Positano was glorious

Seriously. Glorious.

What did we do? Well, there was a lot of laying around doing nothing for a start, but there aren't any photos of that, because I was doing nothing!

We shopped. A lot.

Especially here, where D'arcy needed to be forcibly removed. They custom make sandals and we got quite carried away, if you look really hard, you can see me, I'm the white blob, squatting down near the door. I was helping D'arcy with yet another pair of shoes. David wore a hole in the concrete seat on the other side of the road waiting for us, which is where he snapped this photo from. We also bought a number of outfits for D'arcy in some of the local Positanese stores, and some gorgeous paintings of the area by local artists.

We ate. A lot.

Mostly at the little restaurants that are right on the beach. I'm not much of a photographer of meals, so there's not a lot of evidence of it, but I have these photos. Not our favourite place to eat, but it was right on the beach.

Doesn't D'arcy look pleased I'm snapping away at her again?

We also hung out at the beach and swam.

Have a look at this gorgeous little Italian boy and his Nonno fishing on a pier! How gorgeous :) This was at a beach called Il Fornillo, just a short walk from Positano.

We took a trip on a ferry to Amalfi.

We took a bus from Amalfi to Ravello.

We even spent one amazing day on a private motor yacht, sailing around the Amalfi Coast! Where we jumped off the back of the boat and swam, entered into a cave, or grotto and saw the shining, blue water, ate lunch at a restaurant you can only get to by boat, and sailed around a group of island, once owned by Rudolf Nureyev! It was amazing.

15 days in Positano = Heaven

D'arcy stole my hat and gave me her best "Next top Model" pose for this shot.

The view from our balcony at the hotel in Positano. Just gorgeous!!!!!

Positano is seriously one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

We were here for just 3 days in 2005 and never wanted to leave.

Is it touristy? Yep. Is is expensive? Yep. Is it crowded most of the time? Yep. But still, there is something magical about it here. Someone described it as Disneyland-like. That was meant to be an insult. I think it's somewhat of a perfect description actually. But for a Disney freak like me, there's no insult here. Disneyland is one of the most lovely, magical places I've been too, and Positano is Disneyland for grown ups, and even for some of us who pretend we're grown up too!

We have 15 days here and have planned, well, pretty much nothing. We're going to go to the beach, plenty of sunscreen this time. We're going to eat a lot of pizza, because, the closer you get to Naples the better the pizza is. We're going to eat a lot of gelato, because, this is Italy, and you'd be mental not to eat a lot of gelato. We're going to relax, wear thongs on our feet, sleep in and go shopping. Yep, that's the plan.

September 12th, 2010 Palermo to Positano

Today we had our first taste of real Italian driving.

The hotel had booked us a taxi to the airport, and I’m pretty sure that the driver had rolled out of bed to pick us up, as he was pretty darned disheveled and smelt like ass!

The city streets were pretty much deserted at it was Sunday morning at 6.30am, but the speed limit of 60kph was still in force, at least I think it was.

We started driving through the city at 90kph, which was frightening enough for this old Nanna, but that was nothing in comparison to the speed he got that tiny little car up to on the motorway!

We hit 150kph!

I wasn’t sure we were actually going to make it to the airport alive, let alone get to Positano.

The highlight of the trip was actually when he yawned massively, stretched his arms, yes, both of them, over his head, and crossed them over his chest. Leaving the steering wheel to fend for itself whilst the car continued along at 150kph!

I think he may have actually forgotten he was behind the wheel and thought he was in his lounge room.

Luckily for us, the speed he achieved, meant the time spent in the vehicle was substantially reduced and we made it to Palermo airport, physically unharmed. Heart rate substantially higher than it should be, but still alive.

I don’t have any photos of the journey because it was like being in the Gravitron at Luna Park, the G force of the speeding car, meant that I was pinned to my seat the entire way and incapable of reaching for my camera, but if I could, I would have photographed the speedometer so you would all believe me.

Seriously people, there’s a bus that goes from Palermo to the airport, TAKE IT!!!!!

You have been warned!

The flight to Naples was quick and uneventful, even if it was on an aeroplane that didn’t have a 7 in it’s name, I was already so desensitized by the taxi ride, that I could have flown strapped to the wings on a bi-plane and been relaxed.

We arrived ahead of schedule at Naples and met our driver who drove us along the glorious winding roads of the Amalfi Coast to the most beautiful place in the world, at least it is to me. Positano!

We had to wait for our room to be ready as we were 4 hours early, but none of us cared because we were at the Buca di Bacco, our favourite hotel, in Positano, our favourite place.

