Our heavenly trip to Positano, Amalfi Coast, Italy

In this article you will read about our wonderful time we spent in Positano, Italy – here is a small review of what’s coming:

We will get there, but I will first provide some background and also a bit of important logistical information.

My name is Kaloyan, and my girlfriend’s name is Boyana. We live in Sofia, Bulgaria. We’ve been to Rome in 2015 and we both loved it. We’ve wanted to visit Positano for at least a year, year and a half, ever since I noticed my friend Edgar like a photo of theirs on their Facebook page, and showed it to her.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=202870029756806&ref=br_rs

Positano is a small resort town located at the Amalfi Coast in Italy, which is about 40 miles south of Naples. As you can see all the buildings are almost vertically aligned and follow a curvy road in the mountain all the way down to the beach. More on the location and trip there later on. The hotel prices there vary, but are usually very expensive – especially near the beach – few hundred euro per night is the norm. After a bit of research, we booked 3 nights at Villa Verde for 250 EUR, which was a bargain any way you look at it and it looked very pretty – and had the most breathtaking view. We booked a few months in advance (I think it was 3-4 months in advance) some dates at the end of April.

Vilaverde:

https://www.booking.com/hotel/it/villaverde.en-gb.html

Then we booked a two-way flight with WizzAir (they are very nice and their prices are great) – 290 EUR for both of us, both ways, again a few months in advance. The long-awaited dates arrived and we packed a bit of clothes, and left on the plane. The flight from Sofia, Bulgaria to Naples, Italy, was about an hour and fifteen minutes. That was the easy part. We had done some preliminary research on how to get from Naples to Positano and we kinda knew that it would be somewhat complicated, expensive and time-consuming. As far as we knew, there was a train, a ferry and a bus there, but none of them was going directly there, and would take hours until we could make it to Positano, which would’ve taken a lot of our precious time which wasn’t very much to begin with.

We were at the Naples airport in the late afternoon, and thanks to a Bulgarian traveler who was sitting beside us on the plane, we knew that we needed to catch the bus from the airport to the Central Station (stazione centrale Garibaldi). We got on it and rode it for about 15 or 30 minutes. Naples was nothing like Rome (the other city in Italy I had visited) – it had some pretty sights, but it was much more dirty and decayed. So we got to the central station and that’s as far as we were told what to do – we were on our own now.

Here is a picture of one of the first things we saw in Naples, my favorite Italian trees:

There was a lot of trash on the streets and many, many migrants surrounding us. We quickly walked through the crowd from the bus stop to the central station and wasted some time there trying to find a way to get to Positano directly, with no luck. We had some spare money that we knew will go for a taxi ride, so we decided to bite the bullet, spend some more money and get there comfortably and quick. By the way, as far as we understood, it was too early in the year for the ferry so it was going there, I think twice a day, so that wasn’t an option. For about 10-20 eur per person we could’ve gotten either a train or a bus to Sorrento, and then look for a SITA bus to Positano from there. It would’ve taken a few hours and it would’ve complicated our trip greatly.

So we went out of the central station, and got our plan together – we would find a driver that is over 50, looks like a person with integrity, and we would bargain for the price (we were prepared to spend 90-100 EUR on a taxi, because that was within our budget). We found a person who fit that description and I went up to him and introduced myself, then went straight to the point:

- How much would it cost for you to take us to Positano, Amalfi Coast?
- Positano or Amalfi coast?
- Positano, on the Amalfi coast - 150 euro?
- One hundred and fiftEEN? – I stressed, to make sure (I was hoping for 115)
- One five.
- Okay we can afford 120, can you take us there?
- Get in.

It was more than we expected but less than his initial offer, so we took it. I don’t know if he would want me to disclose his name here, so I will use a similar sounding name – he introduced himself – Guillermo. He loaded our luggage on his car, then went to a gas station, put some diesel in it and quickly drove off.

