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Eat Here: Da Gemma

Note the ubiquitous sfusati (bulky lemons) on the Da Gemma lamp fixtures

Today we are going to pay a lunch-time visit to a restaurant that was recommend by our concierge at Hotel Convento in Amalfi. And now, we recommend it to you, too…that is, if you happen to be on the Amalfi coast of Italy.

Since you’re staying at the fabulous Grand Hotel Convento, and it’s not too far into Amalfi town, let’s walk.

Along the way we’ll check out the small town campo, the church, and a few of the local shops.

So, join me now as, off we go to a now-favorite trattoria, Da Gemma.

Getting Into Town from Our Hotel

But, before we begin our journey into town, we need to rise-and-shine. We woke up a bit early this morning to catch sunrise from the Hotel Convento. It was spectacular, wasn’t it? You can learn a good bit more about the Hotel Convento by reading my article titled, Staying in a Convent Retreat.

A Post-Breakfast Swim

I’m sure you remember the nice swim we had after breakfast in the hotel’s cliff-side infinity pool. You looked fabulous in that new swimsuit, by the way!

Cliff-side pool of the Grand Hotel Convento

Talk about a pool with a view to infinity! Nice, huh?

To infinity and beyond…actually to Sicily

Making Our Way Into Town

OK, we’ve toweled off and changed clothes, so into town we go. Good move not wearing shorts…that’s a sure sign of a tourist in Italy.

Rather than taking the elevator down to the roadway, we’ll walk the many steps that wind their way down to town. Don’t worry, it’s all downhill from here.

There’s our destination…the red arrow points the way to the one-and-only road that pierces the heart of the ravine town of Amalfi.

[BTW: you can see the pool house about a quarter of the way into the photo from the left, and a third of the way down…and those horizontal rows of foliage below Amalfi’s mausoleum and the hillside above town, we’ll talk about those as we’re strolling in Amalfi]

As we near the bottom of the winding stairway, we look up to see our hotel poised on the edge of a cliff.

We’ve come a long way in the down-vertical direction

Wandering Our Way To Trattoria Da Gemma

Now, to work our way to our destination for lunch, Da Gemma.

In this aerial view of ravine-dwelling Amalfi, you can see Da Gemma in the blue box. But, as we are a bit early for lunch, we decide to first explore Amalfi’s charms. We’ll start with the Duomo di Amalfi (in the orange box), which is dedicated to San Andreas (aka Saint Andrew, the brother of Saint Peter). You can read a bunch about San Andreas, his relationship to Scotland, and this church, in my article titled, Transforming the Cathedral of San Andreas.

The blue box marks Da Gemma…the orange, the cathedral of San Andreas

The Piazza Duomo

As we start toward the church, there is a small piazza (more of a campo) with an age-old statue of San Andreas.

“Why the x-shaped cross?”, you ask…it’s because Saint Andrew's martyrdom by crucifixion was on a cross called a ‘saltire’ cross, which is an ‘x-shaped’ cross, like the one he is holding onto in his last moments.

You can see just a bit of the statue to the left in this very old photo of this same campo.

Here is my own rendition of the old photo, which I created using Google ‘street view’. As they say, “Close, but no banana”.

The Duomo (Cathedral)

Just across the street we see the steps of the cathedral I’ve removed all of the people from the photo except the bride, standing at the top of the steps. And, I replaced a blah sky with one of more drama. The Duomo has a rather magnificent mosaic façade.

Here you can see the exquisite detail of the mosaic, with a still-different sky.

Here are just a few interior photos, as Ellen leads us inside.

Beautiful! But, it’s time to begin our walk toward Da Gemma.

Street Life in Amalfi

This hungry, but well mannered, pup outside the butcher’s shop reminds us of just how hungry we too, are.

But, to get to Da Gemma, we have to negotiate the one-and-only street through town. Yes, this it it! Via Lorenzo D’Amalfi.

The street is so narrow that there are traffic lights that alternate traffic from north to south.

Another Google street-view photo below shows us that street light. The sign above the red light asks motorists to turn off their engines whilst waiting for a green light, rather than idling out emissions in this pedestrian laden area.

