Tag Archives: Amalfi Coast

A day at the beach

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Yesterday we visited Fornillo Beach and the Pupetto Beach Club. Fornillo Beach is one bay around from the main Positano beach and, as a result, a lot quieter. It’s quite a hike to get there as you walk around the coast on a path that rises and falls with the terrain and in today’s 39 degrees it tested our stamina but we made it and settled in for the day.

Beach clubs are common in Italy – a relaxed restaurant at the back of the beach and rows of umbrellas and loungers in front going right to the waters edge. There are staff constantly patrolling the loungers taking orders for drink and food – or lunch can be had in the restaurant if desired.

The Pupetto Beach Club is part of the Pupetto Hotel which is partly set in the cliff and partly hanging off the cliff above Fornillo Beach. The hotel looks great – we got an unofficial tour as we walked through it to get to the beach club looking at bit out of place in our beach attire.

Lunch was the least Italian meal we have had – cheeseburger and fries and a chicken salad. It tasted great and we needed that.

Walking home

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Casetta Arienzo is about 800m from Eden Roc hotel and the intersection where the road through Positano village meets the main road to Amalfi. From here we can walk down to the village or stop at the hotel for breakfast, a day by the pool or dinner – or all three.

We do this walk pretty much every day so we forget how spectacular it is – with cliffs on both sides, the ones above us reaching skyward and the ones on the other side falling down to the sea. This afternoon I grabbed a shot of the cliff above the road as we walked back to Casetta Arienzo. Behind Jean the view to the ocean is equally spectacular.

Walking home this evening
The view behind Jean

This week is hot

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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.

Hot!
Delightfully cool Ohimà restaurant
Ravioli
Beef and onion jam pasta
Gelato
Killing time in the air con
Li Galli Bar
Li Galli Bar

Two views from the casa

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It’s Sunday evening. We have spent the day around the hotel pool relaxing. Back at our place we are sitting enjoying the view – and having some Prickly Pears that Tony from the hotel gave us this afternoon, and a drink or two.

In one direction it’s the beautiful view we all know, in the other it’s laundry day.

Misting to keep cool

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The temperature here is around 32-34 degrees at present – which is quite warm. To counter this, some restaurants and cafes have fan systems which spray mist into the atmosphere to make customers more comfortable.

La Zagara, about half way between the beach and our place, is one such cafe. We stopped there yesterday afternoon to break the long and hot uphill walk, and to partake of a cold beverage or two.

Not sure if it was the misting or the drinks, but we felt much better after our stop.

Famous friends

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At this time of year, you never know who is staying in and around Positano. Ben and Jennifer are saying at Villa TreVille on the point below our casetta – it’s his birthday this month so they are celebrating locally. Rooms and suites at the villa start at E3,000 a night, up to E15,000 a night.

And when we were having lunch earlier this week guests at the next table included Jemima Goldsmith (Khan) and her current partner. You never know who will pop up in Positano.

Villa TreVille – taken from our terrace
Lunch with Jemima

And now Positano

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Until the end of August we are in Positano. We have, once again, rented Casetta Arienzo for our stay. It is owned by the Casola family who also own Eden Roc hotel – so we have a small villa to ourselves while also having all the benefits of the hotel which we can use. This includes the restaurant, pool and, of course, the bar.

All these have been enjoyed in the few days we have been here as the temperature has been in the the low/mid thirties – when hydration and keeping cool is important.

The casetta has been renovated since our last visit which has made the stay even more enjoyable.

Life is slowing down and we are starting to merge into the background.

The view from the hotel pool

Our itinerary

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I’ve had a few requests for the itinerary for our Italian odyssey. So here goes:

  • 24 July – Depart Wellington
  • 25 July – Arrive in Rome, stay 3 nights
  • 28 July – Train to Venice, stay 4 nights
  • 1 August – Train to Florence, collect rental car, drive to Camogli, stay 7 nights
  • 7 August – Drive to Radda in Chianti, Tuscany, stay 5 nights
  • 12 August – Train to Naples and then driver to Positano, stay 3 weeks
  • 2 September – Train to Rome stay 4 nights
  • 6 September – Depart Rome for home
  • 8 September – Arrive in Wellington – recover from jetlag

So there you have it – 7 weeks in 9 lines. Simple.

It never rains in Positano?

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As we move from August to September the weather in Positano shifts slightly. The temperature is still late 20s, the days can be humid and “close” but there is a bit of rain about.

Since our arrival the locals have been bemoaning the lack of rain. Too dry for too long is the general feeling. Well that has changed in the last few days.