I was amazed at how fast and dynamic Italians drove. It was a great change to what I was used to in Bulgaria, where people drive very slowly (most of the time). Most cars in Italy are tiny hatchbacks with all the bumpers scratched from all sides. Mostly Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Renault and VW Golf/Polo. Everyone was driving very fast, and bumper to bumper with almost no distance between cars. A few times drivers rapidly slowed down in front of us but Guillermo, while chewing a cigarette in his mouth, undisturbed, slowed right down and stopped inches away from them without making contact, then he kept going.

While we were on our way out of Naples, he made small talk – he was a really nice big-hearted person. He offered us cigarettes, drinks, food. Some sunny Pitbul songs were on the radio and it was a sunny day (Pitbul feat Ke$ha – Timber https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHUbLv4ThOo and Pitbul feat Jennifer Lopez – The Soccer anthem from recently https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGtWWb9emYI ).

The freeway outside of Naples was beautiful. On our left the Vesuvius volcano was at a stone throw distance. The seaside was on our right. Once we passed Vesuvius we then proceeded ahead and passed by Pompeii. Guilermo was very proudly pointing to Vesuvius and then Pompei and introducing us to these beautiful parts of Italy. My girlfriend had already been there with her sister and knew what was what, but it was my first time there. However, we were both stunned. Here is Vesuvius in the background:

Then we got to pass through some small Italian villages, a very long tunnel that goes right below the mountain (on the way back Guillermo told us that it took decades for this tunnel to be built) and then we got to the most beautiful part of the trip – the coastal road in the mountain. The traffic was moving really slowly there. The road was incredibly narrow, cars were barely driving past each other, but on the bright side – we got to enjoy the view. Guillermo told us that had an accident occurred there, due to the way the road is extremely narrow, it would’ve taken us hours until the cars had been removed. Luckily none of that happened. This is one of the last lay-bys before Positano:

Finally we got to Positano, paid Guillermo and took his phone number – we were planning on calling him to come and pick us up and take us to Naples three days later. He accepted.

Villaverde was almost in the beginning of Positano – in the highest part of the town. It was a multistory house “glued” to the mountain slope. The entrance was at the highest story, the reception was one story below, where a very nice woman greeted us, and our room was three stories down.

The interior of the hotel was beautiful and colorful and it smelled really nice. Our room was tidy and airy, the terrace was very big and we could see the entire town from it, all the way down to the beach.

BTW on the second day we found out at the maid at the hotel was also Bulgarian. She was surprised to see Bulgarian people there, apparently it wasn’t among our nation’s popular destinations

We quickly got out, and found a place to eat – I am a bit chubby and food is very important to me – it was a local restaurant a few hundred feet up the road. Oh, by the way, one of the most distinct features of Positano – the road is one-way only, it doesn’t have a sidewalk (it is confined by the walls of the houses) and it was so narrow that we had to stand perfectly still next to the walls so that cars could drive past us (it is very annoying at first, but later on we got used to it) Here is the view in the restaurant I mentioned:

So we found this local restaurant with a big terrace and sat there, the view was breathtaking and we were very happy. I ordered a pizza with conservative toppings (Italian salamy, Italian ham, mozzarella, tomato sauce, olives, mushrooms) which tasted amazing! Best pizza I’ve ever had. Every ingredient had amazingly clean, nice taste, and it was so well cooked! Boyana got fried zucchini flowers stuffed with a very tasty cheese – we had never tasted anything like it – it was sent from the Gods :D. We also had “Vino Locale” which is homemade whine – and I am not exaggerating, best wine we had ever tasted. I hate wine but this one was one great exception. It was so good, that on our last night there, we had them fill us a bottle of it and we took it home with us, and drank it later on in Bulgaria.

Zucchini flowers: https://www.lifesambrosia.com/wp-content/uploads/crispy-herbed-goat-cheese-stuffed-zucchini-blossoms-1200x795.jpg

Pizza was 8 EUR, half a liter of wine about 8 EUR if Im not mistaken. Not bad.

