Positano

Apologies for the very long delay in posting to the blog.  Keeping up with journaling and blogging while traveling with other folks has been much more difficult than I expected.  The times when I would typically sit in a cafe to write is now time shared over glasses of wine, recalling our day or planning the next and my time after dinner is now lingering longer over dinner and splitting a dessert.  I'm still planning to catch up on all of the adventures, but they may appear a little out of order and several days may be combined.

I still owe updates on my last days with Bridget in Barcelona and my first days with Amy in Rome.  The post below covers trip to Positano with Amy, starting with departure from Rome on Sept 6 and leaving Positano on Sept 8.

On Saturday, Sept 6 I got up as scheduled - at 6:45 AM.  We wanted to leave the hotel by 8:45 to head to the train station for a 10:00 AM train to Naples.

Since we would be traveling during lunch time, we decided to finally use the free breakfast SPG amenity in the hotel.  We went down around 8:30 for a very quick breakfast. 

The buffet was quite good and extensive.  Too bad - or perhaps good - that we didn't go to it the other days.  Eggs, cheese, meats, tons of pastries, Chinese breakfast, tarts, breads, potatoes, bacon, ham, etc.

We tried to eat quickly, leaving by 8:50.  Back to the room, final packing then competing with a very large women's conference that was checking out at the same time...so a very long wait for the elevator  and check out.  

The bellman helped with out bags out to the cab and we were off to the train station.  The station was close - only about a 7 minute ride.  

We had bought our tickets online just two days earlier, so we only had the e-mail confirmation on my iPad.  At the station, I entered our confirmation number in the kiosk, but there was no option to print boarding passes.  I waited in line for several minutes at an information desk to find out that we just give the confirmation number to the purser on the train.

Our train line was not posted for a long time....about 10 minutes before our departure time, it was finally listed.  However, there wasn't a train.  The train finally arrived - some exits and then we were able to board.  

The train ride was quite short - only about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Rather than deal with transferring to a local train in Naples and then taking a bus in Positano, we made a last-minute decision to arrange a car service with the resort in Positano.  It was such a good idea that we did - the Naples train station looked pretty confusing with no English.  We also saw the additional complications of streets and buses when we got to Positano.  There would have been no way that we could have done the local train, bus and walking to our resort with all of our bags.

The car ride to the resort was a little over an hour - after we hit traffic on the coast - very small roads with little room for 2 cars and having to give way for large buses to make tight turns.  Amy loved that a guy was waiting with our name on a sign as we got off the train.  

The arrival and check-in process at the resort left me concerned - a strong language barrier.  There was much confusion about if we pay the driver or the front desk for the car service...and when.  Then the front desk also wanted to keep our passports for a while...to which we both said no.

The front desk person escorted us - without bags - to our room.  It looked exactly as it had on the website.  It was decorated in a wonderful, blue palatte and had a very beachy feel.  By far the best part of the room is the terrace which looks out to the sea.  It is "private" in that the terrace crosses the full front of the resort, they've used large plants to divide our terrace from our neighbor's room and the public terrace area that has a Jacuzzi.

Terrace:

View from the terrace:

Chandelier in the room:

 We quickly snapped several pictures, settled a bit and then decided to explore the town...but first lunch.

We stopped at the desk with numerous questions - wifi password, a map, return car service, lunch, dinner, a salon, etc.

This interaction was MUCH better.  The front desk person quickly recommended places for dinner and lunch, both of which offered incredible views and complimentary car service.

In our short time in Positano we've learned that there are many, many steps and small streets where pedestrians compete with cars, trucks, buses, parked cars and motorbikes.  The city is built on the side of a mountain, with the Tyrrhenian Sea at the base.  The streets have been carved into the mountain-side and have incredibly sharp turns to scale the space of the town.

So we took the lunch recommendation and within minutes the car service arrived.  We were swiftly carried off to a higher elevation and walked into a restaurant with picturesque views.  We were quickly ushered to a table in front of open windows which faced the sea.

After some discussion - we ordered a bottle of Rose and grilled mozzarella on lemon leaves.  I had spaghetti with mussels and Amy had spaghetti a la pomedorro.

Everything was AMAZING!!!  It was possibly the best spaghetti as well as mussels that I've ever tasted.  Amy and I both commented that all of the food in Italy has been so incredibly fresh and vibrate.  There are no "special" ingredients or tons or ingredients...all very simple preparations, but with the freshest ingredients.

Lunch lasted over 3 hours, ending with a complimentary Lemon-cello - which seems to be the norm and then espressos - we needed a caffeine jolt for the afternoon.

