Wednesday 6 September 2006Yang and I took the first tube to London Bridge to catch the 5:50am train to Gatwick. Unfortunately due to some problems with the train line from Charing Cross, the train was cancelled. As was the next train – which was half an hour later. So, Yang and I, and an Aussie on his way to Krakow, caught a taxi to Victoria Station and then caught the Gatwick Express from there. We arrived into Gatwick after 7am and our flight was due to depart at 7:45am so we were queue jumping at the Check-in (which we wouldn’t have had to do if the new baggage restrictions weren’t still in place), Security Check-point, Security scanning and then we ran to the gate…arriving with 10 minutes to spare.
The flight left late, due to luggage being loaded into the aircraft slowly (do you see a recurring theme of how annoying travelling is now?)
When we landed in Naples, it was chaos and there was unclaimed baggage everywhere…a sign of things to come as 45 minutes later we were one bag short and no more luggage was being added to the baggage carousel. So then we joined the baggage services queue to file a lost baggage form, but given we were in Italy, where they do not understand the concept of "queuing", we only made it to the front of the queue another 45 minutes later.
The next step was to pick up the car…but that was also an exercise with transferring to a different car park, the car being damaged, swapping cars, finding the replacement car in the car park (they didn’t know where the car was parked, and it was a big car park) and then finding that the “brand new” and “perfect condition” car actually had scratches all over it. So whilst Yang sorted the car out, I was on the phone with Sean and Henry in London to check out our respective insurance policies.
Anyway, despite the dramas, we finally left the chaos of Naples and headed to Positano. After checking into the
Albergo California, we headed for lunch at Le Pergola…pretty much our only choice as most restaurants had finished serving lunch (it was close to 4 pm already and therefore afternoon siesta time).
Later that evening, I met up with Alli and the girls for Hens Night Part II whilst Yang met up with Aaron and the boys for Bucks Night Part II (for those who had come from London). The girls were all dressed up as we were heading to
Donna Rosa, a restaurant in the village of Montepertuso which is perched above Positano and apparently one of the best restaurants on the Amalfi Coast. Unfortunately for me, my Jimmy Choos and make-up bag (as eyeliner and mascara are considered liquids and need to be checked in under current baggage restrictions) were in the suitcase that didn’t arrive, so I felt a bit out of place in jeans, singlet and my grotty Puma trainers…oh well…I am married I suppose so no one to impress!
After dinner the girls and boys met up at
Music on the Rocks, a nightclub set up inside a seaside cave. One of Alli’s friends picked up a bunny outfit for Alli in Hong Kong and being the good sport that she is, she wore it most of the night…much to the delight of the Italian boys at the club.
Thursday 7 September 2006We played ‘dodge the tour buses’ and headed back up the Amalfi’s Coast many hairpin bends to Naples Airport to pick up Fiona. It was good to see she arrived with her suitcase and a pair of back up shoes in her hand carry (I wasn’t going to risk losing another pair of shoes!)
Back in Positano, we grabbed lunch at La Cambusa (famous for its homemade ravioli) and then walked it off around the town before having a swim. When the sun set we trekked up to the other side of Positano and had dinner at Il Capitano. At 11:30pm we were woken up by a 30 minute fireworks display for an Indian Wedding that was taking place on a small cruise ship docked in the Positano Bay.
Friday 8 September 2006
First stop this morning was Grotto della Smeraldo (Emerald Grotto). Inside the Grotto, a boatman rows you around in box-like rowing boats singing Italian songs out of tune and trying to get you to imagine a stalagmite formation as Mussolini for the Italians, Tony Blair for the English and Ronald Reagan for the Americans (not sure whether he knew that there have been a few more presidents since then)…and we were disappointed that John Howard didn’t get a mention! The Grotto was pretty enough, and in hindsight worth the visit given we weren’t able to see the Blue Grotto in Capri.
Then we continued along the coast to Amalfi where we walked around the Piazza, up to the Duomo di Amalfi and along the main street (Via Lorenzo d’Amalfi) where we tasted Limoncello (yummy!) at one of the never-ending stores selling it and then to Da Maria for pizza. We headed back to Positano after lunch so that Yang and I could get ready for Alli and Aaron’s wedding.
Once ready, we headed back to Amalfi and then upwards to Ravello (apparently the aristocratic town of the Amalfi Coast). As we were running a bit late, we quickly walked through the main Piazza to
Villa Cimbrone, where the wedding was going to take place (have a look at the pictures on the website – it’s so pretty). Fiona also had a chance to wander around the gardens before she caught the bus back down to Amalfi and then back to Positano.
Alli and Aaron’s wedding was all style as can be expected of two such gorgeous people:
- Wedding Dress from Max Mara
- Wedding Suit from Oswald Boateng
- Stilettos from Jimmy Choo
- Shoes from Oliver Sweeney
- Garden setting of Villa Cimbrone – the most well known garden estate on the Amalfi Coast – designed by Lord Grimthorpe who also designed London’s Big Ben
The ceremony was sweet and personal, and then we had photos afterwards which were a lot of fun with an English / Italian translator telling us what to do. Drinks followed (much needed as it was so hot!) – champagne cocktails were very nice…but I hope they weren’t mixing it using the Billecart-Salmon champagne we had later…
Everything went pretty smoothly most of the night, apart from Alli’s skirt catching fire on candles at the side of the footpath leading up to the crypt…but it was all fun and great to see Alli laughing it off during her speech.
After a bit of dancing and lots of mojitos…the clock struck 12 and the maitre d’ politely asked us to leave…so most of us moved onto the Piazza for coffee, more drinks and gelato. Yang and I then dropped Christian (Aaron’s cousin) and Anna off in Amalfi before taking the winding roads back to Positano.