We didn’t do much except relax for the day and eat at a local restaurant. D’arcy began her retail therapy today when she allowed me to buy her a gorgeous linen dress from one of the lovely shops here. Oh to be 12 and gorgeous!

D'arcy in her Positano dress, the first of many, I'm sure!

September 11th, 2010 Buonfornello to Palermo

Today was our last day in Buonfornello with my parents.

We decided to head over to Cefalu and have a look around there in the morning before we left for Palermo in the early evening.

Originally we were going to take a flight to Naples from Palermo at a decent time of 12.45pm, but Alitalia cancelled the flight so we were forced to take the 8.55am.

Italian domestic flights require passengers to check in 2 hours prior to departure, so we would have had to arrive at 6.55am, allowing 90 minutes from Buonfornello travel time, that meant we would have been up almost before we went to bed!

We instead decided we would spend our final night in Palermo. But, not before we spent our last day seeing some more of beautiful Sicily.

Cefalu is another gorgeous, medieval town, the centerpiece being the huge Norman built cathedral in the middle of the main square.

I had originally researched apartments for us to stay in this area, and think it would have been a lovely place to stay. It was filled with lovely restaurants, and pastry stores, so we would have been just fine here

Unfortunately, the rain arrived, and stopped our fun. Walking the cobblestoned streets of a tiny town like Cefalu is no fun in the rain, and because the streets have been worn smooth with the hundreds and hundreds of years of traffic, it was also very slippery.

Luckily for us, our driver Calogero arrived before we all resembled drowned rats and took us home.

We packed our things up and heading for Palermo, amidst tears. Funny how my Mum always cried whenever I go away! I love you Mum!!!!!

The norman cathedral in Cefalu, there was a christening in progress when we went inside

We arrived at our hotel in Palermo about 7pm, just enough time to settle in and find something to eat.

The hotel was pretty old but so gorgeous! The ceilings in the room must have been 15 feet high and it was right on a main street filled with shops that made D’arcy’s eyes bug out of her head.

We had a fantastic meal at a local trattoria where they served two amazing courses for 10Euro! Yup 10Euro! We couldn’t believe it! The food was incredible, and we rolled back to the room with full bellies and dreams of Positano bouncing around in our heads, unfortunately, there would be no 10Euro meals there!

The view from the rooftop terrace at the Hotel Ambasciatori in Palermo

After the sun went down over Palermo

September 10th, 2010 - Taormina

I was very excited about our trip to Taormina, as I’d heard so many wonderful things about this town.

We left bright and early at 8am, again being guided by the lovely Vincenzo.

He had offered to take us an unusual way to Taormina, so that we could possibly see some of Mount Etna, Sicily’s active volcano, and also see some of the most recent lava flows. Having never seen anything like this before, we were all pretty excited!

The weather was kind to us and we were lucky enough to see an area where Etna had sent a huge lava flow through, only 8 years ago, devastating a hotel, and ski lift, as well as taking out a number of shops.

It’s quite a remarkable landscape. The lava hardens into a dark, black rock, and the rock is often used to build structures as it’s incredibly hard.

To see the massive amounts of rock, and the huge area it engulfed was incredible.

D'arcy standing in the middle of the gigantic lava flow, it runs from the top of the volcano down these slopes and for a further 4 kilometres from where this photo ends.

We headed off towards Taormina and on the way visited Alcantara Gorge, a beautiful spot where the water flows from a natural spring inside the mountain and flows into the gorge at near freezing temperature.

Alcantara Gorge with it's little waterfall and pale green water.

We passed Isola Bella, just outside of Taormina, it reminded me of something from an Enid Blyton novel. It looked like fairies should inhabit it.

The pretty little Isola Bella

Taormina is a gorgeous spot. The town is high on the hill, with the beach way below.

View from the top of Taormina

Mum, D'arcy and Papa in the same spot

We wandered around the town, taking photos, eating pastries, and listening to all the Aussie accents, they almost outnumbered the Americans!

Taormina is definitely not the place to buy bargain jewellery! Although it was a lot of fun looking in the windows at the diamonds that cost more than our entire trip!

September 5th, 2010 Sunday – Father’s Day

So, for Father’s Day this year, David got a card from D’arcy and a trip to the Aeolian Islands, not bad eh?

We were booked to take a ferry from the nearby town of Cefalu at 8.30am, which would dock at Lipari, the main island of the Aeolians.

I will admit to never hearing about them prior to beginning my research on this trip, but when I discovered them online, I had to see if we could get there for a short trip.