From lunch, we got a quick ride back to the resort.  Some more time relaxing on the terrace and then out to find the Italian salon.  The front desk had told us about Livia's and evidently no appointment was needed.  We started on our way, but got a little confused - we weren't sure which staircase they told us to take.  We turned around to ask at a connivence store when it started raining quite heavily.  We stood under a wine store entrance until they invited us in for a wine tasting.  Of course we had to buy a few bottles to enjoy on our terrace later!

We got better instructions for finding Livia's and we were on our way...again.  This time, we had success.  Livia's was bustling, but we got in the queue.  There was no official list, but Livia kept it all clear in her head.  She told us 10-15 min.  So an hour and 15 minutes later, they started washing Amy's hair.  Livia's dog came out of a back room around this time and immediately jumped up on the seat with me.  I enjoyed petting the dog and the unconditional love from an animal that I'd just met.  But the affection was short-lived - as soon as another new face came along, I was quickly forgotten.  Another hour later, when Amy's hair had been dried and was in curlers, then an assistant directed me to the shampoo bowl and ultimately into Livia's skillful hands.  We were both quite pleased with our Italian hair-do's (I never found a hair salon in Barcelona as I had originally planned when "playing local" my last day there).  Numerous Italian women that were queued up after us were either quite envious of Amy's long, beautiful American hair or hated how long it took - neither of us were quite sure.

From the salon we headed back to the terrace and opened a red wine from the Amalfi Coast - was grown and bottled just miles from where we were staying.

Before we knew it, it was 9:30 and time for our car service to dinner.  The view at the dinner spot was just as spectacular as lunch, but in a different way.  We were much closer to the water, it was almost a full moon and the moon light reflected wonderfully over the sea.  We had a seat along the railing, so no obstructions.  

The moonlight reflecting on the water:

We started with a bottle of Barbaresco from the Piedmont region of Italy.  The sommelier brought it out saying - "bella botille" (beautiful bottle).  I found that surprising since it was one of the cheapest bottles on the list.  But he was absolutely correct - the wine was fantastic.

Enjoying dinner:

The restaurant was on the other side of the street from the terrace where we were sitting.  Actually all of the tables for the restaurant were across the street...so the wait staff were competing with vehicle and pedestrian traffic all night to serve the customers.  It was a bit of a fine ballet...or perhaps Frogger...as we watched our dishes being served.

For starters, I had a mussels dish - but they were served like escargot and not in the shells.  Each little "cup" of an escargot dish was covered with a small top. Inside were 2-3 very small mussels along with butter, garlic and a few spices.  They were delicious, but very hot...I burned my tongue a few times.  Amy had a cheese platter with 4 different types of cheese along with honey and a peach jam.

The mussels plate:

For dinner I had a local white fish (that's as much description was on the menu), wrapped in potatoes and with a white wine sauce.  Amy had penne with eggplant and basil.  The seafood was so fresh and not the slightest bit "fishy" - to which I'm very sensative.

Neither of us could finish our meals, even though they were both incredible.  We were the last to leave the restaurant at 11:45 PM and had the same driver back to the hotel.

We were quick to bed after a long day...bed was good, but nothing like the heavily bed of the Westin the previous few nights. 

Now, Sept 7, 2014:

Today is our only full day in Positano.  We had already agreed that we wanted to get up early, have a good breakfast, explore the town and hit the beach.

Breakfast is included with the room and incredibly it is only served in your room.  You put your breakfast order on the door the night before along with the delivery time and viola - our door bell rang at exactly 8 AM.  We both had been up about 10 minutes at that time, so starting the day with breakfast on the terrace was lovely.  A very simple croissant with Nutella, yogurt, tea and espresso.  We quickly changed into swimwear and was out the door.  After numerous conflicting recommendations from the staff and a convenience store owner, we took the stairs all the way down to the beach.  Along the way we stopped in numerous small stores, seeing many things we wanted to buy on our walk back to the resort.  There were SO many steps!  Certainly a strong workout for the day.

A few pics on our walk to the beach:

Once at the beach, there were numerous options - a free public beach which has no chairs; a paid beach where 12.50 euros per person gets you a chair and umbrella, but no option of food/drinks unless you explore for them and the chairs are very close together; lastly a reef option that was 15 euros per person for a chair and umbrella, with chair side service for food and drinks and promise of no kids allowed...plus the chairs are all on a reef with a few chairs waterside on a very rocky beachfront.

Amy and I opted for the reef chairs and selected some of the chairs on the rocky beachfront since we planned to go in the water several times during the day.

You can see the different sections of the beach from this shot.  The reef chairs are the last chairs seen in the upper half of the picture...at the end of the beach.

