A long long travel day - even though you know it's coming it is still rough. I checked out of my lovely roman hotel, battled peak hour traffic for half an hour to get to Roma termini trainstation for the first leg of my trip .... Eurostar second class train to Naples. Have to say it was great, maybe did not need to pay those first class suppliments. I knew things were about to change when I got to Naples garibaldi station (a sad tribute to my great great great grandfather), it is a bit of a dive of a city. I changed to a local train on the lower platform, all lifts were broken, and gypsies everywhere, even blocking the ticket window and trying to grab the change out of your hands when you buy your ticket. The train I was to spend 75 mins on was filthy, covered with graffiti and crowded. Gypsies constantly begging. I sat next to an old Italian guy who insisted on as much body contact that he could muster, he ended up taking up one and a half seats. I practised my best evil eye stare and swore in Italian under my breath when it all got a bit much.

I got off at sorrento and took a nice bus to positano, and could actually start to appreciate the scenery without having to worry about the stinky sleazy Italian and keeping guard over my luggage. I got off at the top of the road into positano as I needed to take one more bus. Lunch first though. There was a local trattoria and I had amazing puttanesca pasta and mixed grilled vegetables and a kick ass expresso!

The roads from sorrento to positano are windy, slink around the cliff face with absolutely no room for error, and have the most amazing views. My local bus took me higher up the mountain and deposited me on the side of the road with a goat track climbing down lots of steps. My village was somewhere down there! There was a young half Italian half Japanese girl who was NOT local (coming from the next village) who told me she hated Italy and loved australia and was supposed to be at maths class but would rather help me with my luggage! I ran into her later with her young amore guiseppe ( his conversation you are so beautiful señorita, they start young with the flirting! I told him he was a very charming young man and was he also supposed to be at maths class?). My pensionne has had a rave review, and I can see why! I have a very comfortable room with a stunning view. It is an older Italian couples home and you are welcomed as one of the family. They have a garden and make their own wine and proudly host their foreign guests. The town is very traditional, cats, dogs, goats, fig trees, old people, no tourists. It will be an amazing retreat from what I have been told is a very busy season on the amalfi coast already due to the early start of the summer. Being up on the cloud layer, I have amazing views of positano all the way to the isle of Capri. The boats make patterns on the water, I will be using them alot. There is a 2000 step pathway down the cliff to positano but I will be taking the local bus.

I had dinner in the village trattoria, an oddly fine dining experience (people travel for the views). My house prosecco was opened and outer at the table with alot of attention to detail. I was given a free bruscetta, then ordered the mixed grill (chicken, rabbit and pork BBQed with herbs to perfection and a simple salad, expresso and limoncello to finish. I watched the sun set and talked with a Swiss couple I met on the walk path of the gods (my pre dinner exercise was a cliffside hike). I am looking forward to a relaxed end to my trip.