Monday 22 August 2005. A rainbow morning! As we set off from the hotel to walk into Sorrento to catch the boat to Positano on the other side of the peninsular, a rainbow stood out clear and bright over the rooftops.
"That's a good sign!" we thought but changed our minds a little when the boat turned out to have been cancelled due to an approaching storm. We looked out over the Bay of Naples, resplendent in bright sunshine, not a cloud in the sky.
"But..." No buts. The boat was definitely not going and he firmly gave us our money back. We decided we would walk up to the bus station and catch a bus there instead. In retrospect this was brave. Actually...in retrospect it was downright stupid but anyway, we reached the bus station and found a couple of Irish girls who were going the same place and we congratulated ourselves and each other on being the only ones waiting.
Half an hour later the place was crawling with people. Hardly any tourists, they were all locals and they were all determined to be on the bus first. The bus, labelled a Sita bus was about half full before I could force a way in, usher Fran and Mum under my arm and then turn to grab the hand of one of the Irish girls and pull her in through the crowd. She in turn was pulling her mate.
"Aw, t'anks fer that!" she gasped. We had managed to get seats but by now the bus was absolutely full and the girls and around far-too-many other people were standing in the aisle. The bus set off and across the mountains via numerous hairpin bends that the driver took with contemptuous disdain without hardly slowing. The locals were obviously all used to the people standing suddenly sitting on their knees, but it was a new experience for us.
"Jasus! Would ye keep a hold o' me?" begged the Irish girl standing next to me, grabbing my shoulder. I looked up just as the sun shone through the opposite window, turning her top into a glowing orange screen against which the silhouette of an A1, prize-winning, absolutely perkfect breast added its plea for holding onto... I manfully grabbed her forearm and looked the other way. It didn't make any difference, because for the next half hour and at intervals over the next few days I could still see that breast... Men of a certain age, you know...
Eventually we came to Positano. Actually we came to a clifftop about four or five hundred feet above Positano which is where the bus dropped us off.
"Never mind, Mum, we'll be able to get a bus or a taxi up again," we said confidently, setting off down.
We stopped halfway down to rest the knees and had a coffee in a small bar which had a terrace on the cliff side. The Italians make their latte-style coffees with hot milk, without all the froth that our UK coffee shops - no matter how "Italian" they claim to be - insist on ladelling on the top. To me that makes it a cappuccino not a latte. Anyway, don't forget that in Italian latte means milk. If you want one of these then ask for a latte macchiato.
The climb down the steps and narrow streets winding their way towards the sea may have been hard on the knees, but there were plenty of shops to keep Mum and Miss Franny distracted. Many times I turned round to see where they were and had to climb back up before I found them again!
Eventually we reached the bottom and by then there were a few clouds. "We might actually get that storm!" I said brightly.
We had a little wander, finding a row of Martello towers along the coast and then remarking how the sea had started to crash up a bit on the rocks.
We found a little street winding its way back up the hill and went a little way, enjoying the colours and bustle of a market and street of shops.
When we came down again it was getting towards lunchtime so we found a restaurant on the edge of the beach called Chez Black which did superb marguerita pizzas. As we sat there we watched it get darker and darker and darker. "I think we'll head for the bus when we come out!" Fran said. We hadn't seen any buses going up the hill and there was just one taxi on the rank. My Italian isn't up to all that much and it was a struggle before I understood that he wasn't a local taxi but had just dropped off someone after driving them all the way from Rome!
He was therefore very reluctant to let us get into the cab in case local taxi drivers reported him. He wouldn't budge even when we gestured at Mum who was obviously going to struggle to walk up the hill. But in the end we had to.
With frequent stops whilst it got steadily darker and clouds thickened overhead. By the time we were about three quarters of the way up we were tired, never mind Mum. We were starting to get worried about her, although with the frequent stops to catch breath she was doing ok.
We found three girls sitting on the wall at the side of the road taking photos of each other in Spanish. They asked me to take their photo all together so I did and then was handed the next camera, "and mine!", so I did again and then was handed the next camera, "and mine!", so I did it again. By then I'd got into a habit and so I lifted my own camera and said "and mine!" to which they all fell about laughing and posed for this. Nice fun moment.
We had got almost to the very top to join the main road when the rain started. Over the course of the next few steps, thunder crashed, lightning flashed and the rain really started...
Ten minutes later, whilst we were still walking along towards the bus stop, the water that was falling on the mountains above us had started to run down them. The road was two inches deep in running water and the amount of rain falling was ridiculous. We had no coats of course - you can see from the earlier photos how sunny and warm it had been. We found an open door and sheltered in the front hall of a business building for a while, feeling very guilty, but not having been able to make anyone hear us to ask permission. Then finally the rain slackened off and we carried on to find the bus stop.
The bus was absolutely crowded. Thankfully someone gave up their seat for Mum but Fran and I had to stand all the way back, hanging on to the luggage rack as it hurtled around the hairpins. The locals must have really strong backs...!
And finally, the day ended with a perfect sunset over the Bay of Naples, as seen from Sorrento. A cruise ship has left Naples and is sailing past Ischia, on its way back out to the Mediterranean.
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