Category Archives: Positano

One year ago today

July 12 2011 – we were staying in the lovely Villa Greta in Positano on the Amalfi Coast. It was a scorching hot day with the temperature hovering in the low 30′s (celsius) with hardly a breath of wind. The ideal day to wander down to the beach – in this case our local, Arienzo Beach. “Local” means directly below Villa Greta down 239 steps. All very well going down but an absolute nightmare coming up on a hot day. But well worth it for a lie in the sun and a fine pasta lunch at the beach club.

July 12 2012 – I was sitting in my study in Casa Kainui, Wellington. The sun was shining and I thought about taking a wander down to our local beach – Hataitai Beach. The temperature was hovering in the low 10′s (celsius) with a brisk wind blowing from the south- no, it’s not quite the same.

And now we turn 200
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And now we turn 200

This is our 200th toscanakiwi post. When we started the blog it was to keep friends and family informed about our little adventure in Italy. But reading back over some of the last 200 entries I now realise it is also a collection of memories for Jean and I. It might be old age or just the passing of time but little things get forgotten and one adventure gets confused with another in our minds – but the blog is always there with the real story.

In September 2011, post number 100 was sent from our cottage in Tuscany. At that stage around 4,800 visitors had read the blog since it’s launch. As of today that figure has increased to 11,541.

A huge thank you to all our lovely readers. Your feedback is always welcome and knowing that our adventures are providing a little interest and entertainment is all that we can ask for.

Ciao

Graeme and Jean

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Return to Positano

Our time in Positano is but a distant memory but as we left Positano in early December we videotaped the drive around the main road, down to the village and back again. The plan was to show our lovely readers how narrow the roads were as well as some of the sights of the town.

It has taken a while to edit the footage but it is now as complete as it will ever be.

The trip is along the main road through Positano which runs to Amalfi one way and over the hill to Sorrento in the other. We then detour onto the one way road that winds down the hill to the Positano village and then climbs back up to the main road again.

Looking back at 2011

Last year was quite a ride for Jean and I and the girls. We started it in our home in Wellington, New Zealand, doing what we have done for the last 20 years and ended it in a pub in the English countryside doing what we enjoy most – celebrating with friends.

In between we rented our house, quit our jobs and moved the family halfway around the world to spend 9 months in Italy. Going through some of the 3,915 photos I’ve taken since leaving New Zealand brings back memories. Here are a selection covering the full 9 months. Some we’ve used in previous blog posts but others are new. Enjoy.

Heading north for the winter
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Heading north for the winter

Tomorrow we leave Positano and start the drive north to the UK. As a friend pointed out this seems exactly the wrong direction to be heading as the northern hemisphere winter sets in, but it’s a drive to stay with friends for Christmas in what, for us, will be a new experience.  A winter Christmas.

We will be sorry to leave Positano which has treated us very well but it is time to move on.

This means dragging our battered suitcases out of the cupboard they’ve sat in, forgotten, for 5 weeks and packing our lives into them for the journey north. Hopefully our lives haven’t grown in size too much so we can’t get them closed.

We then need to fit the suitcases into our trusty Renault, ensuring there is enough room left for the girls and for us.

Our next deadline is Calais for a vet check for the girls next Tuesday with a channel crossing on Wednesday so we have just under a week for the trip. Two nights are going to be spent in Rome at the lovely Hotel Barocco on Piazza Barberini to allow us to throw “those coins” into “that fountain” as an insurance policy for our return to Rome in the future. The next night we will be staying in or around Cinque Terre. Beyond that, we’ll be making things up as we go.

Ciao Positano, see you again soon.

What a difference six months makes

In July we spent a leisurely day on Arienzo Beach in balmy temperatures and with crystal clear blue seas. Six months later and the beach looks a bit different. Today a 2 – 3 metre swell rolled into Positano and the cliffs and beaches took a real beating. From further up the cliff at Villa Greta it was great to wake to the sound of waves crashing onto the beach.

It was a real challenge getting the photograph in between the showers that arrived during the morning. Well, it is winter after all.

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Girls on patrol

Villa Greta has a resident family of cats that live a little further along the property. Four cats and a kitten to be precise. You get the impression that they usually spend quite a bit of time at the villa entertaining the guests and generally doing what cats do best.

Poppie spots a cat

With the arrival of our girls everything has changed.