Saturday 9 September 2006
A bit tired and slightly hung over from the night before, Fiona woke us up at 9am so we could head to Sorrento. Sorrento was not quite what we expected, totally packed with tour groups making it hard to walk anywhere without being shoved aside to make way for them. So we just took in a few sights, did a bit of shopping…Fiona found a place which sold Miss Sixty so we avoided the tour groups in there for while, then had lunch – best pasta for me so far as it wasn’t al dente (so most probably not as authentic!) and headed back during afternoon siesta (good planning on our part as there was less traffic).
Back in Positano, Fiona and I headed to the beach to cool down. That evening, there was a festival on and so we strategically placed ourselves on a table at Buca di Bucco overlooking the stage on the beach so that we could watch the concert. Unfortunately and typical of Italian punctuality, it still hadn’t started 1 hour after it was due to so we walked around the town to look at the various stalls set up giving free food and the Italian version of sangria. We ended up only falling asleep around 3am only to be woken up with fireworks (which were right on the beach) at 3:30am.
Sunday 10 September 2006Still trying to catch up on 2 nights of sleep, we headed out early again to catch the first ferry to Capri. Given up to 60,000 people flock to Capri everyday during high season, the Marina Grande was a nightmare when we docked. We initially tried to find a tour company to take us to the Blue Grotto but were told that the sea was too choppy and therefore it was closed. So we headed up to Capri town on the funicular – an interesting experience given there were 8 tour groups of gay men in the queue with us.
In the town centre, we walked up to the Belvedere Cannone (where there were no tourists as it was a steep climb), shopping in the designer stores (Yang wouldn’t let me buy anything though – how mean!), Belvedere di Tragara, further up to the Arco Naturale – where we stopped to have lunch at Le Grottelle. We also visited Limoncello di Capri, who own the rights to the name and recipe for Limoncello (as it was invented in Capri) for Limoncello tasting and also to purchase some for home.
We headed back down to the Marina to see if the Blue Grotto was open again, but unfortunately for us the water was still too choppy so they weren’t taking anyone there. So we had gelato, chocolate cake (apparently another local dish – but I wasn’t impressed) and a lemon granita before heading back to Positano.
Monday 11 September 2006A historical excursion today to
Herculaneum, a city that was also destroyed by the same series of destructions that destroyed Pompeii. Then we drove up Mount Vesuvius but unfortunately couldn’t join a tour as it was closed (I sometimes think the Italians just close everything so they don’t have to work). So, onwards to
Pompeii…another exercise in tour group avoidance. I guess the difference between Herculaneum and Pompeii is that the houses in Herculaneum are better preserved over a smaller land area whereas Pompeii is huge and there was lots of walking between exhibits.
Tuesday 12 September 2006We spent our last day in Positano shopping and lazing by the beach…finally some proper relaxation time.
Dinner at La Tagliata in Montepertuso (with great views of Positano) which was a great ending to our Italian holiday as we had a special menu with antipasti, pasta, secondi (which comprised a platter of meat that we only finished half of and for Fiona a plate of seafood), dessert and unlimited red and white wine…man we were exploding by the time we finished.
Wednesday 13 September 2006We said a sad good bye to Positano, the Albergo California and to Maria, the owner who was just so friendly during our stay and headed to the chaos of Naples.
Arriving in Naples, all the relaxation that we had in Positano disappeared due to the chaos and stress of the traffic in Naples. We visited the main shopping streets, had lunch at Brandi (where the Pizza Margherita was invented), toured the National Archaeological Museum (where the original artefacts from Herculaneum and Pompeii are stored), and then headed back to the airport for our flight to London.
Thursday 14 September 2006
Back to work, but I spent 2 hours at the Australian High Commission queuing up to renew our passports. After work, I met up with Fiona, Sean and Yang for dinner at the
Portrait Restaurant in the National Portrait Gallery. After dinner, we visited the Angus McBean: Portraits Exhibition and then to Sean’s apartment so Fiona could see where he lived.
Friday 15 September 2006Dinner at Jason, Ammy and Peter’s…as usual, great food…just like eating at Mandarin Kitchen.
Saturday 16 September 2006We woke up early and caught the train to Bicester to go shopping at
Bicester Village, an outlet shopping village 1 hour out of London.
We got back late in the afternoon and Fiona met Maxine at Southbank for the Thames Valley Festival. When Fiona made it back to our place, we picked up her luggage and headed to Paddington Station, where Yang left us. I followed Fiona to Heathrow as she was quite overweight so I was afraid I had to carry some of her luggage back with me. Luckily they let her through…most probably because she said that she had just been at a medical conference and had lots of books with her…the things Doctors get away with!
I got back home around 8:30pm and Yang had cooked katsu curry for Jane, Loreen, Felix and Helen. We spent the evening talking about our dramas during the past week.
Sunday 17 September 2006We spent most of the day cleaning…but I did make it to the gym after a two week absence! Helen, Loreen’s friend from Deloitte moved into our spare room today.
We had another early start on Sunday to visit Stonehenge. There were lots of tourists but it was worth the visit. Quite sad that in years gone by they were still letting people take the rocks in the formation to use as building materials.
After Stonehenge, we headed to Bath where we had a quick lunch and then continued our sightseeing. We walked past the Jane Austen Centre (but 3 guys to 2 girls meant majority votes for not going in!) to the Circus and the Royal Crescent, did a tour of the Roman Baths (which is still fed by three hot springs from the naturally occurring thermal spa on which Bath was built – we also drank the water from the hot springs in the Pump Room after the tour…I would prefer Acqua Panna any day), admired the Bath Abbey and then had afternoon tea at Sally Lunn, famous for its buns. Initially I was sceptical about how good a bun could be and thought it was all tourist hype…but it was so yummy! I would recommend a visit there to anyone going to Bath.
