Back from Positano and Amalfi
February 3rd 2008 19:07
Category: No Category
The streets of Sorrento have been filled by revelling families who are with their kids, dressed up in fancy costumes, like butterflies or monsters. Either way, theyāre wearing lots of glitter. Iām not sure what the festival is for, but itās a nice atmosphere... the tiny main street was groaning with the pressure of all the extra people traversing its sidewalks.
Today we decided to explore the coast around us in detail, beginning with Positano. My mum thought she had spied it in the distance, but I knew otherwise - as pretty as the settlement was, we were looking at strings of white houses hugging the coast on one of its tips jutting forward... from what I had read I knew that Positano was strewn in yellow, peach and terracotta, and straddled upon the inverse coastal formation, and so we wouldnāt be able to see it until we were actually there. Only I thought that Praiano (the town we were looking at) was just one stop on the way to it - Positano happened upon me much quicker than I thought it would, and it was all I could do keep my eyes wide open as the views expanded, collapsed, expanded even more, and kept changing as we swept through the serpentine streets driving through it.
We managed to drive up and down the entire length of the town without realising what we were doing, then finally descended down into the centro. We stopped at various look-out points on the way, and Iāve given my camera quite a work-out today! As with most enticing sites, I found tilting the camera allowed me more freedom sometimes. Positano seems free of Piazzas, that is, wide open concrete spaces in which to stroll, be tempted by pastry shops and pretty displays of limoncello (the local wine, flavoured with lemon, which is ubiquitous in this part of the world). I donāt drink, but the designer bottles and hand-written signs drew me in. There must be hundreds of shops with limoncello sections! Itās just made for tourist consumption.
We visited on a Sunday so many of the shops were closed, but I was fascinated by the ones which were open - the clothing mainly came in boutiques, with an explosion of colour in most of the articles. Floral themes were common, often many different colours of blossoms on the same garment, giving them an extravagant and distinctly European feel. Then there were the porcelain and ceramic goods, of which I came across several outlets. The ornaments were decorated with representations of lemon trees and the sea, the prominent colour being royal blue and yellow. You could buy plates of any size and shape, and there were all sorts of other items, like representations of angels you could hang on your wall, or perhaps a sculpture of a mermaid.
We made our way through increasingly smaller streets to the taupe sand beach, getting a peek at the local church on the way. It was coloured white with a few golden squares at the front, quite pretty. We finally made our way to the only open restraunt, where I ordered cheese ravioli cooked in tomato sauce upon the recommendation of the waiter. It wasnāt the best thing I have ever eaten, but it was quite edible!
There werenāt a lot of people about during our walk, but I came across a group of four teenagers who had quirky hair and seemed excited to be there. One of the girls stroked a small brown cat and made fetching noises at it. I would have loved to strike up a conversation with them, but my Italian is strictly limited to a few key words and phrases.
After our meal we gave in to temptation and bought some cakes from a small pastry shop (Oscar Wilde would be proud). More than satiated, we made our way back up to our car, and drove to Amalfi, passing the beautiful Praiano along the way.
I expected that the rest of the towns would pale in comparison to Positano, but it turned out I found that each had a distinct charm of its own. Amalfi was a very picturesque town which had once been a major maritime power, and its white buildings stretched out to hug the tips of the cliff-side in both directions as we vacated our car in the cityās centro. We quickly made our way to the main piazza and marvelled at the gigantic churchās facade and the fountain before the stairs. We gave into temptation yet again and bought hazelnut and coconut gelato, which was predictably delicious.
We spent about half an hour in the piazza, and about an hour in Amalfi in all, and I wish we had continued on to Ravello, but thatās an adventure weāll have to see about another day.
Back to Sorrento it was, to our basic hotel in our charming āhomeā town, where the festivities that had been hinted at in Amalfi (costumed children squirting neon green streamers from toy guns) exploded into a full-blown party atmosphere. Multi-coloured confetti is everywhere, especially in orange, and all the shops are still open.
Well, itās time for us to go and find the deli that our Lonely Planet guide recommended to us.
I wish you ciao for now,
Epiphanie
Today we decided to explore the coast around us in detail, beginning with Positano. My mum thought she had spied it in the distance, but I knew otherwise - as pretty as the settlement was, we were looking at strings of white houses hugging the coast on one of its tips jutting forward... from what I had read I knew that Positano was strewn in yellow, peach and terracotta, and straddled upon the inverse coastal formation, and so we wouldnāt be able to see it until we were actually there. Only I thought that Praiano (the town we were looking at) was just one stop on the way to it - Positano happened upon me much quicker than I thought it would, and it was all I could do keep my eyes wide open as the views expanded, collapsed, expanded even more, and kept changing as we swept through the serpentine streets driving through it.
We made our way through increasingly smaller streets to the taupe sand beach, getting a peek at the local church on the way. It was coloured white with a few golden squares at the front, quite pretty. We finally made our way to the only open restraunt, where I ordered cheese ravioli cooked in tomato sauce upon the recommendation of the waiter. It wasnāt the best thing I have ever eaten, but it was quite edible!
There werenāt a lot of people about during our walk, but I came across a group of four teenagers who had quirky hair and seemed excited to be there. One of the girls stroked a small brown cat and made fetching noises at it. I would have loved to strike up a conversation with them, but my Italian is strictly limited to a few key words and phrases.
After our meal we gave in to temptation and bought some cakes from a small pastry shop (Oscar Wilde would be proud). More than satiated, we made our way back up to our car, and drove to Amalfi, passing the beautiful Praiano along the way.
I expected that the rest of the towns would pale in comparison to Positano, but it turned out I found that each had a distinct charm of its own. Amalfi was a very picturesque town which had once been a major maritime power, and its white buildings stretched out to hug the tips of the cliff-side in both directions as we vacated our car in the cityās centro. We quickly made our way to the main piazza and marvelled at the gigantic churchās facade and the fountain before the stairs. We gave into temptation yet again and bought hazelnut and coconut gelato, which was predictably delicious.
We spent about half an hour in the piazza, and about an hour in Amalfi in all, and I wish we had continued on to Ravello, but thatās an adventure weāll have to see about another day.
Back to Sorrento it was, to our basic hotel in our charming āhomeā town, where the festivities that had been hinted at in Amalfi (costumed children squirting neon green streamers from toy guns) exploded into a full-blown party atmosphere. Multi-coloured confetti is everywhere, especially in orange, and all the shops are still open.
Well, itās time for us to go and find the deli that our Lonely Planet guide recommended to us.
I wish you ciao for now,
Epiphanie
| 57 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
Subscribe to this blog
