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Positano Paradise
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WARNING! If you don't want to look at lots of photos of Pompeii, stop viewing the slideshow when you reach the first one of them, as I have put them all at the end!
Rachel: After being dropped at the station in Verona we got into our sleeper carriage in the train for our trip to Naples, which was about 12 hours. It was really nice that we didn't have to wake up early on the train because it didn't arrive until about 12 o'clock so we could play lots of cards first. We got off at the station and caught a taxi to Positano which was a bit tricky, as we had to fit 5 of us as well as all our bags, but we amazingly managed to squeeze in, with a huge crowd of other taxi drivers watching us like a soap opera. Then we headed off to Positano.
We arrived there to see lots of steps we had to go down with all our luggage, because the taxi couldn't take us all the way to the bottom. We eventually got to the bottom to arrive and see a beautiful beach with waves crashing in and restaurants surrounding us. When we realised where we were staying we were absolutely stunned as it was absolutely one of the best locations in all of Positano. It was right at the beach only 3 stairs up to our villa, which was really nice with its own kitchen, 2 bedrooms and a lounge room. We went shopping and found a skirt for mum and a dress for me. We also needed some groceries for cooking so we found a little grocery store nearby. I went shopping on my own all the time to stock up on things. Positano was one of the highlights of my trip because it was so relaxing and beautiful.
Tom: At Positano it was great to have a little break and slow down. The highlights to me were relaxing, playing cards, Mum and Dads anniversary, playing soccer on the beach with Dad and going out to yummy restaurants.
When we went to Pompeii it wasnt as nice because it was too hot, but still there was lots of Roman architecture and we saw the bodies that had been buried alive.
Getting stung by a jellyfish wasnt fun but the next day it was alright because luckily it was only a small one. One night we watched the Wimbledon Grand Final, Federer versus Nadal, and stayed up to midnight to watch with some other people too. It was a great match but I thought Nadal deserved to win.
Mike: Positano was the place we had long ago decided would be our chance for a much needed midtrip winddown and pure relax, after a few months on the go, and indeed I have to say the timing was pretty much perfect. As much as we had all been loving every moment, 3 days here, 4 days there, and the odd one night stopover does take its toll over time, so our minds and bodies were well and truly ready for a break! What's more Margie, having had such a horrendous time getting over to meet us, was much in need of a rest, so all in all the timing was super.
Like any booking made on the internet, one always lives in hope it will be as good or better than it looked in the photos, and as has been the theme of this trip agaaaaain we were just so delighted when we got there, down all those steps and all! The location had seeeemed ideal online, but what an understatement that turned out to be. Riiight at the steps to the foreshore, riiiight in the middle, this was pretty much theee best location in Positano, and boy were we happy. Even better, on going inside, the place was far roomier and nicer than I had thought too, so we quickly started relishing a full week in this Mediteranean paradise, not a care in the world and obligated to noone!
The beach itself, like many in Europe, was certainly not your standard Aussie beach with miles of glistening sand, but rather a quaint cove of small black pebbles. As I had discovered in the Greek Islands many years earlier, however, this was equally pleasurable in its own way, just different. The water was at a peeerfect temperature in the late afternoon, so this became part of our daily slow-paced ritual, some time after lunch and before dinner, generally followed by a homepoured gin and tonic for Margie and myself, and then a long soccer session on the foreshore between Tom and myself, which we both enjoyed a lot.
Noteworthy too is that we had our own kitchen, which Al was v happy about, so it tended to be we headed out to a yummy restaurant for lunch (normally one of the two immediately on both sides of us one step away!), then had a lighter meal in in the evening. Rachel clearly adooored the freedom offered by this little village, for her to wander about independently to the shops and such like, and was constantly looking for excuses to go on the next shopping expedition for us, like a fourth carton of milk (!), or whatever it took!
My memories of this time are dominated by a lovely feeling of waking up without a care in the world, no people to see and no places to go! The odd outburst of energy, such as cruising down the coast and stopping for frequent swims was a gooorgeous day, with scenery to die for. As one of our really lovely crew of fellow passengers aboard observed, it gets to a point there that you see so much beauty one becomes almost blasé!
Tuesday 1st July
Alison: We are getting far too behind in our blogging, so I will have to make my account of this week brief! This is not an easy thing for me to achieve, but I'll have a go...
We arrived in Naples by 9.30 am after a comfortable train ride and while we had breakfast Mike went off to find a taxi big enough to take all 5 of us plus our huge amounts of luggage to Positano. Of course he was successful and we squished into a taxi and drove the windy but spectacular 1 and a half hours there, with a cheerful chap who gave us his card if we wanted to get a lift back with him.
The taxi stopped near the top of the village and then we walked down and down with our bags to the very bottom where our apartment awaited us. We were gobsmacked by our location - right on the beach, just above a shop selling towels and hats etc and surrounded on both sides by yummy restaurants.
