Sunday, May 17, 2015

{Vacation ReCap} Italy: Last day & half in Positano

For the last leg of our Amalfi Coast Adventure, we were excited to....not do much of anything :)

While we definitely planned the trip of our dreams, we knew going into this that we were going to be worn out before the end of it all.  That's actually why we placed Positano at the end of our journey - we wanted to end up in a place where we could sleep in and go slow and what better place to do that than on the beach?

We started the day with breakfast on our balcony (that never got old). I loved the fresh squeezed OJ & Carrot juice combo - I drank one every day.


Requisite balcony shot - what a beautiful day!


Then a bit later we slowly made our way down to the beach - stopping for lunch first at the hotel's beachside restaurant, La Pergola.  


I got the GF pasta with clams and fish, Tom got Pizza - everything was great!








We also ordered a bottle of Rose to enjoy






There was a bit of a mix up and they accidentally sent two rounds of limincello at the end of our meal - we went with it :)


Sufficiently full, we went to the beach to lay out and relax - and of course hop into the Mediterranean. Their beaches are a bit different from the ones I grew up on - it's covered in really smooth stones. Surprisingly, they didn't hurt!  I grabbed a handful to bring back as a keepsake.

We thoroughly enjoyed our beachtime, but got antsy after an hour or two (we can only sit still for so long I guess).  As Positano has so many great little shops to explore, we decided it was time to do some souvenir shopping.  I've said this before, but I'll say it again: I totally wished I saved more of my vacation funds for shopping here - there were just so many great handmade items.  I still think of those beautiful linen shirts, pants, and scarves...sigh.  Next time :)

Tom treated himself so butter soft leather loafers that were handmade by the shop.  Now that the weather is nicer in Chicago, he's finally been able to break them out and loves them.  I got two great pairs of sandals, both handmade there as well.

One pair was especially fun to buy because when I tried to pay for them, they put them back on the shelf and custom made the exact ones I wanted on the spot.  Amazing!



The final product (plus the only legit pic of the beautiful tile in our hotel room)


We also got pieces of pottery and little bottles of limincello to bring back for family and friends.  It was a lot of fun browsing and feeling like we were picking out items for those we loved that were unique to the area.  In fact, I had a hard time not buying everything I saw - I'm not usually one for souvenirs (truly, the only things I usually bring back are pictures!) but there was so much to love there!

After enjoying some afternoon gelato we decided that we would try our friend Erin's suggestion, DaVincenzo for dinner and were not disappointed.  We loved eating Al Fresco style and the fresh seafood was delish!   We agreed it was a perfect last meal in Paradise.  Sorry for the lack of Tom pics, he really doesn't like them, lol


Not wanting the evening to end, we grabbed a nice bottle of champagne to sip on our balcony along with a little limincello.  We definitely did not want the trip to end and spent a good portion of the evening talking about all of the things were were glad to have seen and done while there and hopeful plans to make it back someday.



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Ha, we might have had too much fun...I'm not sure how my skirt ended up becoming my dress for the evening, but let's just chalk it up to the magic of Positano ;)
 

Our next morning in Postianto was very much the same...

Balcony breakfast:


And (after packing and checkout by noon), lunch on the beach - this time at Chez Black

Poor Tom.  I'm not sure what happened, but at this point he felt "off" and sorta dizzy.  Not sure if it was the boat trip catching up with him or what.  He stuck to a basic pasta dish to play it safe. I, on the other hand, ordered a HUGE plate of delish seafood...


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We then headed up the hill to meet our driver, Tony who was waiting for us (we definitely got porters to carry our bags on the way up!).  Our final destination would be Naples, but we were excited to see Pompeii on the way!

Ciao!
Meg