Italian Vacation...Day 7...A View Around The Corner

Just so we know what day it is within this post....

this day is May 30, 2014.

It started out a very leisurely day.

We chilled, relaxed and tanned on the terrace this morning with a most wonderful view.

It was a nice sunny morning.

Afterwards we cleaned up and decided to do some more walking to see what we could see.

There is a great view from every corner you turn in this beautiful city called Positano.

Below is one of my favorite shots.

 Normally I see this church everyday from the terrace but I really like this view as well.

 A view from the other side looking towards our Villa....Villa in the middle.

 And another view looking towards our Villa further up on the other side, closer towards the water.

 While walking we spotted a gas station.

We spent the day walking...stopped for a dessert...looked in some shops...

stopped at the store and got some cheese and olives and rum and headed back to the villa where we had drinks on the terrace.

It was a beautiful peaceful day.

Tomorrow we set out another boat ride...this time of The Amalfi Coast....

Digits... (wink wink)

Italian Vacation...Day 6...A Stroll Around Positano

Today we set out for a walk around the winding roads of Positano.

Which in itself is a challenge as you have to share the road with the drivers....

Scary concept as you can see by the below picture...most times you have to share a road like this with another car coming from the other direction....and if your a bus....

Momma Mia!

 He had beautiful views from higher advantage points.

 Cute shops...lots of women's clothing and ceramics...I'm having such a hard time finding something for the boys in my life.

 While on our walk we ran into a "Shark"...this is what an Italian man is called who is trying to always pick up women...he was actually trying to pick up Lonnie (they all seem to be doing that...not Sharks, just men in general) but he was almost aggressive about it... then when you tried to walk away he just kept following along.

It started to rain a little so that helped us to get away...

Swim away shark, swim away.

 We decided to get out of the rain and stopped at this little wine bar for a glass of Vino while we waited for the rain to pass and then we were on our way.

We walked back down near the pier area as we wanted to book another day on the water and spend that time seeing the other part of the coast.

Afterwards we decided to walk a different direction and see what we could see.

It was absolutely beautiful....have I mentioned I love it here.

While on our journey we saw this cute little place on the cliff and decided to stop and have some wine, have a potty break and just relax.

The view was breath taking and the breeze from the sea was wonderful.

 While drinking we had a little snack.

 This place here is the place I have enjoyed the most while eating or drinking (besides our terrace)...

it's just beautiful...and peaceful.

 We continued to walk and just look at the beauty that surrounded us.

Once we were done it was either stay below and find something to do or climb those 187 steps back to the villa....as we made a pack, we only go up and down one time a day...we decided to go to the place on the beach we had been to twice before and end the evening with some wine...

 Three bottles later we were still happy campers.

We decided since it was late we would head over to a place on the beach called

Music On The Rocks.

It's a night club built inside a cave with cave rocked walls around you.

They weren't really open yet...they opened at 11...so we went upstairs to the restaurant lounge and had a drink...11 o'clock rolled around but when we went downstairs to the club nothing was happening and we couldn't stay up any longer...remember....

we had wine.

So we left and walked across the beach to our stairs to reach the villa....

Momma Mia that sure was an interesting climb.

Fun day for sure!

****Oh, and by the way...got my digits back ....saw the digits near the pier (wink wink)****

Italian Vacation...Day Five...Cooking, Italian Style

Wednesday we went up higher up the cliffs to Montepertuso to a restaurant called La Tagliata

www.latagliata.com

 where we had a cooking lesson.

 The place was beautiful...the family that owns the restaurant also lives on property and has there own garden and animals.

 The lesson was fun, they taught us how to make traditional Italian food...

sorry my peeps, don't expect dinner...maybe you can ask Lonnie.

 While cooking our lunch we had wine....this is the first red wine I have had that wasn't too strong tasting and that I could actually drink...

it is made with grapes from their garden but the wine is made from someone else for them for the restaurant.

 The kitchen we used was an outdoor kitchen beside the rocks...it was very cool looking and feeling with a wonderful hillside view behind us.

We had a husband and a wife from Washington taking the class with us.

 All that food above was cooked for us, the 4 of us.

