Napoli, Sorrento, and Positano

I got the National Express bus from Parkers Piece at 5.25am, getting to Stansted ahead of schedule. Julien from City was on the bus too, but I didn’t speak to him, and don’t even know if he saw me. I texted Andrea. I got a croissant to eat at the airport, went through security, and got a shuttle train to gate 6. We boarded and took off with no fuss.

Landed in Napoli at about 11.10am, taxied for ages, then I went straight outside and found the bus to Sorrento immediately. It left at 11.30am and cost €7. The bus ride was comfortable – I was in the front seat directly behind the driver and I spoke to an English girl beside me.

I met Sue and Camillo at the station in Sorrento and we had a coffee among the noise and people (and DJ concert thing). We decided we didn’t want to see more of Sorrento, so ran for the 1.30 bus to Positano. Unfortunately we got on the wrong one, and ended up in Massa Lubrense instead. Camillo was rather stressed out about this, but Sue and I relished the opportunity to see another new and interesting place. I had my first pizza – a margherita which was very good – and some coconut gelato in a very nice and cheap café there.

After a wait we got the next Positano bus, and even though Sue and Camillo had warned me, I wasn’t prepared for the sheer drop or the fact that the road was built off beyond the cliff. Eeeek! I broke out in a sweat and got quite tense. I recovered after getting to firm ground. We caught the small shuttle bus down into the town, and got off near the beautiful Villa Delle Palme. The room was very nice, with a great view towards the water.

We walked down to the beach, noting the good shops, and I had a lovely cool swim. Then we had a drink sitting at a nice bar – I had some Nastro Azzurro - and walked back up again. After a shower we headed out for dinner, just downstairs. It was lovely. I had prosciutto and melon for a starter, grilled fish (whole) with a boring green salad and tiramisu for dessert. We had a local red wine from Massa Lubrense, which was light and delicious. We went to bed after 11, having declined to buy the CD of the quartet wandering from restaurant to restaurant, even though the clarinet player was pretty impressive. I read the entry in the Lonely Planet (oracle) for Amalfi, and saw that they recommended a short walk to Atrani, as it was beautiful and much less tourist-ridden.

Sue lent me her eye mask, as they wanted to sleep with the window open. Lucky I had my ear plugs!