This gallery contains 5 photos.
Our trip north meant a trip through the French Alps. We originally planned to travel through Torino and then north to the Mount Blanc Tunnel but this route was closed the day we were travelling. We travelled to Torino and … Continue reading
On the way north we stayed at Cenobio Del Dogi, the same hotel on the Portofino Coast as we did heading south in April. Our conclusion after a second visit was much the same as after our first visit. This is a grand hotel in the spirit of the 1950s or 1960s and it’s easy to imagine Sophia Loren or Marcello Mastroianni sweeping down the main staircase on their way to drinks and dinner. The owners have resisted the temptation to modernise the hotel and have maintained (at considerable cost I suspect) that wonderful historic feel of a classic grand hotel.
We had drinks and dinner in the bar, surrounded by persian rugs and big easy relaxed armchairs. We had breakfast in the formal dining room with hand painted friezes on the walls and full length windows that showcased the view along the coast. We left wanting to return and spend longer than a night – a week would be a good start.
This gallery contains 10 photos.
We arrived in Rome late in the afternoon and were welcomed by Hotel Barocco with a cheerful smile – nice – and a room upgrade which was even nicer. The room included a terrazzo which only dog owners will understand is … Continue reading
Apologies gentle reader, it has been nearly a week since our last post in Positano. I am writing this on Sunday morning in a hotel room in Troyes in France, just 3 hours south of Calais and with three days before we cross the channel to England.
In the last few days we have stayed a night in the Rhone Alps a few kilometres from Geneva, a night on the Portofino Coast and two nights in Rome.
With between 3 and 5 hours driving each day the last few days have been a blur of motorways, tunnels, mountains and fields. The temperature has dropped from Positano’s warm 18 to Troyes’ chilly 2 degrees. Jean took the dogs out for their morning constitutional around 10am and returned declaring its “ski field” cold outside. As proof, if any further is needed, she then broke out the gloves, coats and woolly jumpers for the day.
I have a feeling that the girls will be wearing their new Italian coats for their walk. You haven’t heard about the coats? I’ll make sure to post some pictures later for your amusement.
Also I’ll be posting stories about Rome in winter, the trip through the Alps to France, the place we stayed on the Portofino Coast and a wee video we made about driving in Positano, all in the next few days.
As soon as I write them.
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.
This gallery contains 2 photos.
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 … Continue reading
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.
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.
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.
This gallery contains 20 photos.
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 … Continue reading
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.
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?
This gallery contains 9 photos.
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 … Continue reading
This gallery contains 4 photos.
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 … Continue reading
This gallery contains 3 photos.
… 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 … Continue reading
Toscanakiwi 