Arrived Rome and On to Amalfi

Arrived in Rome, on time, yesterday and got the train to Tracy's friend's apartment in Rome where we enjoyed a quiet day, napping and then enjoying a leisurely Italian lunch and later went out for dinner.  Enjoyed my first gelato of the trip!  We slept in a bit today as we are still somewhat jet lagged and then packed up and headed to the train for the trip to Salerno.  The train was running 20 minutes late so when we got to Salerno we had to go at break neck speed to get from the train station to the ferry dock to catch the ferry to Amalfi.  Enjoyed a lovely 45 minute ferry ride to Amalfi.  We found our hotel after a few wrong turns and then went out exploring.  Amalfi is absolutely packed with tourists right now and we learned when we checked in that today is the patronal festival of St. Andrew the Apostle, the patron saint of Amalfi.  Tonight there was a huge parade, with the Saint being taken on a pallantine all through the city, with priests and altar boys and incense and candles and a huge band following.  We visited the cathedral this afternoon and then wandered through the city.  We decided to eat dinner a bit early so that we could watch the festivities on the cathedral steps at 8 PM.  The crowds were intense but we got a pretty good view of St. Andrew coming down the steps and the parade went right by us.  We then walked down to the seaside and up along one of the hills and back through narrow little alleys to the center of the town.  Our hotel room looks right out on the sea and tonight at 11 they are doing a big fireworks show.  Practice fireworks have been going off for hours and they are LOUD.  So we will not be going to sleep early tonight.  At this point we are enjoying sitting by our open window watching all the activity down below at the seaside and hearing the fireworks.  We're going to have a little champagne when the fireworks display starts for real later on!  It's a beautiful night, very pleasant now that the sun is down.  The town is gorgeous all lit up with colored lights ad there are a number of boats out in the harbor also all lit up waiting for the fireworks display.  I get such a kick out of the procession and parade for St. Andrew.   Reminds me of the way Hindus process their deities all over their villages with chanting and candles and festivities.  Catholics and Hindus have a lot in common!  Pics include the beginning of the procession out of the cathedral with St. Andrew, a fountain in town where folks fill their water bottles, and shots of the harbor when we arrived and then later, after dark when everyone was out for the festival.