We had 3 nights booked at a little hotel on the island called Villa Enrica Country Resort, not very Italian sounding, but it had a decent reputation and looked good.

When we arrived, the hotel sent a car to pick us up, which was great, because, just liked everything in Sicily, this place was uphill! Seriously uphill!

However, the hike uphill, was well worth it. The hotel had a view over the port and the sea which was really glorious.

View from the balcony at the Hotel, this is where we ate breakfast every day

View from the same area of the hotel, but a night shot of Lipari

D'arcy posing for me on a short trip around the island, this is an area where the locals say you need 4 eyes to properly enjoy the view!

The next three days were spent lounging at the hotel pool, sleeping in airconditioned comfort, and travelling around Lipari.

We also managed to take a boat trip to see two of the other islands, Panarea, and Stromboli, the latter being an active volcano.

The trip to Panarea was lovely, the town very pretty, but there was really not a lot to do, so we were only there for about an hour. Stromboli was the same, but as the sunlight faded, we were floating around the island trying to get a glimpse of some volcano action as the sky darkened.

We were treated to a small light show of red sparks, unfortunately it was too dark for me to capture it with my camera, but it was pretty exciting.

My parents waiting at the port for the boat to arrive to take us around the island of Stromboli

The best shot of the volcano I managed to get. The "smoke" is actually dust falling from the sides, as the volcano is constantly moving or rumbling which causes this effect.

The most exciting part of the day was definitely the trip back to Lipari. The sea had become rough, and we were sailing through some pretty high waves and choppy water.

There were people all around us with their heads in plastic bags making carrot stew, it wasn’t pretty!

Luckly we all made it through unscathed and without having to sacrifice our lunch.

We did choose to get off the boat five minutes earlier, but disembarking at a port the other end of the island. This turned out to be a great idea, because it was an area we hadn’t already seen and it was just gorgeous, so we came back the next day before we left to return to Buonfornello for a look around.

The lovely port in Lipari

September 4th 2010 Saturday - Cerda

Today we made the journey to the hometown of my Nonna Francesca, guess who I’m named after?

It’s the town she was born and raised is and apparently so was my Nonno, although I have only just learnt this.

It’s an inland town, and very quaint, much like I remembered Termini Imerese on our last visit 5 years ago. Everyone knows everyone, and I guess, everyone’s business too!

We first visited the cemetery (cimitero) to see where my Nonna was buried.

She was killed in a car accident, here in Sicily in 1970, whilst visiting her family, so instead of having her body flown back to Australia for burial, the family here had her placed in the plot with her relatives.

Italians don’t usually bury their loved ones as we do, in single graves, but often have crypts built which house a number of the family, usually they wait until they are deceased, but hey, this is Sicily!

What struck me most about the please was how everything was so beautifully maintained, with flowers, candles and the like, it’s really lovely.

My Dad took us to a local restaurant in town for lunch, called Nasca. Apparently the owners are distant relatives, on his mother’s side.

It’s the sort of trattoria where there are no menus, they just bring you food until you’re so stuffed, you have to roll yourself out the door.

It was delicious.

After lunch, my father decided we should walk up to his cousin Ignazia’s house.

Ignazia is the eldest child in her family, and has her elderly mother, my great aunt, livlng with her.

She lives in what the Italians refer to as “Campagnia” which, translated means the countryside.

The countryside is all of about 1.5km from the edge of Cerda!

It was however, ALL uphill, as was most of Cerda, so by the time we arrived, we were sweaty, thirsty, hot, and were mostly looking at the different ways we could kill my Dad for making us walk all that way uphill in the Sicilian sun.

Ignazia lives right next door to her brother Pino, on land left to her by her grandfather, yet like a good Sicilian, she and Pino have had a falling out and don’t speak to each other. Funny how geography changes little in my father’s family! There is always someone not speaking to someone else, must be in the genes.

What I didn’t know about Ignazia is that she married, in Italian terms, late in life at 40, and has one daughter, Giovanna, who is 28. Her husband Nicola (yes it’s a male name!) is 10 years her senior, so she is looking after her 88 year old mother, and 80 year old husband these days.

She is an extremely quick witted lady, and I found myself attempting to chat with her. We sort of made ourselves understood. She confirmed that my father was a rat bag, and told me I reminded her of my Nonna, which is a lovely compliment.

It was gorgeous to see her and my Dad exchanging insults and having a great time.

My Papa and his Zia

Giving some cheek to his cousin Ignazia

Ignazia giving him back some cheek with Zia laughing along