Author’s mea culpa. As I reread some posts, I can’t seem to avoid some misspellings, misconjugations, etc. Sorry for those. Hope no English teachers are grading my poor typing and
proofreading skills.

DAY TRIP 2 FROM POSITANO

12 years ago we discovered the less traveled tip ofthe Sorrento peninsula and its quaint small beach town Marina del Cantone. (We live on the beach on a small out island in the Bahamas, so anytime we can find small towns, beaches and boating activity, we are happy). The road to here goes along the coast, then goes up thru St Agata on the spine on the peninsula and then back thru Nerano down a very winding road into Marina. Small beach, dock, a few boats and couple hotels with restaurants. Last time we ate a great seafood meal at Il Canticcio. It was under repair so we ate at TA well reviewed La Sirene. Great choice. Another table by the window to watch the quiet beach action and coming and going on the water. Wonderful seafood and staff. Owner told us that in off season there are only something like 27 people in the town. Small and simple is what we like and this was just what we were looking for.

Our plan for the trip back was to continue to follow the coast road back north around the peninsula until we got to Sorrento. We wentthru a number of small towns including Termini, Marciano, Massa Lubrense (where a wrong turn down a one way street going the wrong way caused all the old men on the town square bench to jump up in unison and inform us of our mistake), then Villazano and to the outskirts of Sorrento. Mostly dead reckoning while watching the road on the GPS map. ( By the time our American language Garmin was up and functioning as we had finally found the suction cup in the deep recess of one of our suitcases). So glad we did this trip.. The towns were not very interesting but the large houses and well landscaped properties along the water were great. All with views of Capri which seemed close enough to touch. Coupled with the continuing perfusion of wildflowers, it made our decision to come to Italy in the spring the right choice for us.
Turned up the mountain before Sorrento and retraced our route back to Positano with another nice ride along a very “unbusy” Amalfi coast to finish the road trip.

Short hiatus in trip report. Left iPad with our friends in Umbria.
Being returned tomorrow. Stuck with tiny iPhone keyboard and hotel with
Crazy slow internet. So starting back tomorrow
Brief preview—
Umbria great
Montalcino wonderful as ever
Tourists pretty much disappeared

Enjoying your report! Thanks for your dedication to sharing your experiences.

Loving this and looking forward to more!

On to Greve!

Thanks Happy T. We just got to Greve. But need to bring the report forward which is in process now that iPad has arrived.

Too much fun in Tuscany so no reporting. We are taking it slower in Piemonte, so finally so trip reporting.

POISTANO LAST DAY

After our day trip to the tip of the Sorrento peninsula, we decided on Ristorante Mirage for dinner. Rated in top ten for Positano. It was another dinner with a view, located at the top of Hotel Posa Posa. Just a short walk from our hotel. Good not great food, but we enjoyed it very much. A sudden wind and brief rainstorm sent our servers expertly and quickly into action moving our tables from the edge of the terrace to a more covered place.

Our last morning started at 4am with a light and sound show from a thunderstorm. Horizontal rain came pouring into the room from the open doors to the sea. Our 4 days of perfect weather was over.
So was our trip to Capri. So we decided to turn lemons into lemonade, or more accurately in Positano into limoncello, and spend more time exploring the city. Went to the 3 stores we hadn’t been to. Found a few things to help stimulate the Italian economy and then sat down for a great lunch at Max’s. Food may have been best of the trip. Definitely more economy stimulating here—Max is not shy about his prices. We visited Church of S. Maria Assunta at the beach. Main church in town and worth a visit. Another stop at our favorite watering hole Palazzo Murat and we were ready to go back up the hill for dinner. La Terra sits near the very top of mountain above Positano and may have the best view of all. Food was great. Weather cooperated enough so we could see the sea. Once the van service worked to perfection. Can’t say enough about this service provided by all the restaurants high on the hill.

POSITANO—HIGHS AND LOWS

Loved our stay here. As I said at the start, hard to describe the beauty of this place. Unfortunately a common drawback of such a place is that it is overrun with tourists. Not just those on Italian holiday weekend, but during the week also. The day trippers on buses, the cruise ship passengers, etc. More than one of our taxicab drivers, who all seem to assume the role of tour director, commented on the change in Positano

Hotel—Montemare was great, especially as a last minute fill in. I think we would have preferred the HotelCalifornia for its location, better, view, a little better and price (half) and will probably try it next time. Many of the best restaurants are nearby

Restaurants (Reviewed or to be review on TripAdvisor under guanacay)

Seafood is the star here. 9out of 9seafood meals.

Quick rating system of the restaurants

GO HERE
Da Vincenzo—Very good food and service. Spaghetti vongole very good. My wife’s pasta with zucchini was even better.

Max—-best food we had at almost twice the price. Restaurant/art gallery. Exceptional service. My wife’s lasagna was perfect and perfect portion, not a giant clop of pasta overfilling a plate. My seafood risotto was cooked and seasoned perfectly. Amazing amount of seafood. Grilled prawns to start and chocolate soufflé to finish. Great wine, but wine listed a bit overpriced.

La Terra—up the mountain with super view, Again great service and food. Waiter suggested the fresh red snapper and we had it prepared two ways. Salad, fresh peas/the pods and their special chocolate dessert made for a great evening. Their local wine was very reasonably priced.

Sorry to interrupt but annhig - though of you during the Royal Wedding over the weekend....One of the reporters called it a "Chamber of Commerce Day in Windsor" because of the spectacular weather!

We loved Positano but visited in September - it could be busy but it wasn't awful. We stayed way up top which also kept us out of the crowds. Looking forward to more about Tuscany.

Sorry to interrupt but annhig - though of you during the Royal Wedding over the weekend....One of the reporters called it a "Chamber of Commerce Day in Windsor" because of the spectacular weather!>>

that's funny denisea - of course for the bits we watched [at the request of visitors for whom we had recorded it, else we wouldn't have bothered] we got the BBC commentary, augmented by my DD's sardonic comments. No mention of "Chamber of Commerce Days" there.

I’m thinking about staying at Palazzo Murat, any ideas on how that would compare to the other 2 accommodations you have mentioned?