Positano Day 2

Day 2 in Positano

Lemons, lemons, everywhere we see lemons. From the roadside stands selling limoncello, lemonade and sometimes a creamy granita to the curtains in the windows of homes chiseled into the mountainside. There is not a table in the village that does not have lemon plates and pottery made here in places like Ceramiche Casola. In every store window and on clothing racks in town, there are flowy linen dresses adorned with lemons. The owner of one such negozio reminded me of a sort of Betsy Johnson designer with her Madonna in the 80’s like hairstyle, and her incredibly bright yellow and blue maxi dress pitching us her homemade wears. 

We began day 2 with espressos and lattes and the orange breakfast cake made by Clementina as we still had no food because the Salumeria (tiny grocery) was closed the prior evening given that nobody is open after noon on la Domenica (Sunday). Live and learn, or in our case live and remember as this has always been the case all over Italy. Hunger causes a large family to dress quickly and get to town though which is not a bad thing. 

The day’s adventure consisted of climbing the steps down the mountain into town…..How bad can it be to simply go down a very large staircase? Well, even the most fit in our group were amazed by shaking legs and humming knees halfway through our descension. Could we have caught a taxi? Yes! That wouldn’t be any fun though, so off we went. Unlike in California we did not take our water bottles and dress in lycra, oh no, this is Italia, so we wore dresses, and dress shirts with white tennis shoes:( We saw the occasional dog walking up, and passed by the residences that dotted the trail whose doorsteps are literally a few feet from all of these international strangers walking by. What an interesting way that must be to live! One congenial man offered “Buon Giorno! Positano is up and down, up and down!” He was not kidding! There is only one way to access their homes and bring in provisions and that is those stone steps! We were later told by our cab driver that took us back up that our climb from our villa to town was almost 1800 steps!! We did see a nonna or two with groceries attacking the trail like she had been doing it her whole life. She probably had!

We arrived in the corridors of Positano soaked with sweat. There is no actual piazza here like in most Italian villages as everything is hillside. Our previously fixed up hair was as flat as if we had gone through a rain storm, and we were absolutely fighting hungry! Alas though, still adjusting to Italian time it was still la ora di colezione so all we could order was pizza. Cake in the early hours, pizza for brunch is giving us carb guilt that is somewhat counter balanced by the incredible amount of exercise we are getting here!

With our patriarch in a very visibly soaked red Polo shirt, we decided to pause for a bit in a cafe called La Zagara. We were elated to feel the misters blowing somewhat cool and moist air all over us for only a few minutes. We asked the waiter a few times if they could turn them back on, but he simply shrugged. Oh well, Italia. We each ordered a slice or two of pizza and washed it down with Spritz for the ladies and beers for the men. 

Re-entering the corridor of shops and tourists at 12:00 noon was a mental challenge. We felt a bit like we do at home after the 4th of July parade or a Friday night concert, excited to get back up the hill to the peace and quiet. 

We found a cabi that took us up the hill for $50 euro. He was gracious enough to take a few of us a bit further up and drop us off at the Salumeria to purchase our much needed provisions. The rest of the day we spent in our cool pool watching the boats buzz around on the coast below. 

We ended day 2 at a ristorante called Costantino! Very close to our own family name. Gratefully they send a shuttle up the hill to fetch us free of cost. The view from our table was absolutely breathtaking and evolved from early evening until the night set in when it became a series of magical lights speckled on the mountain. Attached see a picture of our villa that was easy to spot from our seats. We had a very sweet waiter or perhaps just a host named Luigi who told us about his life as a native of Positano. He seemed to be about 70 and was feeling nostalgic. In the 1960’s he said over 5000 people migrated out of Positano leaving the place practically destitute. He was somewhat fortunate though as one American woman he had met while working at the beach had sold him her home for only $1,000 today. “She didn’t sell it to me, she gave it to me because she was kind.” I found that fascinating and wondered what this portly older gentleman may have looked like as a young man working on the beach. Maybe he captivated her….

I loved that dinner surrounded by my husband and kids. I asked Oscar after our drinks what the poor little farm boy he once was would think of his family sitting in this beautiful restaurant today. He immediately covered his face to hide his big teary green eyes. We do get softer as we get older. Hearing Oki, Enzo and Sofia order in Italian makes me so happy.