Under the Tuscan Sun in Positano

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John Steinbeck, the famous American author lived in Positano in 1953 and wrote "Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that is not quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone. Its houses climb a hill so steep it would be a cliff except that stairs are cut in it. You do not walk to visit a friend , you either climb or slide."

All of that and more is true of this once forgotten fishing village on the Amalfi coast. Sorrento was really great, but I think Positano tops it by a slight margin. After leaving the pier, you walk across a beautiful dark pebble beach known as the Spiaggia Grande, one of the few on the Sorrento peninsula. The beach is populated by an abundance of bikini's perhaps because Positano is credited with the creation of the bikini in the late 50's and they are featured in many of the shops clinging to the sloped landscape. There is all kinds of activity on the beach with the artists, cafes and vendors. The walk up the side of the moutain through the shopping area has outstanding views and shops ranging from local fashions and jewelrey, Positano's famous cobblers, street vendors and shops that specialize in nothing but lemon related items (another specialty of the area). Kelly's shopping guru, Suzy Gershman, summed it up when she wrote in Born to Shop Italy "Sorrento is great, but bury my heart in Positano, where it simply can't get much better."

Once again, you can glean the best stories from the pictures and the captions. Don't skip the captions, there is some good stuff in there!

Thanks for all the great comments on the Blog. We are really enjoying sharing our vacation with you! If you want to copy our adventure, we'll hook you up with Jack and Donna Beck of Advantage Travel in St. Louis, just let us know.

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Photos

Kelly on the Jet Ski in Positano
The SeaDream comes equipped with "water toys" for the use of its passengers. Kelly and I were the first in line for the jet skis and had a great time.

Chuck on Water Skis in Positano
Water skiing on the Mediterranean, not an activity I will soon forget. The view was fabulous and the sking a little tough due to the waves, but very much worth the effort. If you look closely, you can see the SeaDream and the city of Positano in the background.

The Beautiful City of Positano
This is a great view of Positano from the ship. The entire city is built on the hill and you have to climb staircase after staircase up the bluff to shop. If we lived here, Kelly would be in good enough shape to be a mountain climber.

View from Positano Beach
This is the view from the beach at Positano out across the Bay of Naples and a good shot of the SeaDream. You can see one of numerous street painters in the foreground that add color to this magnificent coastal town that has become the number one attraction on the Amalfi Coast.

Street Artist
I thought this guy looked really cool and was a classic Italian artist. We didn't buy from him, but we looked at his work.

Kelly in Shoe Heaven
This was one of a couple of one hour cobbler shoe stores. They actually make the shoes to fit your foot after you pick the style you want from their display. Kelly had to put them to the test and see if they do 4 pairs and still make the hour deadline - they were up to it. And yes, Jamie, if you are wondering, one of the pairs was for you!

View from Le Sirenuse
Can you take the view from another beautiful bluff perched hotel? We loved this one which is built on the site of a former Roman Emporer's Villa. This place was so expensive that Lobster was only 5 Euro more than a sandwich, so I went for it and it was fabulous! Note the domed building in the background, it shows up in the next couple of pictures as well.

Wedding at Collegia Santa Maria Assunta
We ran into a lovely Italian wedding party taking pictures on the walk up the bluff and in the landmark green and gold domed church. What a great location for a wedding and no, Jamie, don't even think about it.

The Watercolor of Positano
Here's the church again from an artist's perspective. Once we saw the artists, we knew we would come away with one of these, it was just a matter of how big and which artist! We agreed on the artist, but I wanted a classic picture of the terraced city. We compromised on this colorful rendering of the church which displays the city, but isn't just like all the post cards - a wise choice, I'm sure, although the jury is out until Uncle David renders his opinion.

The Artist and his Patrons
Once we settled on the painting, we had to pay and of course he didn't accept Visa! I had to climb 3/4 of the way back up to the top of the mountain to get to the Banco-mat (Italian for ATM, in case you couldn't guess) and boy was I glad it was working. Kelly got his life history and a lesson on the difference between water color and oil. "Oil painting is about precision and detail - water colors are about light and emotion." This artist was a bit of a compromise as he had enough detail for me and enough emotion for Kelly.

The View from the Top
After purchasing our painting, we were headed back to the ship and one of our friends told us about a great adventure they took on a public bus riding on the famed Amalfi highway to the town of Amalfi. We walked all the way to the top of town (the third time for me) only to find you needed to buy tickets in advance and it would take three hours - not enough time to make it back to the boat for the evening meal. This view here was tremendous and almost worth the trip.

Watching Under the Tuscan Sun Under the Tuscan Stars
What a great way to finish the day. Kelly and I both loved this movie the first time we saw it and now it will hold a particularly special place in our hearts because a good portion of it was filmed in Positano. We had walked past several of the picturesque locations only hours earlier.

Looking out at the City of Positano
A romantic finish to another unforgettable day (gosh, that sounds corny, but it's true!)