The staff everywhere spoke English. I was afraid of using the two words I knew in Italian: grazie and prego, out of consideration that they might answer in Italian and I would’ve had to explain that I don’t speak Italian.

Got back to the hotel, got refreshed, then went out and started going down the long one-way street that was twirling around the entire town, all the way down to the beach. It was very beautiful, and the view over the railing was so compelling. It was sunset and the atmosphere was magical. If it only wasn’t for those stupid cars that kept driving past us, that we had to stop for and lean against the walls so that they can pass.

Further down the road a handful of parking areas revealed where all those cars were coming from/going to – there was a very densely populated parking with lots of car and scooter rentals, that we passed by. Cafés, bars and restaurants with happy people everywhere you look. It was about 1-2 kilometers of downward walking.

We got to the commercial part where all the shops were. Lots of really expensive clothes, dresses and sandals – sandals, in particular, were one of the things Positano is known for (one of the other being Limoncello) and were sold at 90-150 bucks a pair!

We got some wine from a street shop, then we got some Italian gelato which was as delicious as ever, and finally we got to the beach. It is a very cozy beach wide only about 300 meters, I think. Surrounded by high-end restaurants filled with well dressed happy people from all over the world (the number of tourists greatly outnumbered the number of Italians. There were a lot of American tourists there). The bay was filled with small and mid-sized boats. It was below 20 degrees centigrade, and it was already getting dark so there were a handful of people spread across the beach. Everything was sparkling and from there we could see the entire Positano spread across the mountain above us. We had “made it” – this is where we wanted to be, this is what we wanted out of life.

Somehow we couldn’t take a good night picture of the beach and the restaurants. This one doesn’t make it justice. You have to see it for yourself and feel the magic.

There were a couple of boats on the sand and we sat on one of them, we opened some wine, I played songs from the 00s that I had always wanted to play in a night like this, that in my opinion fit perfectly to the occasion:
Kylie Minogue – On a night like this
Jennifer Lopez – Waiting for tonight
Antique – Opa Opa, Follow Me, Dinata Dinata
Da Buzz – Wonder where you are
Enrique Iglesias – Rhythm Divine/Bailamos

We were sitting there, looking at the sea, the stars, the restaurants.. laughing and drinking and talking. I got out the engagement ring and I popped the question. She said YES! We got engaged <3 It was the best night of both of our lives. We made a little video for our future children – I keep a video diary for them to see when they grow up.

There is a world famous restaurant there, right at the beach, called Chez Black. We had our late dinner there. I managed to order the same pizza again (I am very conservative when it comes to food) and she had a dessert. Both were magnificent. Prices down here were a bit more expensive than at the restaurant up in the mountain – pizza was about 15 bucks.

We slept well in this hotel (this is very important, sometimes we have trouble sleeping at hotels either because of the beds, or the temperature or noise).

This song was played on the TV there a few times and became “our song” for our experience there. It is absolutely fresh and joyful (Ada Reina – Voy Saltando) – she is an Italian pop-singer who sings in Spanish   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGHSotvxWzY

On the next day we took another trip down to the beach (this is what we would do for the next two days – going down, spending some time eating at restaurants or at the beach, and going back up, once up to 4 times per day). My Google Fit app informed me that we usually did 15000-19000 steps per day. There were also stairwell shortcuts that we used twice to get down there faster – they were built inbetween houses, leading you vertically downwards.

We had gelato again, some pizza at a restaurant in the commercial part, it wasn’t so good. We had some green cake shaped like a female breast, with some white cream in it – very very sweet and good - https://www.goodfoodstories.com/minni-di-virgini/ (apparently there’s a whole back story to those). They were very good at one of the places where we got them, and really not as good at the other place.

