Italy’s Amalfi Coast: Cruising with Enzo

It’s rare that you meet someone that makes you pull out a pen and paper in order to document the things he or she is saying. On my recent trip to the Amalfi Coast such a thing happened.

I was eager to leave Rome for the famed Amalfi Coast. Drinking limonello there was on my to-do list, and I couldn’t wait to mark it off. Rome is a nice city for holidays, but I was ready to escape the hustle and bustle and take life a little more slowly. Some spectacular sea air would reinvigorate my body and soul.

Enzo was my Walks of Italy guide and driver for touring the Amalfi Coast. I always expect my guide to be full of knowledge and willing to teach me about the place I’m visiting, but I don’t expect my guide to be a modern-day Aristotle full of profound {and sometimes comical} thoughts. From the time that Enzo picked me up at the Bellevue Syrene in Sorrento, my pen furiously wrote his words in my red notepad. By the end of the eight-our tour, I’d filled five pages, both front and back, with my middle-aged driver’s thoughts.

An Italian with blondish hair and blue eyes, Enzo explained in the first five minutes that his grandmother was German and that’s why he doesn’t look Italian. She was a nurse in WWII and spotted his grandfather, an Italian soldier, with a bullet in his arm laying on the side of the road. She rushed to his side and took him to the hospital where they eventually fell in love. Upon hearing that story, I knew the day with Enzo would be interesting.

In his white taxi van, Enzo deftly snaked through the windy, narrow roads that hug the coast. From Sorrento we headed to the picture-perfect town Positano. In between navigating and pointing out places of interest, Enzo spewed deep thought after deep thought. What I thought would be a light-hearted afternoon filled with beautiful scenery and some limoncello, turned into a lesson in philosophy.

“It isn’t just enough to be good looking. You have to be good inside. Intelligent people know this.”

“Love is like a mouse trap. You go in but don’t come out.”

“My brain is full of colors.”

“Love is a chemical in your heart, not in your head. The brain gives interest, but your heart gives love.”

“I know I have to die, but I’d like to do it when I’m older.”

“We are Italian. We are lazy. We like good food, wine, and conversation.”

“Brain, heart, and sexy–these are the three things man wants from woman.”

“Sometimes I like to say stupid things. It makes me feel younger.”

“When in doubt say ‘no’ because ‘yes’ can’t be returned if you don’t like it.”

“Every time you touch this land you are in your second home. Since 1944, Italy owes its freedom to America.”

“Go beyond. Don’t be scared. It doesn’t matter the eye color. It’s the expression. If you see someone that you like their eyes then it is special.”

“What you feel in the first ten seconds of meeting someone is the truth.”

“I think it is necessary to believe in something you don’t touch.”

“If you want to live long then make love all the time.”

“Don’t think about what you will do in ten years. Think about today and then tomorrow.”

Once we reached the town of Amalfi, Enzo became all business. He had to deliver me to Mt. Vesuvius and a volcano expert by 2:00 pm. The stories and wise words continued to resonate within me. I got a huge kick out of this man I’d met a mere five hours before. A genuine invitation to return was extended by Enzo.

“Life is long, Leah. You’ll come back here.” 

Although his statement is in direct contrast with my tag line,“Life is short and the road is long,” I agreed with him. I would be back. I want to see the Amalfi Coast alive with giant lemons, colorful flowers, boats cruising, and restaurants full of people who also love this little slice of heaven as much as I do. Despite the less-than-glorious weather, I decided that it was the second most beautiful place I’d seen behind New Zealand. Perhaps the yellow sun and turquoise waters during a June visit would change my mind.

Enzo dropped me off at my Naples hotel. My time in Italy was almost done, which saddened me immensely. I had one more night and would spend it eating pizza in the place of its origin. My blonde-hair, blue-eyed Italian guide/philosopher left me with one final thought:

“Napoli is a beautiful woman in a dirty dress.”

The moment I stepped out of the safety of my hotel I knew exactly what he was talking about. What a perfect metaphor.

Thanks to Walks of Italy for providing Enzo and his services. I was a guest of Walks of Italy, but as always, the opinions are true and my own. A special thank you goes to Enzo who allowed me to write down his words and making me laugh when he said,

“I hope that when you make love to someone you don’t write.”