Category Archives: New Zealand

Advice for Italian travellers – Part 2

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Having had a really good response to Part 1 of my Italian travel tips, here are a few more. These are tips about travelling to, and staying in, the places we know and love.

Our rental and the main roadDriving to Positano

As you drive south from Rome and into Naples you see Mt Vesuvius on the left and the Bay of Naples on the right. Ahead is the Amalfi Coast and the long and windy drive over the hill to Positano. But closer to the highway you’ll see the parts of Naples that don’t appear on the tourist maps. The south of Italy is poor and driving through the suburbs of Naples you can definitely see that, with low cost housing blocks scattered among allotments.

As you approach Sorrento, village living takes over with the houses pushed up against each other and the road narrowing to a single lane in places. After the turn off to Positano you climb up over the peninsular. There are some spectacular views back towards Naples but the best is yet to come. After cresting the hill the Amalfi Coast is laid out in front of you. Sparkling waters, steep cliffs and the string of villages that run towards Amalfi are all visible as you wind along the coast road.

 

Eat in or eat out?

The villa we stay at in Positano has a full kitchen, and whenever we stay there is the dilemma – eat in or eat out. Going out means picking from one of the multitude of restaurants or cafes in Positano and for a short stay the decision is relatively easy. But remember to make a trip to the Alimentary and stock up on the essentials – nibbles, fruit and veg and something to drink – to combat the heat. The good news is that pretty much every grocery store sells alcohol – beer, wine and spirits. Even the butcher sells wine – which adds a whole new dimension to food and wine matching.

 

Villa Greta from streetThat’s our place

We found that taking a photograph of the villa you are staying in on your phone is a great idea, particularly if you are planning to live like a local and get groceries and the like delivered. Walking up the hill from the village on a hot day carrying shopping bags can be a chore – but get them delivered and life become easy.

Villa Arienzo has it’s distinctive windows which all locals recognise so showing a picture of the villa is an easy way of explaining where you want things delivered.
The walkWalking to and from the villa – an adventure

The walk from Villa Arienzo to Positano is about 800 metres. But, as with many things in Italy, it’s an adventure. Why? Because the main road is narrow, cars and scooters are parked in every available spot and there are no pavements – literally none. So walkers have to watch out for cars and buses and trucks and scooters and other walkers.

At night use the torch on your phone to see your way – and be seen by others.

 

swimmingHotels can organise anything – trust them

One of the fantastic advantages of staying at Villa Arienzo over other villas is the “mother ship”. The Casola family own and operate both Hotel Eden Roc and Villa Arienzo. If there are any issues with the villa, or advice you need about anything, the hotel is a phone call away and a two minute vespa ride if assistance is needed. And if cooking is a bit of a chore, the hotel restaurant (with it’s magnificent view across the bay) is always available with service courtesy of our friend Carlo.

Tours of Pompeii? A trip to Sorrento? Or a boat trip along the coast to Capri? No problem – everything is organised for you by Lorenzo and the front desk staff.

And if the day is too hot for you, call into the hotel for a swim or some sunbath in the solarium, no problem – would you like a drink with that?

 

positano from boatDay trips

Our top four top day trips around Positano would be:

  1. A day sailing down the coast with Gennaro and Salvatore towards Amalfi with swimming long the way and lunch at a restaurant on the beach. Visit gennaroesalvatore.it to find out more.
  2. A day at Pompeii to view the ruins. Everyone we’ve gone there with has marvelled at how intact the ruins are. Get your hotel to arrange a private guide for the visit.
  3. A day trip to Capri with Gennaro and Salvatore to explore this beautiful island.
  4. A day in Sorrento shopping and wandering the narrow streets of this wonderful town. Remember to take time and have a drink and something to eat at Il Fauno Bar on the main square – it has been there since 1950 and is “the” meeting place for locals and tourists alike.

In a previous post we’ve covered our favourite day trips around Chianti and Siena – click here for details and enjoy.

 

150,000 and still going strong

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Recently my Mazda MX5 passed 150,000 kilometres on the clock. That’s an average of 5,800 km per year for the last 26 years. In that time it’s had 4 sets of tyres, 3 soft tops, two repaints and one new clutch – along with all the regular maintenance bits and pieces that come along over 26 years.

And I can’t recall the car leaving me stranded once. You can’t ask for more than that.