The place was just finishing being cleaned when we arrived, but our landlord Edmundo soon arrived and explained in laborious detail, much to Mike's disinterest and impatience how everything worked and the highly complicated recycling garbage system with 4 different types of bags for different types of refuse, all of which had to be put out on different nights! Mum and I assured him at each point that we knew what we were doing and then finally he answered Mike's questions about Internet access which he had been champing at the bit to find out for the last 30 minutes! Having discovered that we would probably be able to do it next door at the Baca di Bucco Hotel, Mike was at last happy...
We decided on lunch at the Baca di Bucco which was delightful and then went back to the apartment to relax, unpack, do some washing and work out what we needed. Mike quickly struck up a friendship with the owner of the hotel, who was incredibly generous in letting Mike access the Wireless Internet in his bar for free, and so he spent quite a bit of time there over the ensuing week, drinking beer, watching Wimbledon and checking his emails etc!
I went out shopping with Rachel, and she bought a beautiful dress for 10 Euros which she hardly took off for the next week and I bought a nice skirt. We came back and then I went out with Tom who was annoyed that he hadn't been in the original shopping excursion, but as we were wandering through the narrow streets a big storm blew up so we raced back home. It was extraordinary watching the storm come in, blowing everything over on the beach, sending the swimmers back up the hill to their lodgings and bringing the boats scurrying into harbour! After about half an hour it was over, making the place mercifully cooler and we headed out once more, this time to the little Alimentaria or shop where we could buy lots of yummy provisions.
I made a yummy dinner of pasta with Rachel's help and after a few rounds of cards, we headed off to bed, Michael very excited that we actually had our own room separate from the kids!
Wednesday 2nd July
Alison: The only problem with our superb location was that the rest of Positano thought it was a great place to eat dinner as well, so the noise from the surrounding restaurants could be heard well into the night, but with the shutters closed it wasn't bad at all and we quickly got used to it - the advantage of not having to walk 300 or so steps down and back up to an apartment each time we visited the beach, more that compensating for a little night time noise.
We decided to have lunch in the other restaurant next to us, La Cambusa, which was delightful. Knowing already that we were staying next door, they greeted us with a complementary glass of prosecco each and we had a really yummy seafood meal there. After that we went home, played some cards, hung out more washing on the little veranda and then went for swim. The water was wonderfully warm and we had a great time, until Tom got bitten by a jelly fish which rather put a dampener on the experience! Luckily someone on the beach had tube of polaramin which they let us borrow and that worked remarkably well in minimising the sting. It just meant Tom was a little nervous about swimming the next time!
We went next door to Baca di Bucco and watched some of quarter finals of Wimbledon in the bar and then I made bacon & eggs for dinner with our supplies, Rachel revelling in the chance to go off to the Alimentaria by herself every time we decided we needed something else! That girl was born to shop!
Thursday 3rd July
Alison: Today we went on a trip along the Amalfi Coast. It was on a little boat holding 12 of us and cost 80 Euros, including lunch, for the adults and 50 for the kids. We had quite a blissful time with a number of little stops along the way for lovely swimming and we met great people. One couple had taken the same trip twice before already as they so enjoyed it, and afterwards we could see why.
We tootled down the coast towards Amalfi, where we dropped them and another couple who didn't want the lunch and so decided to sightsee around Amalfi instead, and then headed back to the Ristorante Teresa where we had a huge and delicious meal!
After collecting the Amalfi group, we went swimming under a waterfall - quite spectacular and refreshing as the fresh falling water was much colder than the warm old Med! We finally got back at 6.30 and I made pancakes for dinner to the kids'delight. We discovered Rachel had sting-like rash on the top of thigh that must have come from scraping against the shell and weed covered cliff wall when she went under the waterfall, but Mum put some cream on it to soothe it.
Friday 4th July
Alison: We spent a lovely lazy day, writing blog entries (we are so behind in this it is a joke!), playing cards and then went next door and watched the Wimbledon semi final between Federer & Safin - an exciting match which Federer won. I made an absolutely superb Porcini Risotto for dinner and we played more cards before going to bed.
Saturday 5th July
Alison: Today was the day we got to visit Pompeii. The guy next door organised a taxi to take us there, wait for us and then take us back. We had lunch at a Pizza place opposite before we went in, which tried to rip us off hugely in the bill, but Michael kept arguing with them until they agreed on the price actually quoted in the menu! Mike had found a guide for us outside the gates and negotiated a reasonable price so then we began our tour.
It was incredibly hot but luckily in the afternoon some breeze comes up which helped to make it bearable. Our guide explained that it was much worse in the morning when there is no breeze at all.
We had a really interesting time looking around everything and I took LOTS of photos, far too many of which I have included in the blog, but I'll put them in the end so if you don't want to look at them in the slideshow, don't bother continuing it!
Towards the end of the allocated 2 hours Tom had decided he had had enough and as we were all pretty hot and exhausted we headed back to the taxi and home. It was blissful to get back into the sea and have a relaxing swim & then Tom and Mike played soccer on the beach.
It was our 11th Wedding Anniversary so we decided to go next door for a romantic dinner while Mum minded the kids, but unfortunately they could see us from our balcony, so they kept on going out there to check on us! Eventually we gave up and returned home at 9.45 to put the kids to bed, who had been unwilling to do so for Mum when they could see us nearby!
