The Beginning of Our Travel Journey
I’ve chosen to begin this scrapbook of our travels with our honeymoon in 2012. It was my first time overseas and the first time either of us had been to Italy. After our beautiful wedding in Cleveland, my hometown, we took what was then my first international overnight flight to Rome.
In hindsight, we didn’t put an overwhelming amount of time into our decision. We had narrowed it down to Hawaii and Italy, and after considering hotel and food costs (we heard a glass of wine in Hawaii costs about $15), the choice was easy. We love Italian food and my Pinterest page had been starting to fill up with pictures of the breathtaking Amalfi Coast. We settled on 8 nights in Positano and 2 nights at the end of the trip in Rome.
Seeing as it was my first overseas flight, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. Luckily it was direct, and we arrived in Rome around 7:00 am. After a quick taxi to the train station, and a train to Naples, we arrived in time to meet our driver, Giulio, at the station. We were in desperate need of coffee, and given our newbie status, assumed we could easily get a takeaway cup ala Starbucks. Giulio ushered us into the nearest cafe, ordered us due cafe, and instructed us to drink them standing at the counter. Our tender American taste buds got a shock and we were quickly indoctrinated into Italian coffee culture.
The drive to Positano is one that everyone should experience at some point in their lives, whether they are brave enough to drive it themselves or not. We stopped for a photo-op overlooking Sorrento, and Giulio pointed out some highlights along the way: “See that island over there? Freddie Mercury owned that.”
For our accommodations, we chose the Hotel Palazzo Murat, which is funny to think about now. Remember, this was 2012, and Positano had really just started becoming the trendy hotspot that has made it overrun with tourists today. Considering also that this was not prime tourist season, and they had yet to put in a swimming pool, we got a garden room at a very reasonable rate. Current rates for the hotel, as of writing this in May of 2019, have tripled. That being said, and while we probably can’t afford the hotel anymore, I would highly recommend it. Fantastic service from the start. On several mornings they brought us breakfast to our room, which we ate outside on our terrace, and we enjoyed several aperitivi in the lovely hotel garden.
After checking in, we took a walk around to explore the town and find lunch. We ended up at Ristorante Bruno, which has since become a favorite spot on our recurring trips to Positano. Small tables line the sidewalk across the street from the restaurant, and patrons have the delight in viewing the staff scurry across the road with food and wine, narrowly avoiding the Vespas and Fiats speeding past. The tables are situated along the cliff’s edge, providing a picturesque view of the town, both below to the beach, and above to the mountains. Our light lunch of burrata con prosciutto and prawns in olive oil and herbs could not have been a more perfect first Italian meal.
Our first dinner in Positano was also one of the fanciest choices on our trip – Ristorante Max. To be fair, I can’t remember much about the meal, but we did meet a nice couple at the table next to us.
Day two of our Amalfi adventure included more exploring around Positano. In this town, that inevitably means walking up and down, up and down, and taking many photos. We visited the small but beautiful church and looked in awe at the enormous lemons, and preposterous amount of pasta, available in the local market.
We decided pizza was in order for our second dinner, and had researched and heard good things about Lo Guarracino, which was a short walk from Spiaggia Grande, the main beach. In search of a pre-dinner drink, we walked past the restaurant and ended up at the hotel/restaurant at Fornillo Beach, another now-favorite spot.
I’m not lying when I say Lo Guarracino was a life-altering dining experience. Maybe it was the setting sun glistening over the bright-blue Tyrrhenian Sea that the restaurant overlooks. Maybe it was our post-wedding bliss. Or maybe it was some of the best pizza we’ve ever eaten. We loved it so much that we ate there again later on our honeymoon, as well as the two other times we went back to Amalfi and also recommended it to all of our friends who visited. We have dreams about this pizza place.
The one unfortunate aspect of our honeymoon was that I woke up the next morning with a bad cold/allergy attack. It had rained early in the morning so the ferry was choppy on our way to the town of Amalfi. Upon disembarking, we found a restaurant on the water for lunch, Marina Grande, which was touristy but pretty. After lunch, we visited the Amalfi Cathedral and got gelato before heading back to Positano by bus. Being deathly afraid of heights, the large bus we took back, twisting and curving around the cliffs, frightened me just a bit, much to the amusement of Kevin.
It took us more than one trip to Positano to realize that we had to be more selective with our restaurant choices. Two nights in a row and two meals later – one at Buca di Bacco and the next at Chez Black – made us steer clear of Positano beach restaurants for good. In fact, to this day, we pronounce it phonetically, Chez Black, with the z, instead of the French way. Despite our underwhelming dinner, it was still a great night, as we had our first experience with the amazing nightclub that is Music on the Rocks. Built into a cave on the east end of Spiaggia Grande, it is a legendary late-night bar that doesn’t really start hopping until at least midnight. However, since I was a bit under the weather, we only had one drink and headed back to the hotel.
Day four of the trip was fairly uneventful, as my cold had worsened. We took it easy. Call us silly Americans, but the Bulls were playing in the playoffs that night, and somehow we found a fancy hotel bar with a TV that would play it for us. They probably thought we were nuts, but we found it pretty hysterical, enjoying some fine wine in a beautiful setting, watching the Bulls lose to the 76ers.
Recommendations
- Hotel Palazzo Murat – Piazza dei Mulini, 23, 84017 Positano SA, Italy. https://www.palazzomurat.it/
- Ristorante Bruno – Via Cristoforo Colombo, 157, 84017 Positano SA, Italy. http://www.brunopositano.it/
- Lo Guarracino – Via Positanesi D’America, 12, 84017 Positano SA, Italy. http://www.loguarracinopositano.it/
