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During festival night a fire started on the cliffs above the coastal access road to Positano. It burned up the hill for most of the night and because of the terrain the ability to get men on the ground was … Continue reading
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Yesterday we moved from the villa to the hotel proper. We have a delightful room just a stone’s throw from the piscina – and the hotel staff to cater to our every whim. The hotel describes its rooms as suites … Continue reading
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Dinner at Chez Black can be a sophisticated affair. The restaurant is one of Positano’s oldest and most respected. Since 1949 it has been host to many famous people including Denzel Washington and Harvey Weistein who we sat next to … Continue reading
In the old days the only technology we took on holiday was a still camera and maybe a video camera. These days that’s all changed and our bags are full of various bits of tech.
This trip we tried to minimise what we took but still ended up with a fair collection of things – as can be seen in the photo. The only piece of technology not shown is the camera I took this shot with – a Nikon D7000 with a 50mm 1.8 fixed lens.
Clockwise from top left – Sunpak PZ42X flash gun, Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens, Nikon 18-70mm zoom Lens, Pebble smart watch, WD 500GB portable hard drive, Transcend multi card reader, MacBook Air – 11.6 inch, iPad, JBL Charge bluetooth portable speaker, 2 x iPhone 4S, TomTom GPS, Apple mouse, Sony T500 camera, Nikon 70-300mm zoom Lens and 3 iPad and iPhone chargers. Not included are all the cables that connect this stuff together and various charges for camera batteries.
Nothing like travelling light I say.
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It’s amazing what you take for granted. Our short walk from Villa Greta to the village is along the main road through Positano which twists and turns with the contours of the cliffs. Although that walk is only a few … Continue reading
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Half way down the hill on the way to the beach at Positano there is a restaurant called Bruno. It started as a small indoor restaurant and, over the years, developed a great reputation for it’s food. In the last … Continue reading
We just want to say a huge thank you to the team at Eden Roc hotel for their help when Jean fell sick. Within 30 minutes of us contacting them and asking for a doctor one turned up on our doorstep. Dr Buonocore you were fantastic.
Later that day we had a visit from Dominic, the head of the Casola family, asking after Jeans health and stressing that if there was anything we needed we were just to ask.
As a result, dinner that night were Eden Roc takeaways – not something that is usually available to anyone as far as we know.
Stunning Penne Carbonarra accompanied by crispy bread and some beers for the caregiver, all transported from the hotel on the handlebars of a Vespa to make sure it was still piping hot. As the young hotel concierge said – Carbonarra is always best hot – which it was.
Grazie mille Eden Roc.
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Firstly, it’s not really our place – Villa Greta belongs to The Casola family who also own our favourite hotel in Positano – Eden Roc. But for this week it’s our place as we settle in, slow down and adjust … Continue reading
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The weather in England while we were there was most un-English. The temperature hovered around 22 degrees and the sun was out almost constantly. Ideal for enjoying dinner sitting outdoors with friends. Neil and Jayne and their 4 boys live in … Continue reading
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After 32 hours of travel, and a 12 hour time difference the perfect cure for jet lag was a dinner with friends, a decent sleep and, the following day, a walk through the English countryside. So that’s what we did … Continue reading
Gentle reader, please accept my apologies but it has been almost a week without a post. Put it down to jet lag or simply the frantic activity involved in doing very little, but rest assured a stream of posts will follow.
We arrived in Positano last night and are now resident at Villa Greta.
As I write this the temperature is a warm 29 degrees, the sun is shining and I can just glimpse the Galli Islands above the Bougainvillea covered railing running around the patio.
This afternoon is planned – a late lunch at Eden Roc and an afternoon by the pool.
Enough said.
Mt Etna erupting with Catania behind in 2001 – courtesy of photographer Carsten Peter
What do you know about Sicily? Probably more than we do.
The furthest south we have ever been in Italy is the Amalfi Coast just south of Naples. But not this trip because this trip we are spending a week in Sicily – the island known for Mt Etna and the Cosa Nostra.
We fly into Catania which lies in the shadow of Mt Etna (which is still classified as an active volcano). From there we drive south for 2 hours to Noto where a villa and our friends Gill, Andre, Josh and Jordan are waiting.
We have a week to discover our corner of Sicily. What should we do? Where should we go? Make us an offer we can’t refuse.
Over the weekend we took the first steps towards Italy. Our suitcases came out of the cupboard and we started to think about packing. For me that involved a lot of T-shirts and shorts and not much else.
For Jean it began closer to the ground. Darling, you’re packing how many pairs of shoes?
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We are now only 2 weeks away from our holiday. All the bookings are made and it’s just a matter of packing, extracting ourselves from Wellington life, and heading off. Memories of Italy are flooding back – places to see and … Continue reading
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After an incredibly mild start to winter we were brought back to reality as a southerly front straight from Antarctica arrived in Wellington. Think six degrees, biting wind, hail and driving rain. The only place for any sane person (or dog) … Continue reading
La dolce far niente 