To say it is a feast for the senses in Positano is an understatement. The term, Sensory Overload gets its meaning here. It takes time to digest, adjust and appreciate the gifts of life in a place such as this…..
For those of us who live near and around where I do on the east coast of the US, life is a series of roamings along relatively horizontal hills and dales. Basically, it’s a flat life. Our eyes and equilibrium are very much adjusted to life on a horizontal plane. That is why, when you arrive in Positano, especially for the first time, your eye, and your psyche need some time to inhale the change, adjust and engage in the unique wonder which it is to “live” in a vertical world such as this.
Our driver, Christiano, seemed to be well adjusted to the idea that we would be in the realm of the “oh wows” as he drove us from the Naples train station to our next stop at Le Sirenuse. I have had this feeling only once before, when George and I did some exploring in areas of Santa Barbara, where people have built their homes into the sides of extreme cliffs, off of windy roads that make your head spin. You wind up saying to yourself and each other, “how did they do this?” and “gee, could I live here?, um no”. Anyway, it does indeed take a period of time to adjust your orientation and inspect the spectacle which is life in a vertical environment. The result is a whole lot of respect and admiration for life on the other plane…… To a certain extent, you get this feeling in Cabo San Lucas as well, yet there the extreme verticality is not as imposing.
I had never visited the Amalfi coast before. On Friday, we boarded a train for Naples and the subsequent drive to Positano. I have traveled by train in Italy before – from Milan to Venice, from Venice to Florence and then back to Milan. Indeed, Italy’s rail service is well done – a standard which, incidentally, puts Amtrak to shame, but you already know that. Riding through the outskirts of Italy’s great cities is indeed a treat. After passing through the requisite outer limits, the densely built semi-urban residential areas, which lack any architectural inspiration(really, why?) you come upon the most beautiful green and obviously fertile countryside which is so prolific in Italy. This is a fun part of the trip, to see the green fields and the farmers preparing and working. I’ve not been to Tuscany yet – on the next trip, for sure.
We bypassed Sorrento and this made me a little wistful, but we were assured we were off to somewhere very special. Christiano stopped the car a little while before we got to the hotel and showed us the view from a tiny fruit stand. Basically, this is the beginning of the “adjustment period” where you begin to learn to look up and look down.
We spent an enchanting three and a half days in Positano, a great deal of which I spent developing a deep respect for the people who live here and an absorption of the concept and realities of living life in a place where you must adapt to such an extreme verticality. All of life is spent basically trying to adhere all the elements of your being onto the plane opposite of ours – to attach all that is instinctive in our beings – a house, a garden and a business, into the side of a mountain. Amazing, and amazingly beautiful.
Le Sirenuse is an oasis of sorts. It’s not that there aren’t any other beautiful hotels in Positano, there are. But, at Le Sirenuse, every physical detail is attended to in a way that makes you feel that the entire world is beautiful. While the slight musty smell and motif reminds me somewhat of old Bermuda, comforting in some odd way and in no way off-putting, this is a place not to be compared to anywhere else, at least anywhere else that I have ever been. The property itself relays the affect of striving for an understated perfection in a single spot (but not trying too hard) and I will use the word enchanting once more.
We inadvertently stepped into the mass at this church and it made me want to stay.
My first reactions to Le Sirenuse? This is the perfect place for a honeymoon – and indeed there were several young couples to be observed, and then, wow, one could stay here for a long while to restore oneself in this perfect little idyllic cocoon. Not to compare or diminish my impression of this particular place, but it is what I image it to be like in Greece – a place I hope to get to soon and see for myself – I think this is because of the thick stucco white-washed walls all around.
this is an amazingly vertical shot, I don’t know if you can get it
Anyway, you must come away from this place with an incredible respect for the people who live here’s great ingenuity and adaptability, as they have surely perfected the ability to cram every square inch with beauty and the necessities of a sensory-filled life. The weather was indeed perfection again, and everyone happily emerged in the “life on the head of pin” concept of a remote, yet complete village life. Wow, I found myself first feeling that I could never live here and then, wow, I could definitely live here – as all of your senses are fulfilled in this place!
Of the many delights and characteristics of life I focused in on, one of my most favorite was to sit and observe the residents living their lives on, what I will call the cliffs. I don’t know if they call them cliffs, but I guess I would have to. I tried over the course of our few days to observe people in their homes – this was particularly easy to do from our vantage point as you are basically sitting directly across from at least a part of the community. I enjoyed seeing people sweeping their terraces off and especially loved watching one man dig his garden, maybe a space which could not have been more than 6×8′ on the terrace stepped off the edge of his house. I watched him with his spade as he diligently dug away and made the best of his limited space. This was what I guessed to be a ritual he performed year after year in a “tiny” space, but it was obviously enough to satisfy his need to garden. It made me grateful to have my space at home, but also at the same time wistful that he had such an unique challenge to confront, and conquer – presumably with a good satisfaction quotient. After all, doesn’t everyone just need a few flowers and a few vegetable plants to get that desired affect of gardening? Scale can be nice but just the achievement is soulful.
