This gallery contains 11 photos.
As a kiwi, Christmas is all about summer, barbecues at the beach, Christmas decorations that make no sense and Turkey roasts eaten on a steamy hot summer’s day. It’s what we know and love. Last year was the first time … Continue reading
Last year we spent November and part of December in the small coastal village of Positano on Italy’s Amalfi Coast. Through November the village is winding down. The tourist season has ended and hotels and restaurants are closing up, taking a break until the next spring.
Eden Roc Hotel was our second home. The Casola family who own the hotel also own Villa Greta – our place, and extended the hospitality of the hotel to us. On hot days we could lie by the pool and evenings out often started or ended with a drink in the hotel bar looked after by the lovely Carlo.
Eden Roc hotel closed at the end of November so on the 30th it only seemed right for us and the dogs to wander the 500 metres along the road and say farewell to what had become our “mother ship”.
Everyone at the hotel seemed relaxed and the wine was flowing a little freer than usual. The family patriarch (who had been quite ill but seemed to be on the mend) was in the hotel and insisted on buying us a drink or two or three. It ended up being a big night.
Which explains the photo – taken about 3pm the next day – when all the Mowday girls were sound asleep on the bed, one of them nursing a sizeable hangover.
This gallery contains 4 photos.
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 … Continue reading
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
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.
This gallery contains 74 photos.
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 … Continue reading
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
La dolce far niente 