Amalfi Coast | one week
I've been fortunate to have taken many amazing trips with friends, and I think this one to the Amalfi Coast is in the top two.
Four families. Sixteen people,. One Villa San Giacomo (up several staircases). Positano.
One EPIC week.
Positano was chosen by our hosts as home base, as they have visited before and are familiar with the area. At first, some of the smaller towns (Praiano, for example) seemed like less-touristy choices, but I quickly realized that Positano has more to offer, and the other small towns are only a quick cab or bus ride away.
I don't think it makes sense to record the week in any particular order so I will list out some things we did, places we went and of course, the food we ate.
All of this was interspersed with ascending and descending **multitudes** of staircases, from which I am still a little traumatized. If you have been there for more than two days, you will know what I am talking about. If you haven't yet, consider yourself warned.
-- Restaurants --
Full disclosure - we didn't eat out much during our week in Positano because our villa had a chef, and she spoiled us. Fresh baked cakes, croissants, focaccia. Pizza in the centuries-old brick oven built into the kitchen. Tiramisu, panna cotta. But here's where we did eat out...
Located on a deck above the big beach in Positano is the Ristorante Buca di Bacco bucadibacco.it. I panicked a little when the concierge at our villa said the name as she shooed us—all 16 of us—out the door so we wouldn't be late (something we were almost constantly doing during our stay). I had a vision of the American chain restaurant of a similar name, where you would probably send a somewhat unwieldy group of 16 for a meal. But I reminded myself that this was Positano, and it couldn't possibly be the case.
My husb estimated we were about 40 stories up from sea level, and as the group tramped down all those steps, the mixture of Italian charm and expected tourism materialized. About 35 stories down, we came to a fork in the town path with a sign that said Buca de Bacco with no signs of American chain. Down to the left, we tumbled out onto the main promenade and the restaurant was just to our left.
The beautiful, open air covered deck easily absorbed our large group, and the waitstaff was kind and attentive. I shared the bresaola and arugula salad and the special pasta of day, lobster ravioli, with my friend, who I suspect, didn't really want to share. It was all great, as was the seafood spaghetti and seafood risotto around me. That seafood risotto will come up later. Literally.
Our party split up one evening, some going to a concert in Ravello and another group of us (me included), having just returned from a walking tour of Ravello with an afternoon of the most harrowing thunderstorms and rain I have ever experienced, chose to stay local and attempt to dry out. Nine of us remained, and the concierge arranged for a dinner at C'era Una Volta ristoranteceraunavolta, a casual place (that appeared, on Google maps anyway, to be) just up the hill.
It's a tedious story, how we tried to walk there using Google maps, took several wrong turns, and how we finally asked the Hotel Eden Roc to call them (they sent their van down to drive us). Don't try to walk there, just trust me.
Not a fancy place but the food was good and as we were being seated, passed a couple who were eating a pizza topped with french fries. Someone in our party insisted on ordering it and it wasn't bad. My husb had a plate of fried fresh anchovies (which he loved) and I trusted the host to bring me the pasta of the day with fresh porcinis. The arugula salad was fresh, an the personal sized pitcher of house white was was very generous. I'm all-in for personal pitchers of wine.
The host was hilarious. He spoke English well and when I asked him how he learned, he told me he was the Maitre d' at one of the top Italian restaurants in Washington, DC until he was denied his green card and had to come back to Italy. Our loss is Positano's gain.
One afternoon was spent having lunch and sunning at Ristorante La Fontelina fontelina-capri.com on Capri. It is a harrowing steep hike down (mostly due to the fact that you KNOW you will need to walk back up after lunch, so maybe consider the water taxi?) to a lovely, rocky point that has a restaurant and "beach" club. No beach here, but for a ridiculously expensive €21 pp for an umbrella and chair, plus €6 per towel you can sit on concrete and dip into the Med. The water was crazy rough the day we were there so no swimming was allowed, but the views were pretty incredible. If money isn't a concern I recommend going. The restaurant was pretty good, and of course as equally expensive as the "beach" club. Some in our party had the special pasta, a vegetarian ravioli topped with a green sauce (pureed zucchini and basil?) - incredible. Note to self: Always order the special pasta.
Our last meal out in Positano was lunch on the deck at the hotel La Sirenuse sirenuse.it . WOW. To me it was the quintessential Amalfi experience. The view was fantastic, the service impeccable, the food delicious and they don't rush you, so you can linger over your giant, post-lunch cappuccino and take in the priceless view. It is really worth the splurge to have a meal or coffee there, and it's cheaper than actually staying at the hotel.
