The last few days have been hot. Very hot and very humid. So getting around has been a challenge but returning home from the hotel a few days ago things changed. We were offered a ride in the hotel Tuktuk.
The best way home
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Tag Archives: Italian
Visitors to the coast
Over the last few days we’ve been joined in Positano by Jake and Lauren, our lovely niece and nephew from Texas. They arrived last Friday and left Tuesday, heading north to a wedding in Tuscany and then on to the Dolomites.
They are keen walkers and, for those of you who know Positano, that’s good because the village is all walking – up, down and sideways.
It was lovely to be able to provide some tips for them – places to go and things to see – although they had a pretty full itinerary worked out before they arrived.
They visited Pompei, did the walk of the gods and spent a day on a boat cruising along the coast to Amalfi and back. We organised a dinner at Il Ritrovo in Montepertuso, above Positano, and an afternoon at Da Adolfo, a beach club along the coast only accessible by boat. We also had dinner at the famous Chez Black on the waterfront.
We had a great time and it was lovely to spend time them both.
Pool lunches
Our days spent by the hotel pool are broken by lunch at the Eden Sky Bar. The food is always great but we have very different orders. One is healthy and delicious, the other is fish and chips. Guess who has what.
Super Yacht Watch
It’s been a busy week on the water at Positano. Following Ferragosto last week a few boats have stayed moored offshore. This is the view from the hotel pool looking south towards Praiano.
Beach Day
Thursday was beach day. We chose the Fratelli Grassi beach club on Fornillo Spiaggia, although we did think this club was on Spiaggia Grande (the main beach at Positano) when we booked. This led to a little confusion and a walk around the point but we found it in the end.
Beach clubs are everywhere in Italy. The regimented rows of loungers and umbrellas facing the beach with restaurant and facilities behind them. They vary greatly in quality, service and price so picking the right one is a mix of art and science.
We booked online and could specify exactly which loungers we wanted – for us, front row ( a short 2 metre walk to the water) and at the end of a row (so we aren’t surrounded by other beach club goers). We added in towels which came to total of 120 Euros for the day.
Lunch and drinks are extra although there are packages available but these proved too complicated for us to work out so we paid as we went.
Jean is a true beach girl so for her the highlight was time in the water. I’m not really a beach guy so for me the highlight was lunch and the steady stream of drinks that could be ordered as the day went by.
We had heard that Grassi had a good kitchen and the grilled fish didn’t disappoint.
We also discovered that we could use the courtesy boat to get back to the main beach, saving the walk back to Positano. Bonus.
Rainy evening in Positano
A few days ago the run of fine and sunny weather was broken by a combination of rain followed by a night of thunder and lightening.
It hadn’t rained for 2 months and the downpour made up for this, soaking everything as it passed. The thunder and lightening later in the night was spectacular, thunder loud enough to wake us and keep us awake and lightening that lit up the coast like day. The storm lasted about hour and managed to knock out power to the village for a short time.
Thankfully next day normal transmission resumed although with a lower temperature and a freshness in the air that was welcome.
Why would you?
We spotted a new addition to the Positano food scene – one in stark contrast to the usual food offerings available. Food Express 24 – burgers, fries, sandwiches, etc, bought from a hole in the wall machine that will “heat your burger in 60 seconds”. The mind boggles thinking about how this works.
I guess at 3am when you’re staggering home from a night out this may be attractive, but would you, really?
My elusive Jean
I try very hard to get photos of people in blog posts. But it can be tricky – particularly when my lovely wife is involved. She is a bit camera shy – but God knows I’ll keep trying.
Positano content creation
It’s around 30 degrees in Positano – enough to make any sane person wear as little clothing as possible and to stay in the shade as much as possible. Unless you’re a content creator for Instagram (or similar) when you’re dressed up, in full makeup searching for those “instagram locations”.
One such location is a collection of ceramics displayed by a local shop on a terrace with the village in the background. You’ve probably seen the shots, I’ve included a couple below.
Now it’s fair to say that these shots – and the reality of taking the shots – are a bit different.
This location is right on the main road through Positano which is very narrow and at a point where steps run down to the main piazza so it can get very busy.
There’s a queue to get onto the terrace which lasts all day and gets longer and shorter as the light moves – apparently mid morning is the best time to go because the angle of the sun helps throw a soft light on the faces of the those being photographed.
The terrace used to be roped off so shots could only be taken from the entrance which meant a degree of “sameness” and also a degree of competition as only one person could be photographed at a time.
