Italy – and other parts of Europe – have had a warm summer. Each day this week the temperature in Positano is reaching around 39 degrees. That is warm.

It means that life has to adjust accordingly with more time spent doing very little and more time spent in the shade or in air conditioning.

Yesterday was a case in point. We were planning to have lunch at Casa Bottega in the village. It was a walk of about 1km down hill to get there so we geared up with water and hats and the minimum amount of clothing we could wear without being arrested. Casa Bottega is a small cafe with great food and air conditioning. But it is shut Mondays, something we only found out when we arrived at the front door. It was about 1pm and it was hot, really hot.

New plan – Jean has spotted another cafe on the walk which we returned to called Ohimà. It had both an inside and outside area. The kind waiter asked us “inside or outside” with a wry smile already shepherding us towards the inside with its cool air conditioning.

It took us 10 minutes to recover from the heat – to take in water and for our clothes to dry off.

Lunch was great and an excellent way to wile away an hour or two with great authentic cuisine and wine – before we head out to take on the heat again – walking up hill to our place.

Luckily mid way between the restaurant and home there is Li Galli Bar. It has spectacular views across the bay and friendly staff we have come to know. It straddles the main road through the village with the kitchen on one side and the tables on the other. So every drink or meal or chair or umbrella has to run the gauntlet of the road. This is expertly managed by the staff and we have yet to see a casualty of any sort.

It is the ideal place to break the walk home – but yesterday the heat meant a short stop – just sitting still in the shade was exhausting. The staff even suggested we head somewhere cooler after our drink, no “altro giro” today.

With the same weather forecast for the rest of the week it will mean more days by the hotel pool and less exploring the area. No great sacrifice there.