Sunday 6th July
Alison: We had another lovely lunch at La Cambusa, where we were greeted again with Prosecco and warm smiles. Everyone in Positano seems friendly!
In the late afternoon Rachel got her portrait taken by an artist we had been watching during the week. He did a great job and it was interesting watching him as he drew her. For 20 Euros, he captured her remarkably well.
Then we went to the hotel and watched the Wimbledon final between Federer & Nadal. This was very exciting, but had a number of rain delays, so during one of them Rachel & Mum cooked pasta for dinner and then we returned to the hotel and finished watching the game which Nadal won in the 5th set 9-7. It was a fabulous game to watch.
Mike: The neighbouring hotel was owned by one of those super warm lovely Italian men, Francesco, who quickly made me feel totally at home using their internet connection, at no charge, as well as availing myself of their nice bar by the water, one highlight of which was a big screen telly. All those years past, Johnno and I had met up with Mum and Dad on Dads favourite island of Mykanos, in Greece, and Wimbledon had been happening at the time, so we and a few other friends we met there sought it out to enjoy as part of our lovely beach interlude.
Amazing how those feelings and memories come back so fast, because when I realized just days before we arrived there that Wimbledon would be into its second week (ie finalstime) I iiinstantly thought back to how much we had all loved lazing in front of the big matches all those years ago, between swims/siestas and nibbles, and I knew this would be just the same... and it was.
Mad sportsnut that I am, Wimbledon is one of theeee highlights of my sporting calendar and always has been... but to enjoy the final Fededer Nadal, 5 sets of glorious tennis played at the highest level, well this was a treat that was almost toooo perfect, woooow. One of the best matches I have seen in my life (Borg McEnroe number 5 its equal) , enjoyed by the water while sipping on a g&t or three, life was pretty ok!
Our final day we saved for a special trip to a little nearby beach restaurant, Adolfo the red Fish. My friend Taren at home, who has eaten at many of the great places not just in Australia but around the globe, a truuue gastronome, had told me that this was simply one of the best/most enjoyable meals she had ever had, so coming from her this was quickly added to my 'unmissable' list for this trip... and we were not let down.
Getting there after being picked up by their own perfect little islandhopper sloop; the beach itself was a gorgeous protected little inlet, just ideal to jump straight into, so we did! Lunch followed, a feast of freshfromthesea fish, delectable, as well as a host of other delights, and of course great wine and beer. After lunch back to the beach (ie step down from the restaurant!), and 2/3 hours of fun basking in the water, before we headed back to reality in saidsloop, well contented with our last day in this piece of heaven.
I do not say it about too many places, being always one to seek out and discover new places and far horizons, but I left there in noooo doubt we will be back one day, whenever it may be. Not just back to Positano but to this saaaame Villa Costanzo, where Steinbeck had once stayed, and had written of finding his own little slice of paradise.. we concur!
Monday 7th July
Alison: Our last full day in Positano, we went off to the Adolfo restaurant which had been highly recommended to us. The restaurant is on a little bay nearby and you are collected on the half hour by a boat with a Red Fish on the mast. We caught the boat and after we arrived, reserved a able by the edge of the balcony and went for a gorgeous swim.
It was another stinking hot day so the water was the best place to be so we rented lounges for 7 Euros each and a couple of beach umbrellas for 5 Euros each. Then we had a lovely meal & more swims before catching boat back at 5 pm for Positano.
I started packing while Mike went back to the hotel for final emails etc and then I made another yummy risotto & finished off as much food as we could. Finally I finished all the packing and we collapsed into bed.
Tuesday 8th July
Alison: We were up early as the Taxi we had used to get here was coming at 8.15. Edmondo arrived at 8.00 to check out place & give back our 250 Euro deposit. We paid for a small truck to take all our luggage up to the taxi, which was a lot better than dragging it up all those steps instead! We were delivered happily to the Naples train station by 10 and then caught our 10.24 train, but it was delayed by half an hour & the carriage was as hot as hell with no air-conditioning on until the train started! Luckily we had enough of a time buffer to safely get on our next train at Rome to Venezia Mestre.
We got lunch at the Rome station and had pleasant trip through Florence and Bologna and lovely countryside, playing cards as we went. Then we arrived in Venezia Mestre where we had a 3 hour wait in the station before our final train to Prague. There we met an incredibly nasty manager of the McDonald's who refused to let us put two tables together! We went to another bigger table just vacated by a family as we tired of arguing, but thereafter the man continued to scowl at us for the next 2 and half hours as we sat there...
Finally we caught our night train to Prague. Rachel & Mum were in one carriage & Mike, Tom and I were in the next. The Conductor was a cheerful chap but we were a bit concerned when he carefully showed us how to lock our door & warned us not to go out of carriage between 2 & 7 in morning because of thieves! Still, we had a peaceful enough night and got some sleep, looking forward to seeing Prague in the morning.
Where I stayed:
Villa Costanza
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