By mid-day, we had both got in the water - it was rather cool and very rocky.  The rocks were smooth, but just so many of them made it painful to walk barefoot.  As you got closer to the coastline, the rocks were smaller and easier to traverse.  However, once in the water, they got bigger again.  It was very odd to be on a beach that wasn't sandy.  I could easily count the number of rocks sticking to my feet when I got back to my beach chair.

There were several kids that played on the beach in front of us throughout the day.  Although we were told no kids allowed, it was fun to watch them enjoying the rocks of the beach so innocently.  Picking up colored rocks and cherishing their prized finds.  Amy and I loved listening to their Italian accents and the excitement in their voices.

We decided a quick lunch was in order - I went up to the concession stand and got us sandwiches - caprase for Amy; Prochiutoo and mozzarella for me....along with a half bottle of a white wine.  We had seen this wine in Rome and here and had wanted to try it.  The bread of the sandwiches was incredible, but there was so much of it!  We both tossed the bottom piece of bread.  The wine was very crisp, light and perfect for continuing our time on the beach.  We ended up getting a second half bottle of the same wine later in the afternoon.

By 4:00 the beach started to clear out, although the sun was still strong.  I went out in the water for a long time at this point.  I floated on my back for about 30 minutes - just admiring the environment and surroundings.  This place that probably started as a small sea-side fishing village and how it grows up the side of a cliff.  To my left, the buildings are very colorful and bright - all looking out to the sea.  Directly in front of me, behind the area where we were sitting on the beach, is a cliff wall.  Too steep for anything to be built upwards and creating a natural division from the next city down the coast.  However, dotted throughout the cliff there were cactuses, trees and other greenery in very random locations.  The difference in topography between the two cliffs in my immediate view was quite striking and intriguing.

And when I bravely took my camera into the water:

We ultimately moved to the upper level of the reef by 5:15 and left the beach shortly thereafter.  We started the climb back up to the resort so that we could stop at several shops.  

After our last step and both of us pretty exhausted - climbing steps non-stop for about 20 minutes - so made a beeline for the convenience store for water.  But it was closed!  We had to dig for coins in our bags to buy water from a vending machine outside the convenience store.

Back in the room we both showered and then watched the reflection of the sunset on the water from the terrace.  We finished the bottle of wine that we had started last night - and it was better than we remembered.

Around 9:40 we headed out for dinner.  No car service tonight and no reservations...just going to brave it on our own.  I convinced Amy to head back down the stairs - to go two streets down.  We had noticed 3 or 4 restaurants on that street that looked quite good and had nice views of the water.

The walk down was even longer than I had remembered and I was already dreading the climb back up after dinner.

We quickly decided on a restaurant when getting to the street.  I think we were both exhausted from the walk and just wanted to sit down.  We got a great street-side table with a view of the water and full moon.  We ordered an unknown bottle of wine - the waiter just said that it was big and strong...sounds perfect!  We shared a bushetta - bread was toasted with a perfect crunch and then fantastic tomatoes (many people know that I don't eat just raw, sliced tomatoes - they have to be in a sauce, etc...but the tomatoes in Italy have been incredible).  For dinner I had the local fresh fish (again, the extent of the description on the menu) - simply pan seared with tomatoes, capers, basil, butter and white wine.  It was incredible.  There were also very small white potatoes, but I passed on most of those.  Amy had ravioli stuffed with burrata and small tomatoes on top.  We were both very pleased with the dinner.

The waiter had asked early on where we were from - when we said the US, he was very excited and he told us about his upcoming trip to NYC.  He was so young and innocent, I was already wanting to apologize for how rudely he will be treated in Manhattan!  It is funny that in the US we dream of coming to the Amalfi Coast to see their natural beauty - enjoying the beach, water, incredible seafood and picturesque views.  However, many of the youth in Amalfi are dreaming of visiting the US and seeing the excitement, lights and electricity of NYC, LA, San Francisco, etc.  I guess wanting what we don't have and the desire to see something different is universal.

After the dinner, we started the climb back up...this time it was a bit slower going, especially with Amy wearing a long dress.

Back in the room, we headed out to the terrace for a nightcap of a creamy chocolate liquor we had purchased in Rome.  Merely to lighten the load of our suitcase of course!  

Our car service back to Naples and ultimately the train to Florence was scheduled for 9:30 AM on Sept 8, so we were off to bed.

Overall an incredible day of soaking up the local beach culture and many rays of sun, capped by a seafood dinner under a full-moon.  The day and a half in Positano was a wonderful holiday escape from vacation!