Once done cooking we took a small tour of the grounds and then went into the restaurant where our meal we cooked was served to us with wine and limencello and an excellent view.

 The picture above is from their lemon garden and below a beautiful picture of Positano where we are staying.

 I must say our drive here was very interesting...we were picked up by a driver the restaurant got for us, he really spoke no English, he drove like a crazy man like we were on a race track... going around all the curves on a road that barely fits one car let alone two with people walking on the streets...

CRAZY!!! 

I think I held on to the back seat door the whole time.

On the way down we had a better driver but we had to pay this time.

They suggested we take bus but after seeing the buses and the stops I knew I wanted a driver though it cost me 30 Euro...most expensive thing I have paid for so far. 

Our lesson and lunch took most of the day that by 3pm we were back at the villa calling it a day and enjoying another fabulous evening on the terrace.

Italian Vacation...Day Four...A Day On the Mediterranean Sea

Today we were going to spend our time at sea...

we rented a boat with a driver and did a private tour along the coast to Capri and back.

We just wanted to do a tour on the boat and stop and do lunch...we would save a visit to Capri for another day

Today was all about the sea.

Positano looks amazing from the water.

I swear you can't take a bad picture of this town.

Our Captain was Alexandor ....Couldn't of gotten a better Captain..he showed us lots of caves and pointed out points of interest...

plus not too bad on the eyes either

 The day was amazing...perfect weather...the sea is so blue and the rock formations are unbelievable.

 The marina at Capri...most tours will let you off in Capri and do lunch or shop...they give you about 2 hours but we wanted to save Capri for another day where we would not feel so rushed.

We would have lunch today at another location.

 The above picture (a far away picture) and the picture below are of a statue of man waving good-bye as you leave the island of Capri

On our way back to Positano we stopped at a small seaside town and had lunch.

The restaurant has a small boat that they come out and get you and take you to the restaurant while the boat anchors in the water.

 We had Alexandor join us for lunch...which was so much fun.

He helped us order local favorites...one of them being Octopus which he really encouraged us to try and to make it easier for us he had them cut it up in small pieces as not to scare us away from trying it. I will say it was actually pretty good. I didn't eat much of it and probably won't order it again but it wasn't bad and glad I tried it.

While at the restaurant it started to rain but it was over and the sun was out by the time we were ready to leave. We drank wine and had limoncello on the house.

 Once we were back on the water we had fun taking pictures and telling stories...we even ran upon a boat that had a captain and a husband and wife on board doing things that maybe they shouldn't of been doing...lol...made for a nice laugh.

And here we are arriving back in Positano..

Leaving the town by water and returning by water is absolutely breath taking.

So far this has been my best day in Positano.

I'm also thinking about another boat tour and with the same Captain (wink wink) but up a different part of the coast to Amalfi.

 Once back on land we decided we would stop and end the evening with wine before hiking up almost 200 stairs to the Villa.

We went to a place along the beach where we had already had lunch before and the waiters remembered us...we drank wine and since we were there for awhile we ordered spaghetti and baby clams and shared...

So that means today I tried 2 new things...octopus and calms...and I was very surprised with the clams....I loved them! I will have to have them again before leaving here.

(Aren't you surprised Fonda?)

So it was time to head back up to the villa...after having 2 bottles of wine and limencello...

it was a very interesting climb....

But a GREAT day!

*****Oh....did I forget to mention that Lonnie lost my digits?*****
 

Italian Vacation...Day Three...Exploring Positano

After a morning relaxing on the terrace (one of our favorite spots)

we cleaned up and headed out to see a little of Positano.

Below are just some of the steps we had to take to go town to beach level.

There are lots of steps in this town...after all it is built on cliffs.

It was a nice little hike but not so bad but we knew coming back up would really be the fun part.

 Once we made it down we headed to the other side of the beach to take a look at a place called

Music On The Rocks.

It's a night club built in the rocks...a place we plan to visit before leaving.
And here is a shot across the beach of where we are staying...it's just beautiful.

 And this is the porter that takes your luggage and delivers to where you are staying or taking it back to the street where you depart. If you are in a certain area from the beach they will take your luggage down to the beach and then hike it up the stairs to your  destination...easier for them than going down especially for some of the stair that are very steep.