 

An app worth grabbing – Prisma

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Ever so often you run a cross an iOS app that is very cool. Prisma is one such app. It turns photos into art. Yes, I hear you say, there are lots of apps the do this – most produce a result that is absolute rubbish.

Prisma is different – it has a number of different styles you can choose from – and it’s free from the App Store.

 

Dwarfed

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Small carMy Mazda is a small car but it’s not until it’s parked next to something else you realise how small it is. A few weeks ago I returned to the car to see it dwarfed by this people carrier next to it.

Good things come in small packages – or so they say.

 

Farewell to a landmark

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Appleby House close up

It may have been the most photographed derelict house in the country but today it is no more. This very distinctive old house – which featured in my blog post “That house in Nelson” – was finally demolished today. It went out, as the song says, in a blaze of glory.

It’s always a shame when old places like this are demolished but the owner has made it clear that this was coming and I will watch with interest to see what develops in the future.

Fire photos courtesy of Nelson Snippets and the Nelson Mail

Il nostro oliva

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Our OliveRoughly translated this means ” our olive” and it’s one we are rightly proud of.

Around 8 years ago we planted two olive trees in our front garden. They were only a metre tall but they have grown rapidly. One we lost in a storm 3 years ago when it was blown over but the other has flourished.

So much so that we recently had arborists in to trim it and shape it. To date we have never had anything like a full sized olive off the tree but when cleaning up after the pruning I found this little beauty on the ground – our first olive.

 

Dog shots

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For no reason and with no real narrative, some shots of Poppie and Bella doing their thing.

Four girls in a row

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Earlier in the year our girls had friends come and stay for a night or two. Here they all are sitting on our landing keeping an eye on proceedings below. From the left Poppie, Macey, Bella and Georgie.

 

 

Waiting

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WaitingI’ve often wondered if our girls miss us when we are out of the house. Based on Poppie’s behaviour over the weekend when Jean went shopping for a few hours, you’d have to say they do.

She sat at the window, looking up the street, just waiting.

Lazy afternoons in Positano

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Positano from Eden RocThe view from Hotel Eden Roc looking out across the bay is always worth watching. Late one afternoon, on a day the sun had been playing hide and seek, the bay took on shades of pale blue as the sky and the water merged.

We weren’t the only couple watching the view.

Birthday month at our place

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Birthday cards 2016 V2 Birthdays galore – that’s February at our place. And a huge thank you to everyone who has wished us well or commiserated over the number of candles that festoon the top of our birthday cakes these days.

It’s fair to say both Jean and I have had a cracking time with lots of visitors. And lots of presents – everything from some Vuitton bling for Jean to every possible Weber Q barbecue accessory for me.

Once again, thank you all.

 

Time for a tattoo I think

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No not that type of tattoo – I’m talking about the Edinburgh Military Tattoo – in Wellington. We attended last weekend’s sold out event at Westpac Stadium and enjoyed a cracking show.

There is nothing like the sound of massed pipes and drums to bring out the Scotsman in everyone. Apart from the pipes and drums, the highlights for me were the Top Secret Basel Drum Corp and His Majesty The King of Norway’s Guards Band and Drill Team. Both were superb.

And let’s not forget our own New Zealand Army Band who brought their unique spin to military band music and marching.

It was a sell out show and, unlike the usual stadium concert crowd, there was overwhelming representation from the silver fox brigade. So much so that I felt like a youngster.

All in all, a great night out.

 

An evening in Sicily

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Deck chair line up in SicilySo let me be clear, this post is a bit obscure – unless you were there. The photo is of a swimming pool in Sicily. We stayed in a lovely villa in Syracuse – that included this pool – with our friends Gill and Andre and the family in 2014. We spent a great week in and around the pool.

It was the centre of daily activity, but after the sun had dropped below the horizon and everyone headed off to dinner it took on that wonderful Italian evening glow. A mix of pale sky blues, harsh sunset yellows and every shade of pink imaginable. All contrasting with the bright blue of the somewhat ordered loungers.

Take a bow Syracuse, you earned it.

The summer of 2016

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Sunset at our place 2This year, summer is the kind we always dream about. Hot sunny days and warm calm evenings that seem to stretch on forever – with the weather forecaster’s prediction of impending wind and rain being proved wrong time and again.

Tonight, as the sun dropped below the horizon, we were on our front verandah enjoying the view. The girls were waiting patiently to terrorise anyone who dared to pass the gate. What a great evening.