Italian Adventures – We Bought a House in Italy!

September 2019 – A 3 Week Stay in Positano

I first discovered the Amalfi coast a few years back when we, my friend Gil & I, booked a week in Massa Lubrense and then flew to Sardinia for a week. My daughter Jessica decided to join us on our adventure, at least the first week. While in Massa Lubrense, we found Gugliemo, Big G, down in the marina and booked a day trip to Capri on his boat. We had a fantastic day so decided to book another day trip along the Amalfi Coast a few days later. This is when we discovered Positano and decided that one day we would need to come and stay there.

Fast forward a few years to 2019, we booked a trip to Positano, renting an AirBnB overlooking the sea. Jess and her boyfriend Andrew decided to join us for about 10 days.

We started in Rome, Gil & I arriving first, then meeting up with Jess & Andrew at the hotel rooftop bar before heading out to dinner. The next morning we were catching the train to Naples where we would meet our driver to take us to Positano.

Once we arrived in Positano, the driver dropped us off at our meeting spot and called the owner to let him know we had arrived. We were told to wait at our current location and wait for a woman to come and escort us to the apartment, Villa Laura.

Positano is all vertical so we knew we would need to walk up and down many, many steps throughout our stay. Our apartment was spread over 3 floors, with my bedroom, J&A’s bedroom and a bathroom being on the top floor. The main floor and master bedroom (Gil’s) was on the middle floor, along with an amazing terrace that spanned the width of the apartment with amazing views of the sea. The kitchen, a tiny bedroom, laundry, another half bath, and small balcony were on the bottom floor. Needless to say, we spent the majority of our time on the middle floor.

Our first full day in Positano we decided to explore and relax. We had many adventures ahead of us so today would be a great day to recover from long days of travel and prepare ourselves for the time ahead.

We wandered into town taking in all of the sights and finding a great spot for lunch. We loved it here!

The next day we took the ferry over to Capri. This will be our first time actually exploring the island. We wandered up from the marina into the newer, spendier part of town – designer stores and lots of money. We found a quiet, shady spot to relax with a glass of prosecco before continuing on.

We rode the chairlift up to Anacapri, which I had read had amazing views and some interesting sights. The chairlift was interesting…one person per chair and it doesn’t slow down to let you on or off so BE READY!

After exploring at the top of the hill, we rode the chairlift back down and took the funky little ‘taxi’ car back down to the ferry. The ferry ride back to Positano was beautiful and we spotted our little apartment squeezed into the hillside among much larger properties. It was fun to see it from this viewpoint.

The next day we ventured up to Ravello. We headed out early to get ahead of potential crowds and it paid off.

We saw everything!!! Villa Rufolo, Centro Storico, Villa Cimbrone and everythiing in between. Sometime during our exploration Gil spotted what he thought was an amazing restaurant so we headed back there for lunch and it did not disappoint. The food, service and views were amazing!!!

Beach day before we Hike the Path of the Gods

We chose to spend the day at the smaller, quieter beach (Fornillo Beach) than the main beach in Positano. Naturally this meant more up, down and around but it was worth it. We paid for our chairs, swam in the ocean, read our books and drank limoncello spritzes. We ate lunch at the little restaurant on the beach, and it was delicious. Then, back to our chairs, more reading, limoncello spritzes, and swimming. It was a perfect day!

On our way back to the apartment, we stopped in a little shop in the lower part of town to pick up more wine. We learned that there is a young Russian guy who will carry your wine back up the hill to your apartment. AMAZING!!!

Hiking the Path of the Gods

I researched this well in advance and shared the information with everyone so we would be ready. Several months before out trip I started walking the stairs at Richmond Beach near my house, to get myself ready for both Positano and the hike. I was walking about 5 miles per day, everyday, to be fit enough to truly enjoy this trip.

I also read that it’s best to get a ride up to Bomerano, a small town on top of the hill that enables you to navigate the hiking trail back down to Positano. Some posts said it was 4-5 miles, others said 8+. We were ready for either and my backpack was filled with 6 bottles of water – I drink a LOT of water!!!

It was a fantastic day filled with amazing views that were hard to truly capture in pictures. There were a lot of ups and downs, and rugged terrain, but because we started at the top and started a little before 8am, it was manageable. There were so many interesting things to see along the way, which Andrew and Jess explored more than Gil and I did. Here are some more pics to share our experience…

Nearing the end, approaching Nocelle and LUNCH!!!

Lunch was amazing and the perfect rest. Gil and I decided we would like to come back for dinner sometime before we leave. Now we had a choice, catch the bus back down to Positano or walk. Ideally I would have opted for the bus but it was at least 30 min before it would arrive so we all opted to bite the bullet and walk the rest of the way down. Most of the way was road and then more stairs. Of course, more stairs.

And finally, back at the apartment! Time for cocktails!!!

Total time and miles… 6.9 miles; 3:59:35 moving time; 2,078 calories burned.

Here are a few more fun highlights from our fun sights around town (Positano). There was a huge stage built near the beach in the center of town and I found the dance crew practicing. So fun!

I then found two different couples taking wedding, or pre-wedding photos. I love the pic of the little boy eating his popsicle near the ferry dock. Lastly, it’s good to know that there is a porter service for those arriving by ferry that need help with luggage. So smart.

We had so many more adventures that I will share them in the next post.