Amalfi Coast: Positano and Amalfi town

It is so hard to pick a favorite day or excursion on a trip like this, but I’d say that Positano definitely ranks up there for me. But first I must tell you about driving there…oy. We got a decent start by leaving the hotel in our rental car around 10:30am, and following the Hertz “NeverLost” (aka a Garmin GPS with a Hertz sticker on it), began to make our way to Positano. There are no highways in this part of the country, so it is all back roads by our standards…they twist and turn sharply and at some points people have to pull over to let others pass or let a bus pass. So the whole trip was an adventure because of this, but the funniest part was that the “NeverLost” led us down a road that was not really a road for real cars, in my opinion. For 2 whole kilometers we were squeezing between stone walls, scraping side-view mirrors and door handles, and holding our breath hoping we weren’t going to get stuck and have to go backwards. Luckily Dad has lots of video game car experience and handled the car quite nicely and we made it out the other side in one piece…I took some pictures of the sidewalk we drove down so you’ll have to check them out.

Now! On to Positano! There is one road that leads into Positano and one road that leads out. We wound our way down the cliff and finally found a tiny parking garage to store our car while we walked the solely pedestrian town center of Positano. It is just wonderful – just a downward sloping sidewalk with some occasional stairs winding down the cliff with chic women’s boutiques, ceramic shops, art galleries, touristy stores, pizza stops, and gelati counters. Just the most charming place ever! Mum and I went into a bunch of the stores to check out the clothes which they have in abundance, and I bought an authentic made-in-Italy shirt! So fun. Once we reached the bottom, we walked along the beach briefly, had some beverages, and then wound our way back up the cliff for a pizza snack and the most delicious watermelon gelato before getting our car and heading south to the town of Amalfi. We successfully found the town, since there is pretty much one road that connects all these little coastal towns it wasn’t too difficult, found some parking and did much of the same as we did in Positano. Amalfi is structured a bit differently though, so we parked much closer to the town center. We spent a little time window shopping, checking out the massive lemons for sale, and then the rains came and we sought shelter under a restaurant umbrella. After a little while, we decided it call it a day and got back on the road to Sorrento.

I have failed to mention it sufficiently, but the drive along the coast to and from these towns is just breathtakingly beautiful. Some famous guy said something about how you may think you have seen beautiful landscapes but you have seen nothing until you’ve seen the Amalfi Coast, and although I’m not a world traveler and can list the international places I’ve been on 4 fingers, I completely agree with him. It is the most charming place, with so much character, so much to see, plenty but not too much to do, GREAT food, and inexpensive souvenirs (very important). I have absolutely loved our day today and aside from a couple close calls with busses on precarious curvy bridges over deep gorges, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Tomorrow I believe we are relaxing yet again before we prepare ourselves to travel back to I Stati Uniti! Arrivaderci, miei amici e famiglie!