We have seen some stunning displays of lightening and thunder in the evenings – but with no rain – until Tuesday afternoon when it rained. Not just a few spots here and there, it was a full blown tropical downpour.

It lasted about an hour and then normal transmission resumed – the sun came out, the water dried up and we went to dinner, sitting outside under the stars.

Back to Arienzo Beach

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Yesterday we went to our local beach – Spiaggia Arienzo. I blogged about it before in 2011 when we last visited it. In particular, the blog mentioned the number of steps from the road down to the beach – 239. Easy on the way down, not so much climbing back up.

Although the price for a lounger, umbrella and place on the beach at the Arienzo Beach Club has gone up from 9 to 20 Euros in the last 8 years, it’s still worth it with table service to your lounger being a winning idea. Lunch at the beach club was great and it is still amazing they can produce such good food, in such quantity, so quickly for lunch from a kitchen the size of a closet.

At the end of the day the 239 steps up to the road felt a lot steeper than 8 years ago and this old man needed a couple of stops along the way. Ideal breaks to grab a glance at the luxury villas that cling to this part of the coast.

 

Moon over Positano – Take 2

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As often happens here, last night was a repeat of Monday night with the moon appearing above the sunset. This time I managed to capture the event crisply without the use of a tripod.

I simply took the shot about 20 minutes earlier. The shot is not quite as dramatic, but it’s all there. I also took a shot with a different camera which provided quite a different look.

A slightly blurred moon over Positano

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If you have ever wondered why a tripod should be part of a photographers travel kit – here’s the reason.

Last night there was a fingernail moon over the bay as the last of the evening light faded. A perfect shot – but without a tripod it was a succession of ever so slightly blurred shots. No amount of ISO pushing or aperture opening could bring the shutter speed down to avoid camera movement.

The camera was braced, I was braced, but the result was always the same.

Note to self – next time pack the damn travel tripod.

Positano watching

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We have been in Positano for a week and life has now settled to a gentle ebb. As yet we haven’t done any Superyacht spotting – but that changes now.

Last evening what can only be described as Darth Vader’s Superyacht slid in the bay and moored up. In the twilight it was dark and slightly menacing. This morning it left but not before I grabbed some pictures.

A quick check on Google showed the boat – call Main – is owned by Georgio Armani. It was built in 2008 and cost around $US60M to build. This article provides some details.

From the sublime to the ridiculous – yesterday also saw the arrival of Roma 9902. It looked like a converted tugboat and has no listing anywhere that I can find. So maybe not a Superyacht – more a Supertug if there is such a thing.

Finally our favourite. Nameless because we haven’t been able to read the name on the side – but with its classic lines and retro feel, it would suit us to a tee.

 

 

Time for lunch and a little shopping

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Thursday was a day out for us. We hired a driver through the hotel and went to lunch. But this was not just any ordinary lunch. A friend (thank you Te Rina) recommended a restaurant called Relais Blu which is located just outside Termini at the tip of the Amalfi Peninsular. It has a clear view of Capri in one direction and across the Bay of Naples to Napoli and Vesuvius in the other.

It is a magical place.

The restaurant (which is in the Relais Blu hotel) boasts a Michelin star and was also the venue for one of the meals in the movie “The Trip to Italy” starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. If you haven’t seen the movie, you should.

We took this as an opportunity to go all in, selecting their 7 course dégustation menu with matching wines. It was a perfect way to spend 3 hours and to taste the best that the coast has to offer. We are in no way food bloggers but we attempted to document the meal for all to see – you may notice the occasional photo fail but that’s only because some courses were just too tempting.

We also had the restaurant to ourselves which made the whole thing surreal as the entire waiting staff fussed over – well, just us.

After lunch we went to Sorrento – just a few minutes drive down the road from Relais Blu – to do some shopping. We always shop best after 7 “glasses” of wine each.

For us Sorrento is special. We’ve been there in summer and winter. We’ve seen it grow and change as more and more people visit – the blessing and curse of tourism. Last year the town turned it’s main street – Via Corso – into a pedestrian zone which, contrasted with the smaller streets and alleyways either side has made a huge improvement to the town.

We spent two hours there visiting some favourite shops we know and some new ones we didn’t. When our driver collected us and was storing the shopping bags in the boot, he thanked us personally for our contribution to the local economy.

Happy days.

The Relais Blu website is worth a visit. Having seen a little of the hotel we will definitely stay there for a couple of nights next visit.

Our local store

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Since our last visit a new local store has opened just a few 100 metres up the road from our place. It’s small but stocks all the essentials – and offers take away food as well.

The bonus is that you can sit waiting for your order, having a beer, watching the goings on – that is the main road through Positano in the foreground.