Day 5 Excursions and Michael Jordan!

Day 5

Thank goodness for a pre-planned excursion! I recommend this as there are more tourists here than I had ever imagined! We have met lovely people from Australia, London, Israel, Canada and all over the US. They literally come from everywhere to see this coast side mountain marvel. Everyone has been so friendly from the tourists to the locals as we all sweat to death in solidarity.

After an early breakfast in the anything but royal Royal Hotel, we set off down the stairs to the port to catch a ferry to the Arienzo Beach Club! I highly recommend this place for its location, amenities, and all that it includes for only $150 a piece. We were transported there with another couple from London by a happy local with a deep, deep tan who probably never wears shoes. He told us that his family had lived here for generations, had us look right up the mountain to their villa, bragged humbly about having the greatest job in the world, and finished saying that he drives the boat for 8 months and travels the other 4. That does sound pretty dreamy when he talks about his light life with such joy in his voice.

The beach club is a large cove with dozens of orange and white striped umbrellas. The ocean was a cool heaven to our overheated bodies. It was one of those rare occasions that a Californian could plunge right in to the water without dying of shock or hypothermia. We had a lovely waiter who checked on us often as one of our travelers (Sofia) felt like dirt from having a sore throat. I suppose her purple bikini may have helped his customer service skills sharpen, but honestly he seemed to be a seasoned employee of The Arienzo Beach Club.

We spent that leisurely day swimming with a family from New Jersey who happened to be Cuban and Italian like me. He was an attorney, and she was a stay at home mom with 4 daughters that were very successful in law and medicine. You find out alot about nice people you may never see again when you aren’t in a hurry. Being Cuban is also a tie that binds.

The coolest part about wading out there in the waves were the two huge yachts just beyond the point of swimming. We did find out who the prettier one belonged to later.

As I looked around my surroundings, marveling that I was in such a majestic place with all of my children, I could not help but to wonder if they appreciated what they have as much as I did in that moment….

I wondered if the owner came from nothing or was he generationally wealthy and as miserable as Christina Onassis was? Well, the big metallic blue 3 story yacht could not have come from a more humble beginning. It was Michael Jordan’s boat, complete with big floaties for kids and all. I literally had just watched the movie about his life and here was a $75 million dollar monolith that stood as evidence that anything can be achieved in the US if you have the talent and the drive.

So, the last night in Positano was spent with just Oscar, myself and Sofia at a restaurant we had not been to yet. We had pizza while my head bobbed off my neck from sleepiness. We headed back to the hotel early and prepared to leave (as fast as we could) the next day.

We took a van to Naples the next morning In order to get out of Positano and get the rental cars needed for the rest of our travels. We loaded our tons of baggage into the two small cars like a challenging game of Jenga and set off for a 5 hour car ride to the Le Marche region where my husband’s little hometown awaits. It was like our lungs were expanding as we drove into the wide open roads of the Italian countryside.

Driving into my mother in laws gates I am always hit with a flood of memories. The hardest being the first time we arrived here exactly 22 years ago. There were only the “original 5” grandchildren back then. The house had just been completely renovated and sadly we were short one traveler, her husband, my husband’s father, my children’s grandfather. This house was his dream, their dream. They worked so hard to create this future back in their beloved Cagli a reality, the only house in between their own childhood homes on Monte Peruzzo. Life never plans ahead despite our best efforts.

Tomorrow is a new day. See you then.