Today the agenda is simple. Wake up in Amalfi, ride the boat to Positano for a walk and a hotel inspection, and then return to Amalfi. In other words, a productive day in heaven. Seriously. There is not one bad thing that can be said of living among the small-Italian-fishing-villages-turned-resort-towns-on-the-sea that comprise the Amalfi Coast.
For centuries, even millennia, people lived and fished in quaint villages nestled in the crevices where hills meet the Mediterranean. Some villages grew in power and size when they began trading with the nearby ports across the sea to Africa, some did not. But their simple geography is what keeps them quaint today. You will soon see exactly what I mean.
But I referred to this place as heaven, and here is my proof.
When you wake up, this is what you see. And because we are facing South, for much of the year you can see the sunrise and sunset on the Mediterranean. To once again quote the great Justice Joseph, "Can you do any less?"
Barbie replies, "No, you cannot do any less."
Breakfast in the hotel. I was hoping to see the lovely people we met at yesterday's late lunch, and they were there! But I did not take their pictures. I really should have.
Hotel Santa Caterina plate.
If we ever have the means, I hope that Barbie and I order custom china with out own logo. O.M.G. Could there someday be Colossal Waste plates and bowls?
After breakfast we take the hotel's shuttle into town. Amalfi is probably only a ten minute walk, but you saw that narrow, curvy road. Why not wait and take a free ride in a Mercedes minivan? We got off the shuttle in the heart of town and strolled over to buy a ticket to ride on the boat that goes from coastal town to coastal town like a bus.
Talking about busses, just a few tourist busses visit Amalfi on a Saturday in October.
Our ride is here. When your "bus" is a "boat" it is going to be a good day. But then I love nothing more than riding on a boat in the sea, as it brings back a childhood spent on my grandparents' boat in Marina del Rey.
As we pull away from Amalfi, we get a view of that aforementioned geography. How big can this town get? Not any bigger than it is now.
Our room is right THERE.
Positano. Not too different from Amalfi. The main difference is that Amalfi is slightly more accessible by road, and has a bit more flat area, which makes Positano more exclusive. Amalfi offers some more affordable options if you know what I mean, while Positano is intentionally less affordable.
But even if Positano is exclusive, it does not mean that you do not get to see a silver haired and shirtless fisherman the moment you walk off the boat and onto Positano's dock.
Barbie poses with a local statue of a woman holding a seashell to her ear.
Santa Maria Assunta of Positano. It features a Byzantine icon of a black Madonna inside. Byzantine as in taken from Byzantium.
This Byzantine Madonna is the perfect moment for me to explain to the few Wasters faithful enough to notice that I switched this trip from Mediterranean Whirlwind to Byzantine Tour. I really did not know what to call this trip, but now that I am Wasting it after being home for a while, I am aware that most everywhere we visited was once part of the Byzantine Empire, which at the time was simply known as the Roman Empire but historians needed to differentiate it from the earlier Roman Empire centered in Rome. Since the Roman Empire that outlasted Rome had its capital in Byzantium, they renamed it the Byzantine Empire. And, of course, Byzantium became Constantinople and then Istanbul, which is where this tour ends. Byzantine Tour 2011 works for me.
Look closely and you will see a wedding inside Santa Maria Assunta of Positano. That is why I did not walk all the way inside and take pictures. Respect.
This is my favorite Positano walkway. Positano is all walkways, no cars, until you reach the top.
Before we could walk around much longer, it was time for our meeting at Positano's most luxe hotel, Il Santo Pietro. Breakfast at Santa Caterina, lunch at Santo Pietro.
To get to the Hotel Santo Pietro, one must take a taxi.
This kind of taxi. The words water taxi fill me with joy.
Just a few minutes from the heart of Positano sits this rock outcropping, and hidden there is one of the world's great hotel. The top arrow is the hotel and the bottom arrow is the dock and pool. Serious.
Hidden in that dark area is the elevator up to the hotel. Arriving at the Hotel Santo Pietro is an adventure. It makes you feel like a kid.
The hotel lobby is more like the most lovely, inviting and attractive living room that you have ever walked into.
And the view from the lobby... I mean come on.
