Positano My Love

Alright everyone, it's finally time for... POSITANO, ITALY!

This was our favorite destination of the entire trip!  Positano stole my heart.  I seriously cannot wait for the time when we can go back!  Positano is the Amalfi Coast's most picturesque and photogenic town, with steeply stacked houses, hotels, boutiques, and restaurants tumbling down to the coast. 

Seriously though... this. place. is. perfect.

It was quite the adventure to get to Positano.  We flew from Venice to Naples, trained to Sorrento, then bused to Positano.  We were pretty amazed that we arrived in one piece to Positano at the end of the day.  The bus driver who drove us along the steep cliffs of the Amalfi Coast to Positano was wack.  Spencer kept calling him Pitbull's brother, because he looked and acted just like him.  He was smoking while driving and tapped the poor, old lady on a scooter in front of us with the bus because he thought she was driving too slow.  That bus ride felt a little like the 'Wild Mouse' ride at Lagoon, where you whiplash around corners and feel like you're going to fall to your death over the edge (but in this case, "over the edge" meant a straight drop off the coastal cliffs into the ocean below).  We finally arrived to our final destination at the end of the day and met the hotel owner, Martino.  He didn't speak much English, so we had to communicate using a lot of hand gestures.  We then went and found an amazing Italian restaurant for a late dinner (homemade stuffed pasta).  The waitress brought us complimentary champagne and got her feelings hurt when we tried to explain that we didn't drink alcohol.  She looked at us like we were aliens.  I know she was thinking, "What the heck are you two doing in Italy??"  She quickly forgot and brought us free Limoncello (alcoholic lemon drink) at the end of our meal.  We sneakily gave it to the couple sitting at the table next to us.

The next morning we woke up to this insanely beautiful view of Positano from our hotel room!

It truly took my breath away.

In the Amalfi Coast, they have a fetish with all things lemon! 

Football-sized lemons are everywhere and everything is lemon-flavored.

We changed into our swimsuits and enjoyed relaxing on the pebbly beach.

The warm sun on our bodies felt amazing after all the rain we had encountered throughout the trip!

We had been warned beforehand about European beachgoers...

but we were still in shock when we encountered some topless sunbathers! 

I made sure to direct Spencer's eyes elsewhere.

Gelato #174923

It was fun to sit on the beach and look up to see our hotel.

Chez Black was our favorite restaurant find! We ate there a couple times.

One night after dinner, we got wifi outside the restaurant and FaceTimed my mom and dad.

The restaurant owner came over and said to my mom,

"Come to Positano. Leave tomorrow. I give you two days. Ciao Mama!"

I finally found a true Italian cannoli! This was one of the tastiest treats of my life.

I still talk about it all the time. We ate our cannoli while cuddling on a beach chair by the water.
It was the perfect end to an amazing day. 

...but then... we had to hike a bazillion stairs back up to our hotel. Death I tell you.

The next day we hiked back down to the beach (stopping to take pics with giant lemons, of course)

to plan the adventures of the day.

My two favvvvorites...

We decided to jump on a ferry to take us to the beautiful coastal town of Amalfi.

Main square in Amalfi

We took a bus ride up narrow, windy roads to the hilltop town of Ravello.

We strolled through the magical gardens of Villa Rufolo (postcard views!).

It was built in the 13th century and was home to the Rufolo dynasty and several popes.

Once it was dark, we bought bus tickets back to Positano and enjoyed this delectable little cake.

The next morning, we hurried down to the beach to catch a ferry to the Isle of Capri!

Again...

This right here was an important photo op. My mother almost got swept away by a 

"rogue wave" on these very steps.  I am very glad she didn't get washed to sea.  I do love her.

CAPRI!

We took a boat out to the famous Blue Grotto!

The Blue Grotto is a sea cave where sunlight shines through and creates a reflection 

that illuminates the cave with blue light. We took little row boats in the cave for a few minutes.

It was such a cool experience.

Our row boat guide waited for the exact window when the tide dropped,

then he grabbed this chain and yanked our boat out of the cave.

He said people hit their heads all the time. 

We then enjoyed some Capri beach time before heading back to Positano. Heaven.

The next day... June 5th! MY BIRTHDAY!

Spending my birthday in Italy couldn't be more dreamy. 

It's absolutely a birthday I will never, ever forget.

Spencer woke up, went to the market, and came back to the room to make me breakfast in bed!

It was hilarious to watch him scramble eggs in a small pot on a hot plate. It was delicious!

By now you know I took too many pictures with giant lemons.

The restaurant owner below us knew it too.  He gave me a lemon for my birthday! :)

ROMA, here we come!!