All I can say is lots of work and hopefully they are being tipped well.

 After walking around a little bit we decided to have a little lunch and of course wine. 

When we had entered this place there wasn't anyone there...once leaving it was very crowded.

We had a nice lunch, people watching (and waiter watching).

 We headed out to where the boats were and found us a private boat tour that will take us out tomorrow to see Amalfi from the water and some of Capri and Grotto's and such you can only see from the water. We will also stop along the way and have lunch sea side.

It will be a long day (6 hours) but I'm sure it will be beautiful.

Can't wait to float around on the Mediterranean Sea.

 Another vantage point of Positano....that's me below with the beautiful city behind me.

We found a quite area a little further up with a gorgeous breeze off the water, which was nice as we were so hot...there we ran into a young girl who had been studying abroad for one semester...she is done and her sister and aunt came to meet her in Rome and they were doing a little bit of traveling before heading back to Kansas

 We found this covered walkway I had seen on facebook...it was beautiful and a nice stroll with some vendors....here we bought local artist paintings.

 And while we were under the walkway we spotted or Villa...our floor is the middle level...the 3 windows across that all have brown wood shutters...simply beautiful.

 We walked a little more and then it was time to head back to the Villa...we were getting a little tired and hot...we stopped at this grocery story that also made sandwiches and picked up some water and sandwiches for dinner....grocery stores are different here in this small town...but was a cute little store.

 And this is why we needed the water...time to head back up the stairs to our Villa...I counted the steps along the way...to reach our Villa gate it was 182 steps...it was a rough climb but we did it....not something we plan on doing multiple times a day...Once and that's it.

To reach the door of The Villa you would add another 20-something steps.

 Once back at The Villa we caught our breath...changed to get comfy and went out on the terrace and enjoyed the rest of the day into the evening...We talked, we took pictures, we laughed and we drank Rum and Crown and just enjoyed our time.

There was a wonderful breeze on the terrace ....as the evening progressed it actually got really chilly...but oh so beautiful.

Will post tomorrow (or maybe tonight) about our day out to sea...until then...

Chow!

Italian Vacation...Day 2 ....Amalfi Coast

Today we were headed out to see the sights of 

The Amalfi Coast.

It's a winding road and barely two small vehicles can fit on the road....

the road itself is an adventure and so glad we had someone else do the driving.

And the driving was done by Alberico (Albe for short)

We stopped on our way out of Positano for a picture to see Positano from another advantage point...

Lonnie, Alberico and myself. 

 At the stop there was this man selling fruits and veggies..

Just a note to The Arroyo girls....I told you! Italian...fruit stand!

 Before leaving Positano we stopped at a ceramic place where they make the ceramics right there...it was beautiful...table tops for dining tables to tea cups...gorgeous....

and yes, I did buy a couple of things...they will ship to me in about 4 months...first making them and then shipping by boat it will take some time.

Continuing our drive we came across two very large rocks that come up from the sea...they call the one on the right the Virgin Mary holding flowers...and it does look like that...very cool.

 We are now approaching Amalfi

 Alberico and myself with Amalfi behind us....just beautiful...Amalfi and Alberico.

(hahahaha)

 Lonnie and I got out and walked a little in the city center and when done we decided to sit and have wine...was very nice and relaxing as it was a hot day.

Alberico said it was high 60's out but we swear it was more high 80's....

but was still a beautiful day...really nice when in shaded area.

 We then headed to the town of Ravello for lunch with a view...the picture below was our view while having lunch and wine.

 When lunch was over instead of bringing us mints they brought us Limoncello...

it's so tart that we just couldn't sip it so we did it as a shot...much better.

After lunch we walked around some and then met up with Alberico and headed back to Positano...

I was hot from the day, from the drive and probably from the wine that I fell asleep on the way back.

We had a wonderful day...when we got back to Positano we stopped by the store and then back to our Villa where we layed on the terrace and again ...me...falling asleep...but I got up, we had cheese and crackers for dinner and had a nice visit on the terrace.

Tomorrow we will explore Positano on our own...

no Alberico (sad face).