We sat at the beach with some takeaway pizza and the treacherous dog came to bum me a piece. I gave him some, then he left and went up to other people (that’s why I call him treacherous)

It was late afternoon and it was very interesting combination of fully and half-dressed people, who were just passing by and had stopped at the beach, and some others who were sunbathing in bathing suits. It was also about 20 degrees centigrade, the seaside season hadn’t actually started. On the third day Boyana dipped into the water with some other girls but didn’t stay there for too long. So we spent some time on the beach all three days. We had dinner in Chez Black again, it was just as good as the first time.

We danced to Daddy Yankee’s Despacito at the terrace the second night at the hotel. It had gotten into our heads recently. It was magic. I fulfilled my dream to listen to Al Bano and Romina’s Makassar and Notte a Cerano in a gorgeous Italian place.

It felt like the place to be, in this world. It felt international and classy. And so beautiful – everywhere you look – happiness. There was no pain or misery there. No thieves, no beggars. Just people who went there to spend some time together and be happy. We felt safe.

The average age of the visitors was around 40. It wasn’t one of those places where you can see crowds of co-eds drinking their faces off to house music. It was a bit upscale.

Third breakfast at the local restaurant up the mountain, it was my 5th or 6th pizza, it was so delicious, I didn’t feel the need to order anything else. They brought us home baked Italian bread with every meal – needless to say best bread I ever had. Oh no wait, there’s this place in Serbia… but that’s another story.

Third time at the beach, then we met a local artist, whose name I won’t reveal here, but I will use a similar Italian name – Francisko. He was selling these paintings near the beach, wonderful paintings of different sights of Amalfi coast, Positano and the Island of Capri (we went there too, read on) He was the next big-hearted Italian person we spoke to. He had travelled the world, had 2 children and 9 grand-children. He liked us a lot. Told her that she was very beautiful and looked like a Ukrainian girl, and he thought I was Turkish but he also thought I was American because of my heavy American accent. We bought two paintings and he gave us a third one, because we seemed like nice people to him. We were flattered. Hopefully we meet him again someday.

We took a boat to The Island of Capri on the third day. According to Francisco we needed two whole days just to explore The Island of Capri, but we actually had one hour there, we went out of curiosity and out of desire to ride a ferry. So we got the boat that left at 15:30 with the idea to get the 17:15 boat back. Little do we know that with the delay, boarding, trip there, unboarding, walking to the other side of the bay and onboarding the boat back, we would’ve had all in all 10 minutes on Capri.

I had been talking to Boyana about Enrique Iglesias mentioning Capri in Rhythm Divine, so we decided to go anyway. The tickets were sold near the bay at Positano, 8 or 12 bucks per person, per direction. The ferry ride was nice, there were two other passengers with us on the entire boat. We took pictures of the Amalfi Coast as we were sailing by it. There were two small uninhabited islands on the way – very beautiful. I love being on a ferry boat. The bay at Capri was overcrowded and didn’t seem like much. Apparently the beautiful parts are up ahead. We will visit some other time. We had some gelato on Capri, took some pictures and went back. I gave my jacket to Boyana, and it was very cold once we reached full speed, but a nice ride nevertheless.

We were finally able to have the hotel breakfast on the fourth day, it was coffee and some muffins, I didn’t have anything though, didn’t feel like it.

Guillermo came and picked us up at 11 AM just like we had agreed. He was very nice and friendly, we spoke all the way back to the airport. He also gave us a painting (!) because he thought we were good people. We promised that we would call him again if we were to ever come back. And we plan to.

There was a bad surprise at the Naples airport. Flight got delayed by 9 hours. We spent 9 hours walking around the airport, it was really boring and we were tired. Went out to browse the city nearby a couple of times but there was nothing to see, other than dirty streets with many pot holes in them and some shady taxi drivers asking us whether we wanted a ride.

We went back to Sofia, Bulgaria late that night. We were in trance for a few days after landing. Both of us kept daydreaming about our magical time in Positano.

John Steinbeck wrote. "It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone."