Well not really too much, but there is no way I would have driven anywhere, lets put it that way.

As I’ve mentioned before, the only real way to see the Coast is by Vespa, unless you are rich and have a boat. If you are poor like me, then a Vespa is almost as good. On Friday night after a long hard week at work (yes, those do happen in Italy. I hate to break it to those of you who imagine our lives to consist of sunny terraces, long lazy aperitivi and leisurely coffee breaks, but working in Italy means deadlines, and stress and working on last minute projects at midnight and all kinds of annoying crap just like everywhere else. That’s why they call it work) we and some friends decided to take the Vespas and go for a ride on the Coast to relax.

We took a different route to the usual, and instead of heading along the cliffs towards Amalfi, we climbed up to Raito and Albori, where the views are astounding. I wish I had some awesome pictures of the silvery moon on the silky sea, but Roberto wouldn’t stop the Vespa so I could take snaps (asshole) so I don’t have anything that impressive. Maybe I wouldn’t anyway since I’m not so hot with the DSLR yet, but I would have liked to try…

Anyway, like I say the views were great but the salads, bruschette and wine at the Bruschetteria di Albori, a place so popular with the locals that if you don’t get there in plenty of time you can end up waiting for an hour or more. It looks like nothing special from the outside, nice enough but not precisely posh… although to be honest this just adds to the charm of it. Or maybe that’s just me, because I’m not precisely posh either.

We enjoyed some of the massive (MASSIVE) salads

One of the hundreds of varieties of bruschetta which were on offer (we shared a Calabrese – ‘nduja, porcini mushrooms, provola cheese and tomato)

Wine. Falanghina. Lots and lots of it.

By the time we were finished I’m pretty sure that we were the closest to drunk that it is socially acceptable to be in Italy… although again, maybe that was just me. What? I like wine, wine likes me – we make a great couple!

If you are ever in the Amalfi Coast, this is a great place to go for a truly authentic experience (you wont find many tourists) and to eat what the locals like to eat when they treat themselves to a night out with friends. What’s more, it’s cheap by Amalfi Coast standards – Bonus! It’s always worth it to get off the beaten track, even if it is just on to one that has been beaten to death by the locals – after all, they know what they are doing.

With love, from Italy

PS it’s pronounced BROO-SKETT-AH with a hard k, not a sh. Sorry, pet hate…