After a quick look around the Rome harbor we headed for Positano. The drive was only 2 1/2 hours. The first part was uneventful, but the second half was an eyeopener. The ocean came into view and we climbed switchbacks with a short stone wall between us and the cliff drop offs. Narrow roads are an understatement in this part of Italy and motorbikes use any part of the road they want, including the oncoming traffic's lane, finding just enough space to not be in a head-on collision. We stopped at a roadside turnout to take pictures of the view. Brilliant blue crystal clear water and sky as far as we could see. Continuing our drive we noticed fruit stands, but the road narrowed so much that we were not sure where people could stop to shop there. Later we saw people parked next to the mountain sticking out into traffic and cars just drove around them. We crossed bridges that were actually arches protruding from cliff faces.

Our GPS told us that we had reached our destination in a ridiculous place - the road curved and on the curve was a roadside turnout looking down a cliff face with steep steps. We continued driving until we saw parking garages. We turned in because the owner of our apartment, Giovanni, asked to meet at a specific garage. By chance we ended up in the right one first try. The garage owner knew Giovani and phoned him to let him know we arrived. It was a steep parking garage partly open air and partly hollowed out cave. Grapevines grew above us on green netting. When Mariah, Darius and Brennin looked closer they noticed a huge spider on the grapes. We moved out from beneath the netting feeling a little creeped out.

Giovanni arrived after a few minutes. He gave us a warm welcome. his english was good enough to explain the main things that we needed to know. We followed him along the street, single file, arms at our sides as cars, tour busses, mini vehicles and mopeds sped past us. Crossing the street we entered
a maze of stairs going down, eventually leading to the Ocean far below us, and going up to endless apartments that were somehow attached to the cliffs. We passed little archways, pots with flowers, old wooden doors and metal gates. Climbing 285 steps we arrived at our villa. We realized that our GPS was right earlier, the steps leading down the cliff would have brought us to the same place.

The views were stunning! The villa was spacious and bright, with a patio off of the kitchen where we had views of the colorful homes on the mountain, and the sea below. The living room patio doors opened onto a deck that wrapped around to the master bedroom looking out to the sea, and to the cliff that held us.

The kids loved all the space. They thought the shower room was great - a tile room with a shower and a drain. With the heat the shower came in handy to cool down.

Darius, Mariah and Belia slept in a room with 3 single beds and a small balcony looking at the ocean straight ahead, and cliff wall immediately to the right. Brennin used the pull out bed in the living room.

After going over the ins and outs of the villa, and questions about the area, Tim, Brennin and I walked back down to the car park to get our bags. We decided to bring back only the basics because the climb up with all our bags was out of the question.

Each carrying something
we made our way back up. After catching our breath we decided to all have a look around.

We walked down to the street, window shopping and looking for a place to eat. Waiters stood outside their restaurants inviting people in as they walked by. After about an hour we decided on an outdoor patio. The waitress would cross the street to take orders and deliver food. It was already dark so an oil lamp dimly lit our table. The owner gave us a small flashlight to read our menu. Fresh lemons and sun dried tomatoes hung nearby and the waiter sang a song while he moved around. The meal was delicious!

It was a great day and we really liked our new place.