Positively Positano

Positano is positively picturesque.  As is the entire Amalfi Coast.

This postcard village was our base in Italy, but we hopped around between Positano, Amafli, Ravello and Sorrento, which of course means a few hundred S-curves on mountain roads.  All part of the charm!

Our villa was perched high above the town with an incredible view of each evening's setting sun, and cool, colorful Italian tiles beneath our feet.

Pictionary was our evening entertainment, made all the more fun seated on our deck overlooking the Gulf of Salerno.

I wasn't feeling the least bit blue in this blue beauty:

Lots of stairs down to the beach.  And back up to our house. 

Around the bend from Positano is the coastal city of Amalfi and the mountain town of Ravello.

Throughout the MIddle Ages, Positano and Amalfi rivalled each other for maritime superiority, and it was Amalfi that ultimately became a major naval power until the Normans took care of business in the 12th century.  In Edwardian times, the English wintered here, often as part "The Grand Tour."  

Nowadays Amalfi is geographically small, but really bustling with residents and tourists.  It serves as a transportation hub and launching point to explore the rest of coast.  

The cracked and crumbled look of the buildings mixes with crowds of people and cars on the one main street that runs straight uphill from the beach to the crest of the hill overlooking the water .  

Town life centers around the towering Duomo in the main square:

Here's the one main road  Seriously.  All cars go up and down this one hill through the buildings, including the police.  The police station is at the top of the hill . . . . ? The "road" used to be a river coming down mountain to ocean.

Did you know that the tomato is not indigenous to Italy?  The Spanish brought it over from South America in the 16th century while they were doing all that conquering.  Turned out that the Mediterranean climate is perfect for cultivating tomatoes, and hence you have Italian cuisine as we know it today.

It's seriously important to try every single local type of dessert.  

Sfogliatella and Delizia al Limone

Scorzette Zest

One can find fountains and rock installations like this all over the place.  They consist of hundreds of tiny painted people, animals, and buildings that depict village life, and are usually religious in significance.  People believe in the supernatural power of these scenes and come to pay homage, pray, make wishes, etc.  Children love them.

 After lunch and a walk, we skipped rocks and relaxed on the Amalfi beach.

Unlike the hustle and bustle of Amalfi, Ravello is quieter, more refined.  Indeed, this village, perched high on top of a mountain with unparalleled views of the coastline, seems high on attitude too.

Historically removed from the goings-on below, residents of Ravello were often artists and religious persons seeking a retreat from regular life, a place to meditate, contemplate, and to find the space to be creative.  Wagner, DH Lawrence and Virginia Woolf all hung out here.

There's my kiddos in the corner-left pocket!

Finally, we have Sorrento, a very popular American tourist destination and cruise boat port.  Lot's of shopping.  It's fine, it's pretty, I got a new leather bag.

Please try Donna Sofia for lunch if you are ever in town.  It's at the tippy top of Sorrento, way above the craziness of the city.  In a lemon grove.  Family run. Need I say more? And February was high season for lemons in Italy.  So, so good.

The Donna Sofia, after Ms. Loren.

Anitpasti.

Limoncello.