Look, I have spent an entire life in California, where a view like this is always twenty to thirty minutes away, and still I could not stop taking pictures of this.
Lunch before work. We shall eat and then we shall have our site inspection.
This is a twisted panorama of the view from my seat for lunch. There is not much to say.
The view from my seat taken in a non-twisted non-panoramic manner. Ahead is the lobby.
I began with the Pumpkin soup and "tortelli" stuffed with pears from Angerola. Barbie was not hungry enough for a starter.
Barbie had for her main, Our hand-made semolina-flour maccheroncelli withblack truffle, salt cod and raw porcini mushrooms shavings.
Barbie finished with Lemon cream with blueberries with crispy Amalfi-lemon pastry and sorbet. Remember, the hills along the Amalfi coast are lined with lemon trees.
I finished with... that. Somehow I have no picture of the menu for my dessert. Oh well. You will just have to look longingly at that edible hoop and wonder.
Self portrait. Barely. Check that upper-left silhouette.
After lunch, we were joined by the hotel's general manager and taken for a site inspection. Normally I only include a picture or two at most, but I am going to assume that most people will never get here, and this hotel is crazy impressive. Therefore, get ready for way too many pictures of a fancy shmancy hotel.
Our first stop was this verandah, where we learned some of the history of Il San Pietro di Positano.
Barbie stands with the hotel manager, while the odd husband never stops walking around taking pictures. He must have thought I was quite mad.
Leaning over the edge you can see the lounge chairs by the pool, yet you cannot see the seaside pool.
However, the rooftop pool is easier to photograph.
To stay in a hotel room such as this... the view is amazing.
Barbie on the verandah of a Hotel Santo Pietro di Positano suite.
I have spared you, really. I took around a hundred more pictures of this hotel. Our inspection of the hotel finished with us at the top, where the hotel reaches the road above town. We were given a ride to the top of Positano, from where we will walk down into Positano and hopefully make the next boat back to Amalfi.
Looking down on Positano from the road above it. This town is technically an enclave in the hills. Enclave is often used inaccurately, but here, well, this is truly an enclave.
I learned from an internet search that John Steinbeck himself visited this town, and here is his Positano quote. "Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone."
For those unfamiliar with novelist-speak, Steinbeck meant, "That place was almost too nice for me, but now I miss it."
On the ride back to Amalfi, I would like to point out that our room at the Santa Caterina is THERE.
Back in Amalfi, we took some time to walk through the town. When were here once before, we did not spend more than a few minutes here, opting instead to ride up to the town of Ravello that overlooks Amalfi.
Amalfi does have a very rich history. Founded in the 6th century, it was a Byzantine vassal until becoming independent in the 7th century. The Amalfi traders made key connections with Islamic ports, and surged ahead of their neighbors on the Italian peninsula when they adopted the rather ingenious concept from the Muslims of using gold coins for trade instead of barter. They wrote a maritime code called the Tavole Amalfitane (Amalfi Tables), a code followed in the Mediterranean for 700 to 800 years.
In fact, Amalfi was on par with Pisa and Genoa in importance before the rise of Venice as a dominant sea power. Pisa took control of the Amalfi coast in the 1100's, and Amalfi stayed relavent for a few hundred more years until a tsunami destroyed the town in 1343. Six centuries later, in the 1920's, the British aristocracy discovered the beauty of this town and turned it into a holiday destination.
There. Now you know more than you need to know about Amalfi, Italy.
Amalfi Cathedral, or Saint Andrew's Cathedral, or Cattedrale di Sant'Andrea, is an eclectic mix of eras and architecture. The facade you are looking at dates from the 1890's, while inside various areas date back as far as the 1200's. We arrived soon before they were about to close, and had to rush by a large group of Japanese tourists. Therefore you do not get to see all the rooms and tombs that we walked through.
You do get this, the standard from the back of the cathedral shot.
And, of course, the Barbie lights a candle shot.
I could not resist reaching over this Asian tourist and taking a picture of her taking a picture.
Inside the cathedral and outside in the piazza you see representations Saint Andrew. I quite dig his X-shaped crucifix as a change of pace. Yes, I realized that I just said that I dig a crucifix. Listen, you try looking at several hundred ✝-shaped crucifixes and then tell me if it is not refreshing to see an X-shaped crucifix.