The moment a cat comes down looking for some attention, or their dinner, Poppie goes onto full alert. After 5 weeks you think there would be some kind of truce but no, one cat sitting on the steps outside the gate is still more than enough to wind Poppie up. Daisy, as you would expect, is a little more circumspect about the whole thing.

December Rain
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December Rain

The locals in Positano have always said that the weather in November would be fine but in December it would rain. And on cue, yesterday it rained for the first time in just under a month. And as with most things in Positano when it rains, it rains properly. With no real storm water drains the water soon turned the streets and steps into mini streams.

On the plus side the temperature was still in the mid teens and the complete absence of wind meant umbrellas were ideal protection. Sadly we’d left ours at the villa so it was a soggy paddle around the village to do our weekly shopping.

But by mid afternoon the skies had started to clear and Positano provided a new variation on it’s usual sunset, just as a way to make up for the rain.

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Luce Natale – the movie

Jean has been at it again, this time in Sorrento with the Christmas lights for subjects. She has added some interesting focussing techniques to her usual “one take” approach. Enjoy.

Luce Natale – Sorrento

Last week we were in Sorrento watching the Christmas lights and tree being installed. Last night the Christmas lights were officially turned on and tonight we went to have a look. Like all good locals we doned our winter clothes and wandered through the streets admiring the displays.

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Farewell to the mother ship

Today Eden Roc Hotel closes for the winter. Like most businesses in Positano that rely on the tourist trade, the winter months are simply not worth being open for.  It also gives the staff who have worked virtually non-stop since Easter a well deserved break.

For us, being completely selfish, this means losing our favorite evening drinks spot, a place we can have a chat with the staff that we now call friends, and a place for a meal – quick and easy when we can’t be bothered cooking at the villa or long and delicious when we have visitors and we want to showcase some fine Italian cuisine.

It’s also means no more lazy breakfast which comes, of course, with the theatre that is Tony’s impecable service and his world-beating cappuccino.

Although we weren’t staying at the hotel we have been treated like guests.  As someone put it, our room is just a little further along the corridor than the others.

With the hotel closing we are left to fend for ourselves for a week until we leave Positano next Tuesday.  Having said that the lovely Carmine has given us contact phone numbers in case we need anything and Tony has threatened to call in and say hello. It would be lovely if he did but sadly I don’t think our cappuccino would impress him overly.

Last night we went to the hotel for a farewell drink. Jean has yet to find a chardonnay that matches the quality of the one the hotel serves by the glass and this would be her last chance to relax and enjoy it.

As with all great evenings the chardonnay seemed to taste a little better than usual and we passed the time chatting to Carlo and perfecting our Italian.  The phrase “altro giro” (another round) was used frequently and Carlo’s stock of chardonnay looked in grave danger of not making it to the cellar for winter.

The hotel owner Dominic Casola called in for a few minutes which was a surprise and a treat. Dominic has been ill for over a year and is only slowly recovering. His two sons now run the hotel.  He pointed out that his older son Rafaelle was, at that moment, entertaining the Mayor of Positano at the next table in the bar and that Rafaelle was now on the Positano town council.

After a farewell limoncello or two we said our goodbyes to Eden Roc and wandered, well more staggered, home to the usual rapturous welcome from the girls.

Today’s been a quiet day at Villa Greta. We aren’t as young as we once were and a night out takes it’s toll. And there’s nothing like a wee nap in the afternoon to recover. Sleep well girls.

Ok, so someone help me out here
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Ok, so someone help me out here

Today was a beautiful day – that’s it in the photo above.  The weather was stunning – warm enough in the sun to sunbath. No wind and, once the sun went down, cool but not chilly.

So here’s my problem.  I always figured that Italy was much closer to the equator than New Zealand and that’s what determined the hot, hot summers and milder winters when compared to home. I always thought that Positano must be on a similar latitude to, say, Brisbane in Australia. It made sense to me.

But then I checked the facts.

The latitude of Positano is 40° 37′ N. The latitude of Wellington is 41° 19′ S. That’s almost identical. In fact Paekakariki is 40° 37′ S which is identical. (For non-kiwi readers Paekakariki – pronounced Pie-car-car-reeky – is a very small coastal community about 40kms north of our home town Wellington.)

