Tuesday, June 17, 2008

You know you're in Positano if...


There are some things which are peculiar to Positano.

Living with beautiful scenery has it's ups and downs. Simple life can become involved and maddening.

And it's not just the stairs that get in the way!

Over the coming weeks, I will be posting a series of 'You know you're in Positano if...' taken from the Facebook group of the same name.

You know that you're in Positano if:


  1. Locals tell you that the stairs at Fornillo beach are a short cut and then they take the elevator.. your calf muscles are killing you the next day... you overtake tourists with high heeled sandals going down the stairs to the beach... your legs feel like jelly when you arrive.


  2. You post a letter from Positano to someone in Positano and it takes a month to get there...

  3. The village cemetery has a view to die for... (sorry)


  4. You are about to yell at the kids to sweep up the sand they spilt and you realize it is moving...you invest in about seven cans of insecticide and spend half your holidays plastering cracks with adhesive tape in order to keep the ants at bay.


  5. As soon as you leave you just want to go back...

  6. Work goes on in houses unofficially without anyone seeming to notice...You can't buy everything in Positano but you can buy (almost) everyone.

  7. The highlight of a day trip to Capri by boat, is returning and seeing Positano nestled in a backdrop of sunlit mountains.


  8. The post office is so disorganized that it runs out of stamps.


  9. After 6 months of mayhem in the postal services at Positano, the director is promoted... to another town!


  10. Due to the lack of things to do in winter, some Positanesi go to the local council meetings for what they call 'circus entertainment'.


  11. In winter you have to stand aside on the stairs to let burdened donkeys go past on their way to a building site.


  12. The council effort to clean the water of floating rubbish has resulted in a modified paddle boat with a netted scooper on the front.


  13. You learn to live with nature: You have a close encounter with a baby gecko in the shower and don't bat an eye lid; A well camouflaged lizard watches you perkily from the garlic basket while you wash the dishes and you don't run screaming for a broom; You learn to stomp down the stairs leading to the garden to allow lounging snakes to slither away before you see them.


  14. Crisp air, soft evening light and the smell of wood smoke accompany you through the alleys on your way home from a deserted beach in winter.


  15. Ninety- year- olds sit casually on the beach in their bikinis.




If you have a Facebook account, you can have a sneak preview of the rest of the entries and of course join the group and add your own !

Naturally you can add your own quirks here too...


9 comments:

katerinafiore said...

Yet another person I can visit in Positano. I have never been but I think it is due time. Coming back and forth to Italy for 6 years, it is about damn time I head to Amalfi. :) Glad to meet a new friend thru the blog world :) a presto

Annika said...

Haha that's all so great.

Re: the cemetary... it's without a doubt The Most Beautiful Cemetary Ever! And I even happen to know its caretaker! :)

I'm going to Italy in exactly one month. Yay!

Rosa said...

I'll see you both there !

Anonymous said...

You are so very spot on and had me laughing more than once! I loved the 'buy and bought' one :)

Anonymous said...

You had me laughing too. I imagine those 90 year olds must have kept in shape because of the stairs. (I've got a great picture of the post office.)

Fancy one of your readers actually knowing the caretaker of the cemetry you mention!

Anonymous said...

Love this post!!! Can't wait for more just like it :)

My worst memory of Positano is an old man in a speedo.

My eyes...my eyes!!

Lucia said...

Lovely just lovely. I'm jealous of your ups and jealous of your downs! You just have to take the good with the bad. Old men in speedo's is just wrong! 90 year old women in bathing suits, nothing wrong with that...I wanna be one of those! Living, laughing, loving like I haven't aged a bit! No better place to rest then at the beach! Today's waves are fabulous on the webcam.

Anonymous said...

I like it;)) I was laughing a lot reading it. I really like such "spots" about the living abroad...Greetings from Warsaw.

Rosa said...

Confessions of cleopantha- You know the area well

Casalba- you may be the only person ever to take a pic of the postoffice in Positano !

my melange- watch out - he's still there...

Lucia - you do need to rest at the beach before facing those stairs again !

Chiara- Hello to Warsaw from us !