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| The beach area of Positano, with church dome prominent in the center of town |
| Erin's Positano Journals 5-17-02 This morning, we had to be up and checked out of the hostel early. We had all decided we didn't like the amount of rules the owner of the hostel had, such as midnight curfew, no food, showers only at certain hours, etc. Really, she had a cushy place going there, cramming 15 people into a single room at 20 euros a head. She could have been a little less bossy about it and kept more travelers there. We had gone out and found a pensione closer down the cliff to the beach for the same price, with less people in the room (just the 4 of us) for the same price to each of us! And we got our own keys, showers anytime, food or whatever, and no curfew or hours to be kicked out during the day. So we were happy to move down to the Pensione Maria Luisa. The owner is wonderful, and we recommend it to anyone staying in Positano. After checking in and leaving our belongings, we headed down the first set of stairs and ended up at a more private beach, where we found a great buffet breakfast. We hadn't had cereal for a while, and for 5 euros each we got all we could eat of cereal, several types of bread, yogurt, juice, fruit, coffee, etc. It was great! We checked email afterward, but the connection was so bad that we stopped quickly, frustrated, and hit the beach instead. We all lay out for a good couple of hours, occasionally tottering across the rocks to get to the cold water to cool off. Dave and Marile certainly needed no work on their tans, as they've been in some pretty warm places and looked like most of it was spent tanning! But they took the time to read and relax while we tried in vain to catch up on tanning. After we got too warm and were thinking about lunch, we found our way back to the main beach and town, and had some paninis while we pondered what else we wanted to accomplish that day. We went on to the docks and spent some time researching boats for the next day, and determined that it was too expensive at the rates being quoted us. This was now mid-afternoon, and I was feeling pretty gritty. I took my leave of the group, caught a bus up the mountain (yes, the only smart and HONEST one in the group), and indulged in the hot water and room to myself. Then I took myself and my book up to the rooftop patio to take in the views and relax. When Dave & Marile returned, they told me the good news that they'd swung a bargain with the boat people to rent a boat for the next day, and went off to find the other couple we'd met at the hostel to see if they'd like to join in the action. Glenn came back from the beach all gritty too, and freshened up for dinner in time to hear that Radha and Amon had decided to join us after all on the boat excursion the next day. We went off to dinner and had another good meal, then returned to the pensione with Dave, Marile, Radha and Amon to learn the fun card game of Shanghai Rummy. We learned the ropes for a few rounds until the poor hostel-goers, Radha & Amon, had to head back uphill to meet curfew. Then we all crashed for the night. |