Saturday morning we woke up early and caught our early train to Naples. From Naples (heaps of trash abound) we caught the worst train ever, the Circumvesuviana, to Sorrento). Once in Sorrento our plan was to take a SITA bus to Positano but the ticket window was close. Soon after we met an Australian couple on an 8 week tour of Europe who offered to split a 60 euro cab with us to Positano.
The cab took about a quarter of the time, and while it was pricey, it was just so much more comfortable. We were dropped off at our teeny, tiny little alley way of a street that dropped straight down by way of hundreds of steps. I was surprised the cab driver didn't pass it up it was so unassuming. I still have no idea how we got all of our 5 VERY heavy bags down those stairs.
The apartment was absolutely gorgeous, we still can't stop talking about how perfect it was. We got to enjoy two large terraces with the best view of Positano I encountered on the entire trip, a spacious kitchen with granite counter tops, an adorable (all blue) bathroom, and a bedroom loft. We really enjoyed all of the time we spent there. *The pictures I've posted to this post of the ocean and Santa Maria Assunta were all taken from our apartment :-)
While is Positano we really were just looking forward to unwinding after our very hectic week in Florence. Days were spent eating lots of pasta (like spaghetti con vongole) and the best pastries we had encountered thus far on the trip. We also spent large quantities of time laying on the beach, swimming, window shopping, hiking, taking WAY too many pictures of the beautiful town and people watching. One of our favorite activities was to take a late afternoon passegiatta down to the beach, eat cannoli Siciliana, and chat amongst ourselves about passerbys. So entertaining for some reason! Oh, and for the first time we participated in siesta, which we dubbed "Napsitano" (we're dorks)!My brother and his girlfriend were staying in nearby Sorrento for the first three days we were there. So they met us in Positano one evening, we showed off our apartment, watched "Superbad" (of course), and enjoyed a great meal away from the touristy beach areas. The next day they set off to Roma!
We also partook in a lot of day trips outside of Pos during our week. Venturing out to Amalfi and visiting the amazing cathedral there, exploring quiet and peaceful, nearby Atrani, and finally making our way to the bustling city of Sorrento that had great shopping and the best gelateria I've ever been a part of. First off, when you walk in you can't help but notice at least the 6 different nutella flavors.....plus many other mouth watering combos. 
Then you take notice to the thousands of pictures posted all over the walls and ceilings of the many celebs that have enjoyed gelati there....including the Pope. The place rocked!Our last full day in Positano was also the warmest of the entire trip. We took full advantage and trekked to a more remote, much smaller, beach that we had discovered a few days prior. It was almost like knowing about a secret that a lot of the other travelers were unaware of. This beach had no sand........all pebbles that really hurt my feel after exiting the very cold water. However, I didn't let the icy temps get to me TOO much....I came there to swim and swim is exactly what I did.
There were many others in the water as well. I just couldn't get over how clear and turquoise the water was. I just had to be in it, as much as humanly possible. One moment I won't forget is when I swam along the shore and discovered a very small beach that no one else was on and the small "grotti" (caves) that the water lapped against. It was so perfect, and the sea was so calm, it was very similar to swimming in a lake. I couldn't have enjoyed myself more :-)We left Positano the following Saturday after exactly a week. On the cab ride to Sorrento I tried to soak up as much of the scenery as possible as I don't know when I'll see it again! On the way to Naples we stopped off in Pompei to enjoy the ruins. We're both really glad we stopped as it's just something you need to see when you're in the area. Although, it was quite hot and very dusty while we were there...and we missed the memo stating that Pompei is apparently the size of Rhode Island. It was huge....and after awhile we started to see a lot of the same. But all in all, very interesting and something that we'll probably never seen again! A few hours later we made it to crazy Napoli.....stay tuned!
5 comments:
words cannot describe how jealous i am of you...but not of the fact that you had to endure the circumvesuviana. totally ranks as one of my top 10 scariest experiences...complete with its very own crazy old man stares-a-lot. i hope he wasn't still hanging around there, for your sake.
no but there were plenty of other creepsters.....ayaya that train SUCKED. although our midnight train to bologna experience in '04 still takes the cake!
luckily we only took it during the day and there were also plenty of normal people on the ride as well.
i did enjoy the gypsy children walking around with their accordians and looking weepily into your eyes as they played!
and i didn't see a sir creepster stares-a-lot
he must have been passed out in another car.
.....more than likely!
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