Our Italian Excursion: Day 3 & 4 in Positano

Colorful buildings rolled down the cliffs like spilt paint in Positano, a quaint little vacation town along the Amalfi Coast. This little town became a popular place for posh celebrities and famous writers to get away and enjoy a fantasy world of serene, turquoise water, and lots of charm. We were so glad we took two different day trips out here, because there is so much to see, and the first day we came out when it was pouring rain. Day two was just gorgeous. The rain had cleared up, and the skies were clear, the air was crisp, and the light was just gorgeous for pictures. This one above was taken on day two at about 9am when the sun wasn't quite harsh yet. We rolled into town at the perfect time, because just an hour later the sun was very bright. I hear during the Summer this place can be very hot and bustling with tourists, so I suggest if you ever make it out, come during the off season, even if it's rainy, as it was incredibly serene when we were there.

Little lemoncello shops, boutiques, cafe's, and restaurants dotted the narrow windy walkways. I loved the bright colors and yummy smells.

We thought this was a museum or public castle, it ended up being a private house. How amazing would it be to live here!!

We were getting hungry hiking up and down the cliffs along the water, so we went on yelp to find a good place to eat, and discovered not many restaurants around here were on yelp. We chanced this little place called the Dark Wine Bar, because one of the ladies we met there recommended it.  We were so glad we did! There were only about 4 tables inside, and the owner was incredibly personable. He was so friendly and attentive to us, and I can't tell you how heavenly the food was. Stephen and I learned while we were there that meatballs and spaghetti is not a traditional dish in Southern Italy, that it's mostly just something Americans do. However this man happened to have it on the menu, and let me tell you, it was the best spaghetti and meatballs we've ever had. He did an incredible job even though it's not a traditional dish for that particular area. We should have ordered what they normally do best in hindsight, because if this was good, I can't imagine how good everything else was on that menu. 

This dish below was a Fettuccini with carmalized onions and a balsamic and red wine reduction. The tip of my tongue just danced from the sweetness of the onions and red wine when I ate it. Not too oily, and the noodles were cooked perfectly al dente, which I know from experience is so hard to get just right every time. I asked to get his picture to put on my blog, but he did not want it. He doesn't want any fame or recognition, as we loves keeping his place quaint and personable. You can tell he is so passionate about his craft, and loves what he does. Such a wonderful concept; doing what we love without becoming money or face hungry. 

Our Italian Excursion: Sorrento & Pompeii

Loved the old rustic doors, hand painted signs,  and narrow cobblestone streets of Sorrento. Yes, cars...including vans came through this street. They love to walk on the dangerous side!

Ribbons of citrus aromas wafted through the air, and fallen ripe lemons and oranges lined the city streets below bustling cafes, gellaterias, and boutiques. This is the city of Sorrento, a metropolitan center magically maintaining small-town Italian mystique. I racked my brain to think up how it could possibly maintain this charm after becoming the booming hotspot that it has...and I'm not sure if it was the rainy-off season that did it, but I think the old rustic buildings, narrow cobblestone streets, fresh lemoncello stands peeking out from every twist and turn, and mom and pop Trattorias lining the streets may have played a part.

Before I attempt to squeeze a rush of overwhelming stimuli of new sights smells and experiences between when we got off the plane in Rome to our second day in Pompeii, I'll have to warn you, it's just not possible to recount it all in one blog entry. However, since I have a whole 9 days to recount...I'll try to give the best overview I can. 

We chose Sorrento as our first destination because we had read it is a great central location to be able to hop on the train and visit all the hotspots of the Amalfi Coast in single day trips. We arrived in Sorrento exhausted from the 2 hr drive, 11 hr plane ride, and 3.5 hr train ride to our Hotel from Del Rio, Texas. When I stepped off the train, despite the incredible lack of sleep, I had an instant smile on my face. The charm of this city was just undeniable, and though I was planning on taking a nap when we got it...I was instantly rejuvenated by the sites and smells, and decided to forgo the nap in a heartbeat.

This was the view from our hotel room, and the little cafe we had our complementary breakfast and cappuccino in every morning. You could see mount Vesuvius from the balcony, and for those that don't know, the ancient city of Pompeii resides at the foot of this volcano, which is where we would be traveling to the very next morning. Breakfast and our two Cappuccinos each morning will definitely be missed upon arriving home at the end of the trip, as well as our waiter that served us each morning without fail, and remembered our drinks, and how we liked them. He was all dressed up in a suit like a European butler, he led us to the same table every morning with this magnificient view above, looked at us and said "Duo Cappuccino?" He knew we wanted one to have there with breakfast, and one in a paper cup to go after. Just a word to those who have never been to Italy before... Italians don't ever drink their Cappuccinos in paper cups to go, and they NEVER order Cappuccinos after noon, just Espresso. I definitely got laughed at for that one :). 

Each major city in Italy is known for being really good at making or producing something in specific. Sorrento is known for it's lemons and oranges, they sell them everywhere, and you will see lemon and orange trees in everyone's backyards riding the subways.

Because of it's lemons, Sorrento is a hot place to buy Lemoncello, a sweet liquor made from lemon peels.

All of the Amalfi Coast is known for it's extremely windy roads lining the cliffs. I had to buy several boxes of motion sickness pills this week!

All dressed up for Christmas :). It was so pretty after the rain, as the lights glistened and left reflections like paintings off the rain covered roads.

Not only Lemoncello, but Sorrento is known for it's seafood. We decided to go out on a limb and order clams and muscles with our Lemoncello. I can best describe them as literally tasting the ocean in your mouth!

Stephen's first taste of Italian pizza! Very good for his first Italian style wood fired Margherita pizza, but we both concluded at the end the best is to be found in Naples.

Our visit to Pompeii was the very next morning, after our night on the town in Sorrento. We caught the train that was a quick 10 min walk from our hotel, and it just took about 25 mins to get there. We were very glad we ended up going, because it gave us a major glimpse of ancient Roman culture. For those that don't know, Pompeii was an ancient Roman civilization planted at the base of a volcano that ended up erupting and covering the entire city in lava and ash. Much later, archeologists uncovered the ruins and ended up discovering very detailed whole figures of people that were maintained in their original shape when they were cowering and covering their heads from the lava and ash before being completely covered and killed instantly. Above are some of the original ruins of the city, and much lower, you will actually see what the people, pottery, carriages and more looked like when they were dug up.

This was some of the original tile flooring in on of the ancient bath houses in the city. I was surprised I was allowed to walk on it.

The Roman bath houses were very lavish back then, they were public baths, a place to go to bathe, but also to socialize. A place of luxury, with luxurious paintings and architectural elements.

One thing I learned was how promiscuous they were. These paintings are not zoomed in due to their rather pornographic nature, but still interesting in how it relates to the history of that time.

These were really neat. Old carraiges, pottery, and even people that were discovered covered in the ash.

This person was cowering from the lava and ash, so crazy to see exactly what there were doing at that time! And I also noticed how small these people were. You can't completely see that scale from the photograph.

The ancient roman roads were way more narrow than they are today, even for Italy! Just wide enough to walk down, or for a horse to pull a small carriage. 

Old ruins next to the new city.

Another stand selling fresh orange juice, espresso and gellato to cater to the tourists.