Insiders Guide to the Amalfi Coast – part 04

Positano
By foot or by boat

Positano is a tiny town without cars and only three thousand seven hundred inhabitants. It can only be reached by foot from the above. One walks down many little stairs and hilly pathways down the sides of the Lattari Mountains which crown it. Walking down at a pace a little faster than a stroll, due to the sharp decline, finally one reaches the volcanic sand beach. Nestled and protected in the arms of the mountains, the tiny rectangular coloured houses spread themselves half way up the mountain lazing in the sunshine. On a clear day, if you look out to sea you will clearly see the islands Punta Licosa and Capri. Just another six kilometres out to sea you would find three little islands collectively called the “Sirenuse”. As the name would suggest legend has it that their shallows are inhabited by bewitching Syrians. One thing is certain, that this place is so exquisite in its situation; the imagination can’t help but get over excited.

Fishermen and seafarers, they were some of the very first to set sail to America. Some to become very wealthy and later returned, even if only for the holidays. Positano was quickly discovered after the Second World War by the discerning American traveller. By the sixties it was the fashionable hide away of the wealthy, with visitors like Any Warhol. Much like Capri is today. Fashion has always had an on going love story with Positano. It was the first town, in Italy, where the bikini was introduced in nineteen fifty nine.

I love Positano because it is slightly more difficult to get to, there are fewer tourists and early morning you will find an old man hanging over the side of his boat trying to catch octopus. In the late afternoon his friends will sit together and sew their nets. It’s ridiculously pretty and one has the impression that change hasn’t been around for ages. Italy the way I fanaticised it would be. But the fantasy in its natural form is rare. Positano seems to be a legend of the Mediterranean Sea caught in a little protective cove.

One of the best ways to see a place is to be guided by some one who lives there, if they love the land all the better. Only as I wrote did I realise how very in-love with the Amalfi coast I am. Place of sea, sky and mountains. Place of tastes, music, song, dance and art. This is the Amalfi coast as I know her; divine and delicious. Naturally.

Joanne Dunn