For those of you who have been following this blog for the past two years, you’ve read about the many … many … many walks I go on. While I do love walking and exploring the Amalfi Coast on foot, there are times when it is inconvenient—or downright exhausting—having my own two feet and the public SITA buses as my only sources of transportation. I really don’t like (and that’s putting it politely) driving manual transmission cars, and my driving lessons on the Amalfi Coast have been less than successful. My life changed dramatically a week ago when we bought … a motorino! (That’s Italian for scooter.) And could it have a more appropriate name than a Piaggio Liberty? I love it!

I’m still getting used to riding it, especially in all the curves on the Amalfi Coast. Even though I haven’t ventured very far yet, I am slowing starting to realize just how much this little motorino is going to change my life here. Yesterday was a beautiful day, and I have been wanting to get the summer herbs planted on the terrace for the past week. There is a truck that sets up every Sunday morning during the warm weather months at the crossroads of Ravello and Scala that sells plants, flowers and herbs. While I could have walked there and back like I did last year, it was such an amazing feeling to just hop on the scooter and be there in a few minutes. I just needed basilico (basil) and prezzemolo (parsley), and the men selling plants were nice enough to bag them up so that I could easily get them home on the scooter.

I put the bag of parsley plants on the hook at the front of the motorino, and the bag of little basil plants fit perfectly inside the bauletto … the little storage container behind the seat. This is the best use I’ve made of the bauletto so far!

The best part was that by taking the scooter I had plenty of energy left when I got home to get all the herbs planted for the summer on the terrace. The parsley and basil plants are new, and along with them I also have a rosemarino (rosemary) plant that is a few years old, a timo (thyme) plant from two years ago and a wild strawberry plant that was a gift last summer that I hope survived the winter. (The empty pot below has cilantro seeds!) I can already imagine the taste of the fresh basilico and prezzemolo on the summer pastas and fresh tomatoes. I’m hoping for a great summer like last year when we fabulous basil all summer long.

The photos of the motorino were taken on my phone, but they’re the first pictures I’ve taken of my new Liberty. Well, new to me! It’s quite old, but it runs well and the price was perfect. It’s a bit dirty at the moment from the rain at the end of last week, but I’ll get some proper pictures soon when it is all clean. I just couldn’t wait to share my first taste of liberty  … and it tastes like summer on the Amalfi Coast!