faster even if you tried).

You have to be a damn good driver to be on that road and you are definitely paying attention. At points on the drive, we would come to a stand still because the bus couldn't fit around the corner due to oncoming traffic and it wouldn't just be one car, but multiple cars. So each car would have to get as close to the wall as possible and back up until we could fit through the turn. Like I said, the highway is meant for a single car, let alone a two sided highway with non stop buses passing through. I think that this has been my favorite Italian experience since arriving here. Arnold even said that there is no way he could ever hire a car and drive this highway - you leave it to the professionals. The Italian bus drivers (even the regular drivers on that route) could teach us North Americans a thing or two about driving. I think we both were close to puking by the end of the two hour bus ride and said a quick thank you for arriving in one piece. It is definitely a white
knuckle ride from start to finish (highly recommend it).

Love Melissa and Arnold

PS. I am slowly getting caught up on things that have been happening with us over the past couple of weeks since we got to Europe - plus I'll update everyone my daily life in Capri. Thanks for reading!! Hope all is well.