Positano-Naples

There was a major landslide on Thursday (a rock went through two floors of a hotel, which was fortunately empty at the time), so the roads were closed north of Positano. Rather than spend another night in Positano, I decided to stay in Positano, in the hostel I found on my last trip. I arrived around five and wandered down to the town. The weather was absolutely perfect, the town almost completely empty (the pope's passing has had a major impact on tourism outside of rome). The landslide created a major traffic jam, so I was able to observe the locals out of their cars, chatting while they waited their turn out of the town. Positano is a really small town--I thought it interesting to note that it's similar to Herculeum in population (4000), geographic size, and function. Because it really caters to tourism, nearly everyone speaks English. I met Nario, who works in the local laundry, on the way up the hill. It seems that working in a laundry has its perks--you get to see the inside of every kitchen in town. He took me to his favorite for dinner, Il Mediterraneo. I had fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with salty ricotta, bruschetta, pasta with anchovies, fried calamari, and a few bites of steak. Possibly one of the best meals of my life.

I woke up early for what turned into a much longer hike than I had originally planned. I walked up the mountain, on stairs, for an hour and a half. Ouch. The view extended out to the horizon. It actually reminded me a bit of the north side of Kauai. I thought I was heading north, but somehow ended on an eastern path. After 4 hours and about 10 miles, I found myself near Sorrento, having crossed the entire Sorrentine peninsula. My legs still hurt, but it was a wonderful way to see the area, and the non-touristic towns.

I took the train back and met Nario for yet another hike, this time to the huge hole in the side of the mountain near Monte Pertuso. Getting there involved walking through people's yards and scrambling up a cliff--I was glad to have someone show me the way. I got some great pictures, which I'll post when I get back to Paris.

We ate another great dinner, this time in Monte Pertuso. The restaurant overlooked Positano, and grows all its own vegetables, raises pigs, sheep, and chickens, and makes its own wine and mandarin orange liquor. I ate a lot of vegetables and pasta. I definitely think the food gets better as you head south.

Today was spent traveling and in Naples. My prior trip to Naples wasn't great--it's big, dirty, and loud. I managed to get my sister and I completely lost, and we wandered for hours. This time I just took the subway, which was cheap, clean, and easy. The national archaeology museum is one of the best I've seen. I was expecting something on the scale of the archaeology museum in Mexico City (which would take 2 days to see completely), but this one was intimate, quickly seen, and full of spectacular sculpture and mosaics (including the famous erotic art from Pompeii, which just recently opened to the public in general and women in particular). The curators have spent a lot of time putting together overviews of the collections and time periods, in both Italian and English. I found the entire place very easy to understand and appreciate. It's definitely worth braving the city to visit.

I'll be in Rome for the next four days.