But now someone from the ceramics shop manages entry to the terrace and the ceramics are laid out in such a way that content creators can set up multiple shots ensuring everyone has a unique view. It also opened up the opportunity for video to be shot as content creators moved across the terrace.
It costs 10 Euro or a purchase from the ceramic shop to access the terrace. But shots can still be taken from the entrance for free so there is always a degree of chaos as the queue runs along the footpath onto the road.
Instaglam? You decide.
The mystery machine
Next to our hotel in Rome there is a vending machine. It is covered in buttons, has slots for money and for cards, is covered in pictures and Italian writing, and it changes colour every few seconds. It looks a bit like a Las Vegas slot machine, and like one of those has caused both delight and tears.
We have sat at the bar which is next to it and observed many people using, or trying to use it. Last night there was an American girl trying to use it, the interaction ended in tears.
So what is this mystery machine and why does it affect people the way it does. Jean went to investigate.
it is a cigarette vending machine which has instructions only in Italian and a process for purchase that is convoluted and complicated. Clearly the locals understand it, but any visitor is baffled. Often they put their money into the machine only to fail the process to purchase and then walk away empty handed and without their cash.
Upon investigation, Jean’s concluded that ID is required as part of the purchase process. All Italians have this via a national ID card. Things like passports and drivers licences or foreign ID cards are useless – but there is no indication of that on the machine. So having watched people struggle with it and fail, I’m pretty sure that this machine is the most profitable vending machine in Italy.
Echoes of San Felice
We had a wonderful time staying at San Felice, it is a magical place. Here are some evening shots in and around the hotel.
Friends in Tuscany
We are lucky enough to have friends in Tuscany and we all got together for dinner at San Felice. It was a wonderful night, great food, great wine and great company.
Three Kiwis and four Italians, what a special experience.
Welcome to San Felice
On Tuesday we moved from Relais Vignale in Radda to San Felice for a few days. Jean has really been looking forward to getting here and was like a kid on Christmas morning – up early on Tuesday, packed and ready to go before breakfast, just wanting to get here although it is only a 20 minute drive.
For those who don’t know, we visited San Felice last year and Jean fell in love with it – so this year we get to stay a few days.
San Felice is a hotel which is made up of an entire traditional Italian Borgo (village). It retains a village feel but has around 50 rooms and suites in the old buildings as well as two restaurants (one of which has a Michelin star), a pool, indoor and outdoor bars, shops, a wine tasting room and two churches.
Jean fell in love with the room, so she shot one of her famous one take videos.
After a couple of days by the pool and a dinner with friends last night in the casual restaurant, San Felice is living up to expectations. Jean doesn’t want to leave – which could be a problem on Friday when we move back to Rome.
From seafood and bustle to meat and quiet
We have been in Tuscany for a couple of days and the contrast with Positano is dramatic. Gone is the bustle and noise of the busy seaside town, replaced by the quiet of rural Tuscany. The noisiest thing we hear are the church bells ringing out on the hour or the distant sound of tyres on white roads (gravel roads).
The constants are the long lasting summer weather and the incredible sunsets.
We moved into Relais Vignale in Radda in Chianti a few days ago and it felt like catching up with an old friend. We booked the same room as last year so enjoyed our own private garden and a room with enough room to swing many cats – if we so wished.
Marco still runs the bar like a military operation and remembered us from last year. The pool was still there but with new seats and loungers. The big change was the restaurant – Vignale Ristorante – which has a new manager, who has taken it’s slightly tired and stodgy menu and reinvented it with traditional local cuisine with a modern feel.
The restaurant uses its terrace view to great effect and we spent the first evening enjoying some delicious food – lots of meat and not much seafood, excellent local wine and the view of the sun slowly setting beyond the olive trees.
If you’re staying at Relais Vignale in the next wee while (that would be you Tony W) give the restaurant a shot. I’m sure you’ll be in for a great evening.
We have also been able to catch up with our friends Olga and Dani. We’ve had meals out and meals in – including a traditional kiwi barbecue at their place, with an Italian flavour. Marinated chicken, Italian sausages and a huge slice of prosciutto went on the barbecue, accompanied by arancini, courtesy of Dani, focaccia courtesy of our NZ friend Tina and everything else courtesy of Olga.
There was food for a dozen people but the 5 of us made a good dent in it.
Good morning Tuscany
Sunday morning in Tuscany, not a bad way to start the day.
Toscanakiwi 