This blog is for all of those women who like me hired a personal trainer in the US to bully them into shape before going on vacation. There is no personal trainer who can do what Amalfi does on a daily basis -Amalfi gives you no choice. At any point in time with a personal trainer you can look them in the eye and say “I’ve had enough, I’m beat and we’re done here for today!”. In fact my trainer Ian will attest to the fact that I said those exact words on more than one occasion usually about 3 times a week from January to April of this year. However, in Amalfi there is no choice other than to sit down and not move. Amalfi is full of steps, turns, corners, and curves that go up and down. I have in my past blog complained about the steps I have had to climb to reach churches, one apartment and special tourist attractions. Amalfi has the Stair Master beat, there is no choice but to walk the steps, there may be a lift in the hotels but the houses and apartments that make the scenic postcards wonderful have no way to reach them but to climb the steps. My apartment is not the highest in the area of town where it is situated but it doesn’t fall short by much. Amalfi has these narrow walkways that wind through the houses and apartments. From the main road in town I have figured out 4 different ways to reach my apartment, none of the ways include any motorized sort of vehicle, no cars, scooters, segways or hover boards. The shortest number of steps I would need to climb to reach my apartment is 187 steps one way. This does not sound like much however that way also adds another 0.25 miles onto the walk to the central district. Additionally, all the steps are stone, uneven in size, height and width you can’t just run up them like a stair master that rolls the same size and height in your direction to step. The best part of the steps is the people of Amalfi, they are all shapes, sizes and ages but one thing they have in common is their ability to smile and they always respond when greeted. These are people who climb these steps everyday not just for a week while on vacation. They carry their groceries, their babies, and help their elderly. They leave their door’s open so they can see their neighbors pass by so they can greet them, give them a short break from the steps and catch up on the latest gossip. The steps in Amalfi are hard to get used to for the tourists but for the people of Amalfi they give them the ability to stay in touch, know their neighbors and become family.
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