In theory Positano in November and December should have the same weather as Paekakariki in May and June. Now, I’m not wanting to upset the lovely people of Paekakariki but this isn’t the case.

Thoughts?

An afternoon in Marina del Cantone

When you drive along the Amalfi Peninsular towards Termini you come to a crossroads. Up the hill to the right is Termini. Down the hill to the left is Marina del Cantone. If you head down the hill you wind through some lovely countryside, through the quaint village of Nerano, until eventually ending up on the water in Marina del Cantone.

Like Positano, this was a traditional fishing village but now makes it’s living largely through tourism. Bars and restaurants line the beach and behind these are hotels and apartments for rent.

We stumbled on Marina del Cantone almost by accident. We had an hour or so to fill while we waited for the sun to go down over Capri so took the road down the hill. In the middle of summer the beach would be packed but in November it is only the locals (and us) who keep the bars and restaurants open. It was a delightful place to sit and watch. Watch the local lads drag small boats up the beach for the night. Watch the visitors from Naples enjoy a late lunch and a walk along the beach – in their designer boots and jackets. And watch the local kids playing on the pier as I suspect they have for generations.

We didn’t quite know what to expect from Marina del Cantone but an hour wasn’t enough time to explore so we’ll be back.

“So close you can almost touch it”

That was the way the view of the island of Capri from the town of Termini was described to us. “You have to go and see it, yes you do” our favourite restaurant manager Carlo had said thoughtfully when we were discussing what we would do and see before we left Positano.

So we drove the seventeen kilometres of twisted spaghetti road as far as you can go along the Amalfi peninsular before you drop into the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the small village of Termini. And there, before us, was the island of Capri (pronounced Car-pree). Home of the famous Blue Grotto and some of the best designer shopping in Italy. A playground of the rich and famous and briefly in 2005, us.

We were in Positano with my sister Tina and her husband Ted from Texas.  It was Tina’s 40th birthday and we had a fabulous time in and around Positano. One day we hired a small boat to take us along the coast to Capri. We visited the Blue Grotto on the way there and then on dry land ogled some of the finest designer apparel in the world as we licked huge gelati and wandered the small cobbled streets of the town.

Capri is the setting for Somerset Maugham’s “The Lotus Eater”, a short story written in 1945. In the story, the protagonist from Boston comes to Capri on a holiday and is so enchanted by the place he gives up his job and decides to spend the rest of his life in leisure there.

Not a bad thought, that.

Carlo was, as usual, right. From Termini, high on the hills at the end of the peninsular, you could almost touch the island which seemed to be sitting just beyond the ring of houses that make up the village. We arrived mid afternoon when the sun was high in the sky and the island was a range of hazy hues of blue and green. We returned a hour or so later to catch the sunset when the blue and green were replaced by pink and yellow as the sun descended behind the island.

Thursday – it must be …

… time for a rest. After two days out and about, Thursday we are going to go nowhere.

It’s a day to spend with the girls so what better time to write about something that’s right on our doorstep but often gets taken for granted. Off the coast of Positano are a group of 3 small islands collectively known as Li Galli. They are visible from pretty much anywhere in Positano – including our front verandah.

The archipelago consists of three small islands, 1.5 miles off the coast and today, all three of the islands—Gallo Lungo, La Castelluccia, and La Rotonda—are part of a protected marine national preserve. In Greek mythology the islands were the home of the sirens – creatures that were half bird and half woman who lured passing sailors to their deaths. There is some truth in this myth as the area surrounding the islands is known for strong currents which have led to the demise of many ships.

In the middle ages the islands hosted a monastery and then a prison. During the Angioni period its strategic position became more evident and a defensive tower was built on one of the islands to defend against attacks.

The first modern construction on the island was a large villa and secondary building, built in the 1930s by the Russian choreographer and dancer Leonid Massine. That property later passed to another Russian dancer Rudolf Nuryev, who apparently wanted to set up a dance academy on the premises, an idea that did not come to fruition.

Over the years visitors to the islands have included Greta Garbo, Sophia Loren, Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, and Ingrid Bergman.

Following Nuryev’s death in 1993 the property has been sold a number of times. It is now a commercial venture and the villa, which has been recently renovated and includes 19 suites and 3 swimming pools can be rented. For up to $US55,000 a night.

Li Galli are currently for sale – for €195 million.