Bella! Bella! More Kodak Moments at Positano + Boat to Amalfi

If you’re reading this you must have some interest in what we’re up to in Italy. I’m not sure, though, that you will have this much interest. You see, I snapped over 135 images. Don’t worry. I will only subject you to 23 of them. Trying to whittle down to a smaller number of images was so difficult because it is so beautiful here. At every turn there’s a photo opp. At the end of the day, I turned to Clint and said, “I have to stop. We’ve reached a point where we have so many photos it will be overwhelming.” It is a good kind of overwhelming, you know. Ah, la dolce vita.

So, on with today’s story …

Clint had read a review on TripAdvisor of a Canadian-Italian woman who provides walking tours of Positano. So we descended down the approximately 1,000 steps into the town and met her, along with two other couples (one from Brisbane, Australia, and the other from L.A.) and spent two hours touring the town on foot and learning a bit more about its history and culture. The teacher in me wants to retell it all to you, but the fact of the matter is that you must make your way to Positano yourself someday. In preparation for the trip, we read, watched videos, looked through hundreds of photos, talked to friends who had visited. None of it really prepared us for the unique and magical nature of this charming town set against the Mediterranean.

Through our photos and their captions, though, perhaps you’ll get a bit more of a sense of the area.

First, let’s get this out of the way: Positano (and all we’ve seen of Italy, really) is loaded with gorgeous men – many, like this guy, teasing us with their skimpy swimwear.

Positano, from the beach, in the morning light

Looking the other direction from the beach is no less stunning.

On our tour, we walked a bit west of town and our tour guide snapped this photo of us: a bit dark us, but a very nice backdrop.

A smaller beach just west of the main beach

We enjoyed watching these four floating in the aquamarine blue of the Mediterranean.

La chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta. What is an Italian town without its Roman Catholic church, after all? This one was so beautiful inside. You’ve seen the outside in our Positano pics. It has a beautiful dome that can be seen in the center of town.

As we toured the town, we learned that there was a Roman villa in Positano that was lost in time. The eruption of Vesuvius and the subsequent rain and mud/ash slides covered the villa and it wasn’t discovered until 2004 – sealed up and lost for 2,083 years. The chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta (above) was built – unknowingly, along with the rest of Positano – on top of the villa. There is a small window in the floor behind the low altar looking down into part of the villa. We couldn’t go there to see it, but we assume the Pope could if he were in town. You can dig a little deeper into this story here.

Bougainvillea, familiar to us from our desert home, is prevalent and fully in bloom here.

Mama mia! All this touring works up an appetite! I opted for some penne arrabiata as we lunch beachside.

Clint had some lasagna.

After our tour of the town and our delicious lunch, we boarded a passenger ferry for the short trip up the coast to Amalfi. Amalfi has a deeper port and cruise ships dock there sometimes, but it is a bit smaller than Positano. A map may be helpful:

Map credit: http://www.amalficoastprivatetours.com/

Departing Positano by boat

A small village along the Amalfi Coast

Arriving Amalfi

Amalfi is colorful and stunningly beautiful, too.

We were told that we must stop in at Pasticceria Pansa Andrea and order a Sfogliatella Santa Rosa. No need to twist our arms! We did it and enjoyed the flaky layers and custard filling.

Our view while we enjoyed the pastry was of Piazza Duomo.

And speaking of the duomo (cathedral), here it is. It has a stunning edifice and bell tower. Look near the fountain in the right of the photo. You see a bride and groom, presumably just married at the duomo.

Felicitazioni!

Maybe I’ll try to paint this scene someday.

The Amalfi and Positano areas are known for their ceramics. We stopped in this quaint little shop and purchased a piece.

It was about time for our boat ride back to Positano, so we headed to the dock.

Amalfi was a cute little village and we were glad to be able to explore it some. If we had a lot more time there are so many more villages to visit along the coast. But one always needs a reason to come back, so we can add that to the list of many reasons to revisit the area again someday, possibly.

Back in Positano, we find that we aren’t feeling stuffed so it must be time to eat again! Clint had some dorado fish.

I had some seafood risotto.
Delizioso!

So, there you have it … lots of little tidbits you couldn’t live without from the Amalfi Coast. Our next day is much more calm as we round out our time in Positano. Then we’ll be heading off to Capri after one more night.

Ciao!