[Worldtrippers home] [2025 Crystal-Viking]
Yesterday was our only sea day on this itinerary. We rounded the southern tip of Italy, sailed through the Messina Strait (between Italy and Sicily) and passed Stromboli (an active volcano).
When Viking sails up the west coast of Italy, the ship normally stops in Naples (the home of pizza). Unfortunately, Naples is already congested with several cruise ships. For our current itinerary, Viking Vesta stopped in Salerno instead.
This is our first time in Salerno, but the port itself is rather industrial. Viking offered many of the same excursions we could have booked in Naples, but we have already been to Pompeii and Herculaneum. Fortunately, the free included tour offered us something we haven’t experienced: a scenic cruise along the Amalfi Coast.
The Amalfi Coast is considered one of the most beautiful sights in the Mediterranean. We booked the afternoon excursion. Unfortunately, 288 guests were reboarding from the morning excursion at the same time that 280 guests were disembarking for the afternoon excursion. We have never seen the gangplank so crowded. It took 45 minutes just to get everyone aboard the tour boat.
We enjoyed a one-hour scenic sail along the Amalfi Coast before we arrived at the town of Amalfi itself. Here, we had two hours to explore on our own. Amalfi is built on a hill, and Gail continues to have mobility problems. Fortunately, she was able to walk around for more than an hour before she found a spot to sit down and rest.
Amalfi is famous for its lemons. Amalfi Coast lemons are unusually large and fragrant, as well as particularly sweet and juicy. As a result, we saw shops and shops filled with lemon candies, lemon gelati and lemon liqueurs. Gail bought several bottles of limoncello to take home as well as enjoy aboard ship.
We enjoyed another one-hour scenic sail from Amalfi back to Salerno and the ship. Russell has a five-day break between lectures, and we are using the time to catch up on work. Gail is paying bills and taking an online genealogy course. Russell is working on a new lecture and catching up on the blog.