One must wait for vehicles preceding you (before you caught that red light) to travel over 1,000 feet on a green light, and then wait for oncoming vehicles to traverse that same distance before your own green light is activated…then add a good bit of pedestrian slowed time to the formula. I have no idea if this is all done automatically, or whether someone monitors the situation to change the lights at the appropriate time. But hey, it’s Italy!

See the folks in shorts? Tourists.

To avoid the occasional step-into-a-doorway routine, you can use one of the pedestrian tunnels that parallels the roadway, like this one.

A Few Street-Side Shops

Along our way, we pass shops selling this and that. This one sells mostly wine, as it is an ‘enoteca’.

And, this one features bottle after bottle of Limoncello. This sweet-tart-sweet (I’m emphasizing the sweetness, here) liqueur is made from lemons that abound along the Amalfi coast.

Limoncello is not made from your momma’s lemons, though. A single lemon is called a ‘sfusato’, and they are just a bit on the bulky side. The photo below showing sfusati hanging from the arbor was taken at our Hotel Convento. And, in the photo taken on our full-day boat trip to Capri, you can the ubiquitous terraces of sfusati layered up the hillside. Virtually all of the sfusati are destined for limoncello.

[Want to know more about having a fabulous day traveling along the Amalfi coast on your way to the Isle of Capri? See my article titled, “One Fine Day”]

And, did you notice the prosciutto hanging in that limoncello laden shop? What is that smeared on the cut-end of the leg? You can learn more about prosciutto in my previous article on Italian meats titled, “Eat This: Italian Meats - Part 1”.

Trattoria Da Gemma

Ahhh, we’ve reached Da Gemma, which means that it’s time for lunch!

Da Gemma is not a flash-in-the-pan restaurant. This trattoria has been around since 1872…and we’re glad of it.

It’s not located on the street, but thankfully, above it. Your al fresco dining is on a lovely terrace, above the hustle-and-bustle of Via Lorenzo D’Amalfi.

We’ll take those steps up to the right to get to our lunch.

As we typically do, we start our meal by enjoying a bit of the bubbly…prosecco. Cold and refreshing!

The waitstaff are super helpful and friendly…as is everyone we encountered in Amalfi. Here is Alfonso, who took great care of us.

And here are the two handsome young men behind the glass who man the pasticceria.

We’ve now ordered, and Ellen has been given a rather dangerous looking tool. We’ll have to see what that’s for.

But first, it’s time for a refreshing white wine. Alfonso recommended this Greco di Tufo. It is much like a Gavi…rich, refreshing and light…we like it! And of course, it’s a DOCG wine.

This is some sort of amuse-bouche, and at this seven-years-past-the-event stage, I have no idea what it was. But it was well plated, presented, and it tasted yummy.

As is customary for a meal in Italy, the pasta course is a ‘primi’, or first course, which is typically followed by a meat course. Notice the beautiful plating. And that tomato-heaven sauce on the pasta…bellissimo.

One most always gets a presentation of the prepared fish course

For us, the secondi meat course is a nice branzino (sea bass), cooked perfectly. It was presented table-side (above), and then Alfonso and helper began the deconstruction needed to plate the dish for us.

And, here is our fish course, complete with potatoes and a superb buttery-lemony sauce.

This dish is typical of seafood-dish presentations you will find in Italy. As proof, here is another sample of a superb fish course, this one enjoyed the next day on the Isle of Capri.

Do they do dolce in Italy? Yes, they do. The one of the left is the one we ordered. The one on the right…with limoncello…is house-provided…just in case one needs more sweets in one’s life.

All so very satisfying. Will we have room for this evening’s dinner? Always!

Along with the presentation of il conto (the bill), Ellen is presented with a couple of souvenirs of Da Gemma.

As we depart, we say a fond, “Grazie e arrivederci” to the friendly, competent kitchen staff.

La Fine

I hope that you enjoyed tagging along with us on our Amalfi adventure today.

Now, two questions:

What was that tool for that Ellen was holding? I have no remembrance of that. And I have no photos of a food item needing such a treacherous tool.
Who is going to help us get back up to our cliff-side hotel? We need a lift…literally.