Highlights at Le Sirenuse:
One day as I sat next to this little alcove having lunch, a chef came over and stood by our table and, sort of stood there uncomfortably. I was puzzled by this as he seemed like he wanted to go somewhere or do something but I did not know what. He didn’t say anything. Our waiter finally said he needed to get by me. To where? I moved my chair and he promptly scurried by and gathered some herbs he had growing in pots right here – lemon verbena and mint mostly. As he brushed by on his way back to the kitchen, he placed this at my place at the table – never saying a word.
the fragrance of this lemon verbena is heady and wonderful – I dropped it into my iced tea after just holding it and inhaling for several minutes……
Ryan’s lunch
Lunch at Le Sirenuse was a highlight. I have to say that I had the best grilled lemon chicken breast ever for lunch there. I know this probably sounds silly, but for all of us who have endeavored to make the perfect boneless chicken breast, with both crispy skin and moist and tender insides, you know what I mean. There was the perfect note of lemon flavor and I could literally eat this for lunch or dinner any day with their delicious green salad with slivered fennel. Perfectly simple and executed. I found myself wishing for this meal after I left.
I just realized I neglected to highlight Italy’s famed obsession with citrus in any of my posts about Rome – except when I showed the article from the International Herald Tribune about the lemon farmer. I did not mean to gloss-over this topic. In Positano, you begin to become immersed into the meaning of citrus in life here. (Yes, we have copied this is California and, I hesitate to say, Florida, but to compare what goes on here to anything in Florida is an insult). The obsession with their lemons and blood oranges is evident everywhere – as their luck in the perfect climate results in all the visual delights of their plants as well as the benefits in food and drink! Not to mention their famed Limoncello.
I was told that it is not nice here during the Winter months, but I preferred to dismiss this idea totally from my mind and just indulge in the conditions as they were – air crisp, cool sometimes and warm others, sun, warming and comforting, visual assault – total, remarkable, settling and encasing.
Walking through “town” here is a real treat – you have to adjust again, to the uber-narrow sidewalks and to the constant walking of up and down steps. It seems all of life is constructed around steps. Thank goodness for stone masons.
Offerings at the bakery:
Christiano told us, as we drove from Naples that his wife was the Concierge at an “old” hotel in Positano – Palazzo Murat. He was professionally adept in not showing any partiality for either of the two hotels – I think he knew that we could draw our own conclusions. Until you see this place up close and personal, you can’t appreciate what has been done here.
view of Palazzo Murat from our room at Le Sirenuse – is the opposite of the entrance side:
stunning, romantic, warm, earthy and dream-provoking
I am in no way knocking Le Sirenuse, but you have to appreciate the vision and creativity in expressing this place – and, this is where perhaps I really fell in love with Positano – when I saw the garden at Palazzo Murat! When I saw this garden, I knew this was the perfect expression of what it means to love the soil, and all it means to garden – to till, to design, to sow, to nurture, to respect, to reap, to immerse onself in the process of the gifts of the cycles of the earth – I know this probably sounds corny if not trite, but such is true.
View of the garden at Palazzo Murat from our room
As soon as I saw this, and I had no idea of its context from our room – that it was indeed part of the complex of Palazzo Murat, I was immediately strongly drawn to it. But, I never knew what it really was until I stepped inside the courtyard myself, had dinner there and then stepped inside the garden. This is perhaps one of the purest expressions of love of the earth I have ever seen. I wish I could have met the person who lovingly created and tended this. Next time I will make a point of this for sure. I have to say that these pictures do not do this place full justice and I am sorry for this. Because I took most of them at near dusk, they are slightly dark and you can’t quite capture the full magical feelings of being there. It is no understatement that this is nearly the most perfect garden and setting I have ever seen – there are perhaps larger and more majestic, but this is an exquisite expression because it was so fittingly executed in its setting and conditions and within its limitations here.
the chefs in their kitchen which is open to the terrace:
On our second night we took “a trip” to Montepertuso – even further up the mountain from Positano, to have dinner at La Terra. This is a place which, if you are of the faint of heart, you need a couple of glasses of wine to settle yourself as you sit at a table which has between you and the abyss, just a little post and rail fence. It was nearly dark when we arrived and this was both a blessing and a shame because we could not fully take in the beauty of the setting and the owner’s garden below, from which he claimed he sourced most if not all of his accoutrements and yet, thankfully, we could not fully appreciate the precipice we sat on. We could make out the outline of the garden below us, but could not fully absorb the details. The owner was a charming man, served us a delightful dinner – everyone was outside, and entertained us with a saxophone serenade after everyone in the restaurant had been served their entrees. It was too dark to photograph the setting and the topography, a shame. This was an experience unto itself.
The final evening we did dine at Al Palazzo, on the terrace, the occasion on which I did most of the photographs above. I would seriously consider staying at Palazzo Murat next time we visit.
All in all, staying in Positano was one of the most wonderful times of my life. It’s beauty is overwhelming and it charms seep into your bones. There is definitely a pull to return here. I think we came at a particularly beautiful time and I would return again in early May. It was sad to say goodbye to Positano when we left on Tuesday to fly from Naples to Catania.
Incredible pictures of Positano. I’m whoozy just looking at them and thinking of the vertical drop! Wish we were still there enjoying the good life.