amalfi coast diary: positano

after a simple breakfast of tea and pan con chocolate at our agriturismo hotel in the sorrento peninsula, we headed off to positano (about half an hour away by car) to take a hydrofoil or ferry to the island of capri. until this holiday, this typical photo of positano was my image of the amalfi coast. it was about four years ago when i saw a documentary on kqed in san francisco which talked about the natural beauty of the amalfi coast. ever since i've been dying to visit this part of the world.



as we neared positano, we realised that this town was quite unlike the other towns we'd visited in the amalfi coast. perched all along a hill, houses are at all all levels from the top - which is where you enter the town - to the beach at the bottom. you can either park somewhere near the top and take any of the stairs down about a kilometre. or you can drive all the way down but parking is not guaranteed. we chose to walk down and enjoy the view while making our way to the beach.



we reached the beach after twenty minutes of downhill walking, passing through hotels and private residences perched at different levels. the beach was really hopping. a fancy stereo system was belting out hit numbers. the sunbeds were packed with tanners eager to get a deep bronze in a day's work. we sipped tea and cafe on the patio while we enquired about boats to capri. but while we waited, the beach looked so welcoming and the lunch to be had after a swim so delicious that we couldn't help stripping to our bathing suits and settling down on adjoining sunbeds. so much for our plans to head to capri!



we spent a lot of time lazing on our sunbeds and enjoying the fantastic ambience, swimming a few times in the freeezing cold water and getting massages from a chinese woman. but as you can probably guess, lunch and dinner were the highlights of the day.



i had a well made mojito and grilled mozzarella on lemon leaves. i've taken a big liking to grilled cheeses and particularly enjoyed this dish which was lightly dressed with the juice of an amalfi lemon and some amazing extra virgin olive oil. the lemon leaves tasted yummy as well.



dinner was at a charming restaurant on top of the hill. they had tables set outside on the pavement from where you had a stunning view of sparkling positano at night. i tried a fresh pasta called scialitelle alla puttanesca. it's a thicker type of spaghetti which goes really well with a chunky sauce like the puttanesca.



dessert was absolutely subliminal - tiramisu con limon. i'm not a big tiramisu fan but it sounded too good to pass on mainly because of the husky voice of our waiter. the tiramisu was perfectly moist, perfectly sweet, perfectly creamy and perfectly lemony. a perfect ending to a perfect positano day.