-- Things we did --
It seems to me that shopping is a top activity in Positano, and there are many places to separate you from your Euros. It's important to note that there are NOT many ATMs in the town, and the one most obvious is in the side of the wall of the Deutsche Bank (Via C. Colombo, 75). But beware, when you are using the machine, you are literally standing two feet in the street, which is about eight feet wide, max. A bus went past when I was withdrawing cash and I swear it swiped my ass (granted my ass was probably a few inches bigger, due either to the massive pasta I'd been eating to the extra muscle gained from the boot-camp stair training it took to get around town.
Positano's shopping is pretty touristy but fine, lots of neutral colored, gauzy cotton and linen clothing which you will want to buy and wear immediately because your ungainly sweat dries from it faster. Hole-in-the-wall sandal places where cobblers will make you custom sandals. I scored some fun woven beach towels that say Positano on them and dishtowels with all of the towns up and down the Amalfi. I was sucked in by the ceramics shops but in the end couldn't visualize using them in my San Francisco fog.
Our first morning in Positano, the owners of our villa kindly offered their boat and a skipper to take us on an Amalfi coast tour. He was great, and we were able to go all the way to the town of Amalfi along the coast, which is really the only way to appreciate the shear magnitude of the cliff and the engineering - hanging those hotels and homes off the cliffs. BONUS got to see Sophia Loren's former house, or the house owned by her former husband. We were never super clear on that one. My husb took the afternoon boat tour and barfed up his seafood risotto from Buca di Bacco, so my advice here is always take the morning boat ride. And your motion-sickness meds.
One day we took the high-speed ferry to Capri. There are a few ferry operators that are high-speed and not-so-high-speed, so be sure you are buying what you want. And DO NOT miss the last ferry off Capri or you will be needing to find a water taxi back to Positano or spending the night there. Which wouldn't be so bad...
In addition to the Fontelina beach club I mentioned above, there is next-level shopping on Capri (every Italian designer I could imagine), cute cafes, and lots of hiking which I didn't do, but my husband did. Take an open air taxi for an outrageous sum of €15 pp up to Anacapri and hike from there. Beautiful views!
Another afternoon we took a car to Ravello, a spectacular town about 45 minutes south and high up in the mountains. It may sound familiar to you, as Ravello is world-famous for it's summer music festival, and the beautiful Villa Ruffalo and Villa Cimbrone. I'd like to say we had a warm and sunny afternoon strolling villa gardens and staring at the breathtaking views, but the truth is THE most horrendous thunderstorm hit us and we spent the afternoon ducking into anything that could provide us shelter while our guide, Angela, was so stoic and good-natured about being completely saturated to the skin by rain while lightening was striking all around us...it was quite an experience and one I won't ever forget.
Something Angela did show us before the monsoon hit was a small coral shop just off the duomo square where an expert artisan sells red coral so symbolic of the region, and has an incredible collection of art and artifacts passed down through his family. If you can find Angela to be your Ravello guide, please ask her to take you to this hidden treasure. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
You'll want a very early morning start if visiting Pompeii from Positano. We hired a car which arrived at 7:45 am promptly, and delivered us to the Pompeii admission gate at 9 am to meet our guide. It was worth hiring someone knowledgeable, first because it was day two of the Italian monsoon and we spent most of our time sporting €5 plastic capes and ducking into any structure on the Pompeii grounds that provided shelter from the rain. Our fantastic guide knew them all. And even better she kept us three steps ahead of the massive tour groups who arrived shortly after us, giving us time and space to appreciate the excavations of an incredible society and to hear her wealth of information. Apparently the Pompeiians were really into sex. You'll have to go and see for yourself.
Our last evening, we had the pleasure of a wine tasting at our villa. What a great experience, and I highly recommend arranging one if you are staying in the area. The sommelier came from one of the notable hotels in the area, bringing five local wines and a selection of cheeses for us to try. Now, I love wine...but I really love cheese. And the most interesting thing he did for us is offer a side-by-side tasting of Campania buffalo (made from the milk of Italian water buffalo) and fior di latte (cow's milk) mozzarella. If you get a chance, do this. So interesting and different, but both are delicious. The Campania wines were fantastic, and now I know to insist on DOCG Greco di Tufo with my seafood pasta. Back in Rome the next week, I was pleased to find the Cutizzi Greco di Tufo Feudi de San Gregorio for €22. (see the June 2014 Rome | Two days for the restaurant).
