Mauro

Mauro deserves his own post. He just does.

One of the best things about Mauro is that he is unflappably cheerful. Another is that he can be silly & revel in it. But he is also smart & efficient & understanding & of service & fun to know.

Mauro is like a bag of assorted jelly beans but with only the good kind -you know, without the more experimental flavors, like "cumin" or "onion."

Mauro is one of my favorite people in the whole world. He's awesome because when I get into a silly accent mood & go to the front desk to ask for "a skeedool for the trens to Neppels", he will hand me the schedule without batting an eye & answer "Chertainly, chignorina." And that's all there is to it.

Heatwave

Today was one for the record books. A hot scirocco wind from the African continent lapped at the coastline like a devilish tongue. Even being on a boat offered no respite. At one point, it felt like an army of tiny hairdryers were pointing directly at us, and it was even hard to breathe.

Everyone who could, sought solace in the cool waters of the Mediterranean.

The Sun Also Rises

Positano attracts all sorts of vacationers because of its many charms. This week, Larry Ellison came to our tiny harbor on his mega-yacht, Rising Sun. I snapped this picture as we motored past on our much more humble vessel. I did not have a wide-angle lens big enough to capture the whole magnificent ship, but trust me, she was a beaut!

In front of the yacht, a few curious local children paid a visit on their materassino.

Sultry Nights

An appuntmento with friends. A limoncello at the cafe overlooking the bay. A plate of spaghetti sciue' sciue'. This is how the most pleasant of evenings are spent here in Postano.

At left, the brazen edges of islands of Li Galli flirt with the horizon. A visiting schooner lights up the water with its three imposing masts. I took this photo on a passeggiata from one of my favorite vantage points just up the road from my hotel.

Sunny Days

A hot scirocco wind has been blowing for days, making the entire Amalfi coast feel more like Casablanca than the Italian region of La Campania. Cats and dogs hide in the shade and seek relief in the cool mosaic tiles that make up much of the shop floors and private terraces of Positano. The hum of scooters and vespas have been silenced during the peak hours of the sun, their owners preferring to laze the time in a cafe or at la spiaggia. Essential errands have been relegated to early morning hours or until after the sun has begun its daily descent behind the mountains of Punta Reginella. Human traffic is even slower than usual, and it is practically impossible to spend more than a dozen minutes outside unless one is basking in the sea or a pool, such as the one at my hotel, Le Sirenuse. In Church or in the piazzas, the ladies have launched an armada of fans against the stifling heat. The colors of the fabrics and the intricate patterns of the lace are incredibly beautiful.

Transformation Floats

A moment to tell you a sweet story.
My friends, Felice & Oliviera, have been fellow hotel guests and occasional passengers on the hotel's wooden cruiser, Il San Antonio II, for the past few years. Over the years ,we have developed the enviable ritual of setting out from the mossy dock at 10:30 almost every morning and ferrying out to a pristine part of the coastline. The skipper drops the anchor a few hundred feet from shore, and the guests, plop lazily one by one, into the cobalt water. The more daring of us don flippers and a mask & snorkel and follow schools of Guaracini back to the shoals and rocks that host varied sea life such as sponges, "sea-tomatoes" and sea urchins, among other creatures.
What I didn't know was that Oliviera did not know how to swim & was actually quite afraid of the water. In fact, her husband had nestled a pool in their backyard over 30 years ago, which she had never gotten the courage to exploit. Felice had even hired swim instructors for her on numerous occasions, but she always refused to go past her knees.
In the past, I have coaxed a few other friends into the crystal blue waters of the Mediterranean and was willing to do the same for Oliviera. The sea is so refreshing and calm that I thought it was a shame for her to miss out on the fun: the sweet relief of the cool water after the hot sunny trip; the luxurious feeling of the salty water playing about her skin; the delight of looking down at her own feet distorted by the water's perspective. So I invited her to come in with me and promised I would not let go of her hand, no matter what.
To everyone's great delight, she agreed to put on a life preserver & venture into the watery depths. I could tell she was a bit nervous, but I was just there with her and reminded her to breathe once in a while, when I noticed she was holding her breath. She knew I understood and respected her fear, but I wanted to support her in overcoming it and in taking part in the pleasures she had been missing out on in the past. We did a two-handed water waltz that first day, but by the end of her stay, she was able to let go of both my hands and paddle herself about with me treading water near her.
I really admired her courage because the water is quite deep where we were, and it was no small feat for her to climb down the ladder clad in her life-ring that first dip. She was so happy and proud of herself and the first thing she did when back on board was to call her grandkids and tell them what she and la mia Alessandra had done.

Positano Friends

One of my favorite things about Positano are my wonderful friends.



Mariano, with the big smile, is one of my best friends in the world. He studied at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and worships Al Pacino. One of his prime concerns every year is to find out if he is as dreamy as the previous year.




Silvia and Stefano are amazing friends and two of the nicest people I know. I love them because they are so kind & sweet & love animals. They have 2 adorable cats, Choo Choo & Lisca. In this photo, Silvia is dangling a medal Stefano has just won on top of his head. His team won a local soccer tournament, and we celebrated that evening at a friend's winebar.

Food

Lunch & dinner are some of my favorite parts of my vacation. Yum! The food at the hotel is quite nice. But nothing quite beats the authentic flavors & home grown ingredients of the local trattorie. Some of my favorites: da Bruno, La Taverna del Leone, da Vincenzo. (Disclosure: I might be biased. I have known Vincenzo since we were children, and he is molto bello.)


I love pasta. I love pasta in the completely visceral sense that I wish I could miniaturize myself & jump into a bowl of fresh penne & pomodoro & roll around, hiding in the little tubes of pasta. I'd slurp my way about & jump up & down just like in one of those inflatable kiddie rides at a street fair. That would be so cool!

Um... I also like chocolate cake. A lot. A lot a lot. Well, chocolate of any kind, really. My ferret, Kiki, used to be able to stand on the rim of a jar of Nutella placed sideways for her and actually stick her whole head into the jar. Lucky Kiki! Um... her own jar. Sure, yes. Not the other one we kept for company, of course not! (Oh gee, I hope I don't start receiving a lot of comments from folks who had Nutella sandwiches at my house back in the day...)