I cannot tell you why this woman sits beneath Saint Andrew, but I can tell you it is likely that she was recently pregnant.
Can you guess what we did next? Hopped into the minivan back to the hotel, and as Barbie did some work and we began to think about dinner, we went to sleep.
If you look closely, you can see the three masted sailboat to the right. The owner has lights on all three masts. He wants you to notice them.
Until tomorrow...
For centuries, even millennia, people lived and fished in quaint villages nestled in the crevices where hills meet the Mediterranean. Some villages grew in power and size when they began trading with the nearby ports across the sea to Africa, some did not. But their simple geography is what keeps them quaint today. You will soon see exactly what I mean.
But I referred to this place as heaven, and here is my proof.
If we ever have the means, I hope that Barbie and I order custom china with out own logo. O.M.G. Could there someday be Colossal Waste plates and bowls?
This Byzantine Madonna is the perfect moment for me to explain to the few Wasters faithful enough to notice that I switched this trip from Mediterranean Whirlwind to Byzantine Tour. I really did not know what to call this trip, but now that I am Wasting it after being home for a while, I am aware that most everywhere we visited was once part of the Byzantine Empire, which at the time was simply known as the Roman Empire but historians needed to differentiate it from the earlier Roman Empire centered in Rome. Since the Roman Empire that outlasted Rome had its capital in Byzantium, they renamed it the Byzantine Empire. And, of course, Byzantium became Constantinople and then Istanbul, which is where this tour ends. Byzantine Tour 2011 works for me.
This is my favorite Positano walkway. Positano is all walkways, no cars, until you reach the top.
Before we could walk around much longer, it was time for our meeting at Positano's most luxe hotel, Il Santo Pietro. Breakfast at Santa Caterina, lunch at Santo Pietro.
To get to the Hotel Santo Pietro, one must take a taxi.
This is one of those restaurants where you order and then they immediately bring you a little treat that you did not order, courtesy of the chef. Those are never bad words.
My main, Caramelized duck breast with white turnips, cinnamon and figs.
Anytime that I eat figs I think of John Gillis, who became a great, professional chef several years after we lived together for a few years. Jerk.
After lunch, we were joined by the hotel's general manager and taken for a site inspection. Normally I only include a picture or two at most, but I am going to assume that most people will never get here, and this hotel is crazy impressive. Therefore, get ready for way too many pictures of a fancy shmancy hotel.
I have spared you, really. I took around a hundred more pictures of this hotel. Our inspection of the hotel finished with us at the top, where the hotel reaches the road above town. We were given a ride to the top of Positano, from where we will walk down into Positano and hopefully make the next boat back to Amalfi.
I learned from an internet search that John Steinbeck himself visited this town, and here is his Positano quote. "Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone."
For those unfamiliar with novelist-speak, Steinbeck meant, "That place was almost too nice for me, but now I miss it."
Back in Amalfi, we took some time to walk through the town. When were here once before, we did not spend more than a few minutes here, opting instead to ride up to the town of Ravello that overlooks Amalfi.
Amalfi does have a very rich history. Founded in the 6th century, it was a Byzantine vassal until becoming independent in the 7th century. The Amalfi traders made key connections with Islamic ports, and surged ahead of their neighbors on the Italian peninsula when they adopted the rather ingenious concept from the Muslims of using gold coins for trade instead of barter. They wrote a maritime code called the Tavole Amalfitane (Amalfi Tables), a code followed in the Mediterranean for 700 to 800 years.
In fact, Amalfi was on par with Pisa and Genoa in importance before the rise of Venice as a dominant sea power. Pisa took control of the Amalfi coast in the 1100's, and Amalfi stayed relavent for a few hundred more years until a tsunami destroyed the town in 1343. Six centuries later, in the 1920's, the British aristocracy discovered the beauty of this town and turned it into a holiday destination.
There. Now you know more than you need to know about Amalfi, Italy.
Can you guess what we did next? Hopped into the minivan back to the hotel, and as Barbie did some work and we began to think about dinner, we went to sleep.
Until tomorrow...
Oh, how I have missed the history lesson nuggets, the hip/pithy comments and the Waste Finger Point. Love it! Susan
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