Positano, Italy Friday 25 May

Woke to a gorgeous breakfast on the terrace, overlooking the ocean. The clouds were low and overcast but this did not detract from the beauty of my surroundings. We took the steep walk down town, walked around for a while then walked up and around to find a private beach. We could only see men on the beach and assumed it was a male only beach. I decided to check before we stepped foot on the beach, after reading some beaches are segregated in Italy. The woman I asked didn't speak english, and after a few minutes of yelling she found a bronzed young stud who laughed at us and said it was ok for us to go to the beach.

We swam in the glorious Mediterraen for a long time, and as the water is much saltier than home, we could float high and pretend we were olympic ballerinas. After a great swim, of course it was time for more food, so we headed back into town and to the delicatessen for some delicous homemade Italian treats. We sat on the water front to eat, whilst watching various artists painting the scenery, people dining in restaurants and children eating rather large, dripping gelatos.

Lunch finished, we boarded a jet boat to Amalfi, a 25 minute boat ride away past glorious scenery. The only imaginable scenery possible here is the best your imagination can conjour. We only spent a gelato, a punnet of strawberries and an hour in Amalfi, as unfortunately it was very touristy. We caught the bus back to Positano which took a hairaising hour, and of course was eventful. A large truck and bus, and about a million vespas and cars blocked our course at one stage, and an old Italian guy who was riding the bus with us decided to shove his blaring whistle in his mouth, get out of the bus and take care of the situation. There was an actual police officer sporting her own blaring whistle to take care of the traffic, but the old guy seemed to feel he was more equip for the job. All it took was the truck to reverse, our bus to move slightly past the truck and let the oncoming bus and traffic through, but this sequence took at least 20 minutes to figure out. Nothing is ever a rush in Italy.

After getting home it was siesta time, then beer oclock, then homemade ragu dinner, then Kaz, Kath and I did the 1.5 hour trek downtown, then back up the hill to work the days food off. Or at least the beer. Another relaxing day in heaven.