If you find yourself in Amalfi town, please pay a visit to Da Gemma…you will not be disappointed. If it’s OK with you, we’ll walk with you from the hotel, high on the hillside.

And, until our next adventure…

Ciao for now,

Steve

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Transforming the Cathedral of San Andreas

Today’s transformation contains a bit of a history lesson. This transformation is one where my original, very weak looking snapshot of the Cathedral of San Andreas in Amalfi, Italy is renovated into a much nicer photograph.

“It is typical of photos taken aiming either up or down, that there will be a good bit of distortion. Aiming your camera up creates a convergence of lines toward the top. Aiming your camera down does the opposite.”

But, did you notice that I am publishing this article on Monday, rather than the usual Tuesday. Well, there's a reason for that. You'll have to read down a bit to find out why I did this.

Original, yucky, unaltered snapshot — Original, yucky, unaltered snapshot

But for now, here is my original, blah snapshot. Pretty pathetic, huh?

Remember two weeks ago when I discussed JPEGs vs RAW photos. What you see here is the unaltered RAW snapshot – none of the JPEG’s alterations have been applied, as this was not saved as a jpeg image. If you are a bit confused by this, go back and read that article from two weeks ago.

So, Who is San Andreas?

Before I show you the transformation of this snapshot, I think you will find it interesting to know more about the man for whom this cathedral was named. You probably know San Andreas by his more common English-naming version of Saint Andrew. Yes, he’s none other than Saint Peter’s brother. Both were fishermen who became disciples, called by Jesus at the same time to become ‘fishers of men’.

Oh, and there’s a geological formation in California that was named after San Andreas – though through no fault of his own. I’ll pause for just a bit to let the laughter die down before continuing.

Detail of Saint Andrew and brother, Saint Peter

In this enlargement from the still-drab snapshot, you can see Saint Andrew (with a stringer of fish) and brother Saint Peter (with the Keys to the Kingdom) as they appear with the other disciples on the facade of the cathedral.

Statue of San Andreas in the Cathedral's piazza, with saltire cross

And here is a photo of the San Andreas statue that sits in the piazza in front of the cathedral in Amalfi. Note the diagonal cross? That’s pretty significant to the death of San Andrea (and to Scotland it turns out – but more on that later).

That diagonal cross is called a ‘saltire’ cross. Saint Andrew – as was the fate for all of the disciples – was martyred. But their martyrdom, unlike many of those today, was personal, as they were the only ones to perish in the process. Saint Andrew's martyrdom was in the form of crucifixion on a saltire (or diagonal) cross.

Here is a depiction of that crucifixion by the artist Juan Correa de Vivar, painted about 1545. Not a very pretty sight, but I think that was probably the point, wasn't it?!

Artist's depiction of Saint Andrew's crucifiction, by Juan Correa de Vivar

The Scottish connection?

In 832 AD, a leader called Óengus II (in what is now called Scotland) led an army of Scots into battle against the Angles (the Angles were one of the Germanic tribes who settled in Britain after the Romans left, and they founded Anglo-Saxon England – so basically, they formed what we call today 'the English'). As Oengus was heavily outnumbered he engaged in prayer on the eve of battle, and vowed that if granted victory he would appoint Saint Andrew as the Patron Saint of Scotland.

On the morning of battle white clouds forming an X shape in the sky were said to have appeared. Óengus and his forces, emboldened by this apparent divine intervention, took to the field and despite being inferior in numbers, they were victorious.

Having interpreted the cloud phenomenon as representing the saltire cross upon which Saint Andrew was crucified, Óengus honored his pre-battle pledge and duly appointed Saint Andrew as the Patron Saint of Scotland. The white saltire set against a celestial blue background became the design of the flag of Scotland. Here is that flag of Scotland.

And that same cross was then incorporated into the flag of the United Kingdom, as seen here.

So now you know why there is an X in the flag of Scotland and the United Kingdom, including Australia.

Back to Amalfi

OK, back at the Cathedral of San Andreas in Amalfi.

