Can You Hear The Sirens Singing?

We were in no hurry to get out of bed this morning because it was raining when we went to bed last night and we knew it would be raining all day today. So we finally roused ourselves (because breakfast was ending at 10:30) but were not looking forward to seeing the rain out our balcony window. Actually, we really didn’t have any idea what we would see out the window because it was pitch black when we checked in the night before. So when Ian got up, peeked out the black out shades and moaned “oh man”, I knew the weather predictions were correct. So I laid back down only to be blinded when Ian threw open the curtains to reveal ……. (Angels singing)……. endless clear blue skies over a deep blue sea. We would have done some sort of jig right there but we soon realized the man in his speedo on the “get your tan here” deck had a pretty clear view straight into our room. Ian quickly pulled the wispy privacy drapes closed and then we really celebrated!

No - not what you are thinking. Unfortunately.

But I wet myself just a little bit when I saw nothing but blue sky.

We ate our breakfast on an outdoor terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and the picturesque village of Positano. We expected every little cloud in the sky to somehow come together and ruin all our happiness, but it never happened. The warm sun that morning on that breakfast terrace had never felt better to two weary, wet travelers. It was glorious.

So what better way to celebrate than to go shopping?! Not really, but we (I) wanted to explore the town a little bit before any rain came back, we took the 246 stairs that zig-zagged down the cliff to the stony beach. We walked down the beach and got so excited about putting our feet in the water because it was so not expected for that day. We just chillaxed on the beach for a while and decided to weave our way back up through town to the main road. This town was also car-less below the main road and had only skinny alley ways and stairs that weaved their way back up the cliff-side. In and out of the shops, we eventually made it back to our hotel where we were still stoked about the lack of rain.

I’m taking over to finish this up. Sunny Positano was awesome. I didn’t even mind wandering aimlessly through the shops with Kitty. No, really, I didn’t. After trying to keep up with Kitty the past two weeks, a sleepy, sunny, warm, beach town was just what the Dr. ordered. I guess Positano’s big thing is lemons… that and people in skimpy bathing suits. Did I say people? I meant to say men in skimpy bathing suits. Those Europeans must have a great sense of humor or think Speedos look totally hot on hairy, overweight, middle-aged men. Anyway, after about an hour of lemon-based souvenir shops, I was ready to break out the tighty-whities and hit the beach-chairs on the deck of our hotel and get some sun on my paper-white shoulders.

Yes- that is me setting an awesome tan! Seriously as soon as we got all set on our chairs the wind picked up and it was pretty chilly. But we were not going to let weather dictate our lounging activities. So we stayed. Pretty soon the wind settled and then we were too hot. Seriously - we are hard to please!

We went back into town, haggled with a vendor (lady) over some jewelry, grabbed some sandwiches and hung out on the beach. The public beach, not the pay-portion of the beach with the fancy beach chairs, umbrellas and drink service. Which costs 15 Euro per person to sweat in. Robbery. Collected pieces of colored beach-glass, back through town, got a better deal on the jewelry from the vendor lady’s husband while she was away (score!) and got ready for dinner. We got some gelato somewhere in there, but I can’t remember when. 15 Euro for Gelato- I don't see a problem.

Food has been a big part of the trip, but dinner at Trattoria La Tagliata was ridiculous! www.latagliata.com The guy at the front desk of the hotel recommended it (and a couple others) so we made reservations for sunset (which is totally early for us on this trip) and scheduled a pick-up. The restaurant is higher in the mountains far above Positano. A shuttle was sent to pick us up and drop us at the gates of food Nirvana. The drive on the winding, shear-cliff roads was worth it on its own. After changing my pants, we went inside. We got a table by the window, and we were already giddy. Maybe it was the altitude or the lemoncello or the views, but we were pretty stoked before we even had any food. It’s a family run restaurant and the daughter came out to tell us a bit about the place, its history and that there is no menu, and that the meal was prepared from their own gardens. They just bring you what they are cooking that night and hope you like it. And then the avalanche of food started coming out, kind of sampler style. We had about 5 different types of appetizers (fava beans prepared two different ways… we’d never even had fava beans one-way before), and then five different types of pastas, and then five different types of meat from the grill (chicken, steak, pork, lamb and rabbit), and then 3 kinds of desert. We were full after the appetizers, but kept eating so we didn’t offend the chef (who was in front of the grill at the other end of the room yelling something at the top of his lungs every 20 minutes or so). So I know this paragraph was way too long, but this was just such a fun place. The food was great, but the experience was even better. If you’re in Positano, this place is a must.

Then back down the mountain to the hotel in a shuttle full of insanely happy, very full, very talkative diners who were bursting to share their experiences. Although all 10 in the van ate the same food, we all had different versions of the same experience.
I love this place.

I must state, for the record, that Ian's account of the meal we ate at La Tagliata were mere words where words fall short at doing any justice to the experience. It was a state of euphoria I never knew food could induce. I am pretty sure the servers thought we were on something, if you know what I mean, because we couldn't stop giggling. Thinking about it now makes me feel full, gluttonous, and giddy all over again.

Ciao

Ciao

The Loader

The Washer