We flew from Sydney to Singapore (8 hours), then after a two hour layover, flew to Rome (12 hours). We arrived in Rome’s Fiumicino airport at 8 am, moved through customs pretty quickly and we were met by our driver, Francesco, who was to transfer us to Positano. Driving on the autostrada was a delight. Less than two hours to get to the outskirts of Napoli, traveling at about 140mk/hr. But then it got slow. There was lots of traffic on the outskirts of Napoli. The next half hour, until we passed Sorrento, was slow going. The views of Sorrento coming down the mountain were stunning, and made up for the slow trek. We then drove the final half hour over the mountain to Positano. All up, just over three hours from the airport.
Our hotel was on the main road just as you get into Positano. We checked in, then, being quite hungry, we walked across the road to Ristorante C’era una volta (Once upon a time) to have lunch. The food was delicious and quite cheap. I had a mixed seafood platter, octopus, calamari, white bait and prawns. The girls had pasta and Chrissa had prawn ravioli. I washed it down with the local house wine, a falanghina. It was sweet and sparkling – not really to my taste. Chrissa had a spritz.
We then went back to our room to check it out. It was really nice with a great view over the bay and the Amalfi coast.
After settling in, we walked down to the beach. It was hundreds of stairs down to the bottom. When we got there we lay on the beach for a while to recover, and the girls had a little swim.
We walked around town a little before heading back up. We really didn’t know what our options were for transport, so we just walked and climbed all those stairs. It took ages and we were exhausted.
We had showers and changed, then decided to go to dinner at a gorgeous restaurant we saw on the way down, Caffe Positano. It is perched on the cliff edge with a great view. We had a good seat on the balcony. Chrissa had the veal. I had pasta with meatballs, sausage and brisket. It was delicious. Jana had lasagna.
When we finished, I walked back up the stairs to the apartment. The girls waited for a shuttle provided by the restaurant.
All-in-all, it was a very enjoyable first day.