You’ve heard of the Crusades, right? There were four of them. The first three had to do with the Holy Land. But the fourth was a bit bizarre in that, when the Crusaders arrived in Venice to get onto ships to head off to the Holy Land once more, those conniving Venetians talked the whole gang into going off to sack their financial rival, Constantinople, instead. So, that’s what they did in 1204. As Constantinople was the seat of the Eastern Catholic Empire, there were many relics of the saints ensconced there, including a good part of Saint Andrew's body.

Then, in 1208, following that sack of Constantinople, some of those relics of Saint Andrew which remained in Constantinople were taken to Amalfi, by Cardinal Peter of Capua, a native of Amalfi. A cathedral was built, dedicated to San Andreas (as is the town itself), to house a tomb in its crypt where it is rumored that most of the relics of the apostle, including an occipital bone, remain. FYI: Saint Andrew's skull is said to be housed in one of the massive pillars of Saint Peter’s Cathedral in Rome.

As a side note, the room at the entrance to that crypt is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Here are a couple of photos of that marvelous room.

So, that’s how the Cathedral of San Andreas that sits in the town of Amalfi came to be. Now back to the transformation.

The Transformation

It is typical of photos taken aiming either up or down, that there will be a good bit of distortion. Aiming your camera up creates a convergence of lines toward the top. Aiming your camera down does the opposite. So, as you can see in the original photo, the real-life vertical lines of the Cathedral are skewed. Additionally, as I was not standing straight-on to the cathedral, the horizontal lines are also a bit skewed. And then there is a bit of scaffolding. There is always a bit of scaffolding.

So, my first job was to make vertical lines vertical and horizontal lines horizontal and then to remove the scaffolding. After removing the scaffolding, I had to borrow a bit of the facade from the left of the cathedral to balance out the right of the cathedral. Here is the result of this first step.

Now that things are straightened out, it’s time to work on the color elements of the photo. Like in the discussion of jpeg images, I needed to add color saturation, contrast and sharpening to this RAW image. So, that’s what I did. Here is the spruced up photo as it stood then.

Almost completed transformation...that sky is a bit blah

Artist Bob Ross liked 'friendly little clouds', and so do photographers. A photographer's best friend is often a cloud – we do have other friends, but clouds usually add a good bit to photos where the sky is visible, where our human friends do not. See this photo, and this one, to see what I mean. So, as I didn’t particularly like the plain, blue sky of this nice Amalfi-Coast day, I went to my cloud file (yes, I have many, many photos of clouds that I’ve taken over the years) and selected clouds that I felt really added another dimension to the photo. So, here you have the final version of the photo.

The final image, complete with friendly clouds

And here is an enlarged segment of the façade which reveals some interesting things. One is that the façade is actually a very well done, and colorful, mosaic.

Detail of mosaics, bowing kings, and Apostles

Another is the depiction of kings, who are bowing down and offering their allegiance to Christ through the offering of their crowns.

Finally you will note three animals and one man, all winged and haloed. These are the traditional symbols of the Apostles. To Christ’s extreme right is Mark, who is always shown as a lion (and as he is the Patron Saint of Venice, it is called ‘The Lion City’). Then there is an ox, which represents Luke. To Christ’s left is a man, who depicts Matthew. And finally we see an eagle, which is the symbol for John. You will often see these animal effigies of the Apostles in various forms of Italian art.

So there you have it. Another example of transforming a blah, lifeless image into a fine-art photograph. If the original image, all skewed and lifeless, had been saved as a jpeg image, there would have been little that could be done to improve it beyond straightening it out. When I first looked at my original snapshot, I actually considered deleting it...but then I thought, 'hmmmmm'. And, since the photo was saved in a RAW image format, there was a lot to be gained in transformation from the original photo.

I hope you enjoyed this transformation. Feel free to leave a comment.

Why on Monday Instead of Tuesday?

And oh, I almost forgot to tell you why I released this article for my blog on a Monday instead of a Tuesday. That is because today, November 30th, is both the 'Feast of Saint Andrew Day', as well as 'National Day' in Scotland, both related of course to the subject of today's article.

Ciao for now.

Steve

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