Saturday was a travel day starting at 9am in Positano and ending at Relais Vignale in Radda in Chianti at 5:30pm. The bulk of the travel was by train from Napoli to Firenze followed by driving through the Tuscan countryside in our zippy Ford Puma rental.
Li Galli is situated about half way between the village centre and Casetta Arienzo. It has both an inside and outside area which are split by the main road through Positano so serving has the added excitement of dodging traffic. The outside bar and dining is spread along the footpath and has the most spectacular views of Positano and the bay. Stopping for a drink is a must do.
It is also the perfect place to take a break on our walk home and on a hot day, it’s a life saver. Ice cold beer and Gin Tonica are the best way to beat the heat.
We have grown to know the team over many years – Gio, Ciro and Giuseppe – and as we stagger up the hill, hot and sweaty we are spotted and a table is ready so we can collapse into a seat. Orders are known and drinks arrive as if by magic.
We’ve also had dinner there a few times over the years. This time it was special. Great food and wine and that beautiful view of the village at night. I would challenge anyone to find a better bistro meal in Positano.
The starter was salmon on bread cake (the description doesn’t do justice to the dish and, of course we ate it before we photographed it) followed by a main course – mixed seafood grill – which showcased the best of the coast, everything from langoustine through to sea bass with squid and baby octopus thrown in for good measure. Molto buono.
Jean was also tempted away from her usual Chardonnay with a local white that embodied all the best of the coast, ideal drinking for a warm summer night and a seafood meal. It was so good I even deserted beer for the evening.
One thing that makes our trips special for us are the connections we have made. And I think we can call the team at Galli our friends. In fact the lovely Gio and his partner have a standing invitation to stay with us if he ventures as far as New Zealand – plus a choice of Porshce to drive. It would be lovely to see them at our place.
Gio kindly gave us a gift when we left – an excellent bottle of red wine – which we will now take home. One evening over summer we will open it and enjoy it on our front verandah looking out across Wellington harbour – reminding ourselves of our trip and our friends on the other side of the world.
To us that is the essence of travel, and why we return.
We arrived in Positano on Saturday and have settled into villa life. The jet lag is pretty much gone and we’re feeling human again. The last couple of days have been spent in and about the hotel pool dealing to our winter whiteness, and even after a couple of days we are both a little browner and a little more able to fit in with the locals.
One thing we were expecting – the crowds – were much reduced on two years ago.
The last time we were here Positano was packed. Mid August is peak season and the combination of the village population trebling as hotels and Air BnBs fill up, and the day trippers arriving by the coach load, meant the village could barely cope.
Good news – this is not so much the case this year. Everyone we have talked to puts this down to a combination of economic uncertainty (particularly holding back American visitors), global unease and shifting travel habits with more visitors earlier and later in the season. In fact one local said with some shock, that some hotel rooms were available at 24 hours notice which, for the last few years has been unheard of.
Day trippers still mean the village is crowded between 10am and 3pm but much less so than in the past.
And the hotels are finding that they are booked longer into the shoulder season. Eden Roc Hotel closes at the end of October which is traditionally when bookings have dropped dramatically but this year they are fully booked right to closing day.
It’s August and our Italian holiday has started. The lovely people at Cathay Pacific are transporting us from a cold and dark New Zealand to a warm inviting Italy. The flight was broken up by a 4 hour layover in Hong Kong which meant an 11 hour first leg skirting around Australia and then north over the Philipines and a 12 hour second leg across Asia and Europe.
There is no feeling quite like waking up to a sunrise over Kazakhstan as your plane zigzags between war zones.
This trip we flew Cathay Pacific. They are a great airline and their Premium Economy product is pretty good. For us the added legroom is the key attraction but priority boarding and an upgraded food offering is nothing to sneeze at.
But we still rate Emirates as having the best Premium Economy product in our experience. It just feels special and is more “business lite” rather than Cathay’s “economy plus”.
One more thing that Cathay does right is the electronic check in and automated baggage process at Auckland Airport. It is brilliant and removes all the queuing and angst of the traditional approach – plus they have enough helpers working the kiosks to make sure everyone who needs a bit of help gets it.
Lately there have been quite a few bad weather days in Wellington. Here’s a better one – taken from our balcony overlooking Evans Bay on a calm autumn morning.
For those of you heading to Italy – or the rest of Europe, tax is an important subject. Sales tax specifically. Anything you buy which is coming home with you, and which you paid more than 70 Euro for, you can claim the sales tax back. This averages around 12% of the sale price. On a 600 Euro purchase that can be around 75 Euro back.
This can mount up and become a welcome refund at the end of your trip.
The place you purchase the item from does the paper work (which is mostly automated anyway) and all you need to do is visit the relevant tax refund kiosk at the airport you are departing from to claim the refund. Simple.
Get up. Put the kettle on. Open the front door. Not a bad way to start the day.
After a half days travel from Rome we arrived in Positano yesterday afternoon. We had a quiet night – the jet lag was still there so it was early to bed.
We watched the sun go down through a humid haze as the sky slowly changed colour.
We are Premium Economy flyers. The added legroom we get is worth the additional cost over economy. But the leap to business class is just too much for us to handle.
Unless, of course, Emirates email us and offer an upgrade at a great price – and that’s what happened yesterday. We had the chance to upgrade our Dubai to Rome leg. Clearly there were some seats upstairs that were unsold – now there are two less.
Lie flat beds and a bar – what more could you want?
On our regular walk from Casetta Arienzo to Positano we see some spectacular views. This one is a bit different – it’s the Positano cemetery which you can see at the top of the picture – located on a hill high above the village.
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.
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.
After a 4 hour train trip from Rome, we arrived in Venice. The only train station I’m aware of with a canal running past its front. There to greet us was Alaria. She had organised a water taxi which took us and our bags through the canals of Venice, eventually reaching the Londra Palace. Our home for the next 4 days.
It’s a lovely hotel which has, in one guise or another, been receiving guests since 1857. It has both a bar and restaurant with terraces that look over the water.
If you are planning a trip to Venice then this could well be the relaxing retreat from the summer madness you are looking for.
View from our verandah – Wellington Airport, Kilbirne, Evans Bay and Hataitai.
One thing that I’ve noticed over the last few weeks is the silence. Outside at night you can hear – nothing.
With virtually no cars on the roads and even fewer planes coming and going, the constant background city buzz has gone. To be replaced by silence, and at night, the call of our local Ruru.
Bella loves to bark at people passing our front gate. She sits and waits to hear someone approaching – then when they are level with the gate she lets loose – barking, barking barking.
Every morning and evening people on the way to and from work give her a “target rich environment” but in lockdown it’s different.
Here she is siting patiently, waiting for someone to walk past on Wednesday evening. But no one came.
Toscanakiwi 