Positano Favorites

Favorite thing: I'd walked up. I had no idea how long it would take but I went anyway. Rosemarie was freaking out about there being no buses back to Positano and didn't want to miss the last one but I had a two hour gap and so I lit out through the back alleys and narrow stairways and was soon climbing and cutting the corners that the road had to take. The stairway was surprisingly shorter and I actually made it in less than an hour.
The view was there, but shrouded in haze, something I had learned to expect. So I took a few shots and made my way back down.
It left a memory of what might have been if I'd had the time and the weather had been more kind.
Would life allow me to return? It did, and late in 2009 I caught the bus, this time with Rosemarie, and reached Ravello on a picture postcard day.

Fondest memory: The view was just as I had seen it on television and it wasn't overcrowded, though there were certainly people about.
I opted to get the classic shot of the coastline looking south from the gardens of Villa Rufolo.

Favorite thing: There's a corner you'll get to know at Positano. Locals call it the "International Bar" for there is an establishment of that name there.
It happens to be adjacent to the main bus stop for Positano and every morning traffic officials turn up for the daily tourist coach run, i.e. when the buses arrive for the trip to Amalfi.
It's quite a circus. You can easily tell the old timers, they negotiate the tight bend without stopping. Some newcomers have to back and fill and you can see they are unnerved by the insanity of the whole thing. It's amazing to watch as minute after minute more coaches ply by on this road fit for one lane traffic yet harbouring two.
No-one who comes here ever forgets the bus trip to Amalfi, it's the stuff of legend. At certain points the drivers fold back their rear vision mirrors as there is so little room to pass.

Favorite thing: Here is the natual arch you can see driving from Positano Belveder to the town centre.

The legend says that it was created by Virgin Maria to chase the Devil. She put her finger on the rock and the Devil felt in the Sea.

Favorite thing: Leaving it ( or arriving there ) by boat is a beautiful way of seeing Positano...nested at the southern feet of the Lattari mountains and crowned by the steep slopes of Monte Comune and Monte S. Angelo in Tre Pizzi - all around rise green mountains - its arcaded, cubist buildings, set in tiers up the mountainside, with dawn-color walls: rose, peach, burgundy... what a picturesque view.

Favorite thing: Right in the centre of Positano, in the small Piazza Flavio Gioia, stands the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta. The building with its large majolica-mosaic dome contains important works of art, outstanding between them is a Circumcision, a stupendous work by Fabrizio Santafede, from the end of the sixteenth century, and a delightful thirteenth-century Byzantine-style panel depicting the Virgin and Child.

Favorite thing: Although I have stayed in Praiano, Positano was my starting point to many activities.
There, in a small dock besides the grey peebly beach we find ferries to Amalfi, Sorrento, Salerno, and Capri - and also we can take the Sita bus to Sorrento if we want to go to Pompeii.
Almost every day I took the Pullmino Giallo ( a small yellow bus ) that conects Praiano to Positano and enjoyed the road climbed through orange and lemon groves and terraced vineyards - thanks to the heroic-genius italian bus drivers, who made me feel confident in miracles and relax while we were on perhaps the most winding narrow road in Italy, with its sheer cliffs, and the cobalt-blue Tyrrhenian Sea 300m below...

Fondest memory: As we sailed past Positano and the coastline back to Amalfi we tried to pick out the cliff where we had walked - but they all looked so much the same, but we could see the white houses and church tower of Montepertuso towards the top of the cliffs where we started to make our descent - WOW it was a long way down.

Favorite thing: Positano has ancient origins, being founded by the fugitives of Paestum, escaping from the Saracens (confirmed by historical searches). Incidentally if you have the chance to visit Paestum, south of Salerno, do - its a marvellous site of greek temples. Lots of info on my Paestum page.

It has followed the same destiny of the Amalfi Republic; it was the place of the Naval Academy too. During the 16th and 17th century, it became rich thanks to this trade.