Positively Positano
This is a true story. It happened to a friend of a friend of mine. That friend of mine is Elly and the friend of her is me. It's a long one but its a good'un.
In the South of Italy along the Amalfi coast is a picturesque little town nestled in the nooks and crannies of the stony cliff side that goes by the name of Positano. It is easily one of the most expensive places to go and stay in Italy, so for backpackers we were thanking God and his servant and our friend Victoria with whom I stayed with in Paris in April for having us stay at her 2 bedroom villa she had rented for the month.
The trek to get there, however, was a bloody slog. We bid our farewells to our Rome buddy, Stef at 7:30 in the morning then followed her out of Rome shortly after. The trip went like this:
Bus to Cornelia, metro to Roma Termini, train to Napoli, Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento and finally a bus to Positano. We got into Positano at 5pm. That's 9 hours of chopping and changing and broken Italian and getting lost in stations and scrambling for the correct change. But oh my was it worth it.
As our bus wound its way around the final segment of coast line we were greeted by what heaven must actually be (in this case it was not a halfpipe). Crystal shimmering ocean of the most azure blue shades, boats chilling along the coast, pebbled beaches, hills scattered with little cement pastel coloured homes, and the vast, sprawling cliffs up above and below.
Vicki had aperotivos and a charcuterie/antipasti platter waiting for us and we all stayed up for hours spilling the beans on our travels and just being total girls.
The next day we started ghe day with a swim down at the private beach and collected sand washed glass and terracotta. After breakfast, we took a walk into town through the small winding streets and alleyways lined with large cobble stones, had an 8 euro smoothie (that's $12 AUD. That shit cray) and took a look down at the waterfront "Marina Grande" with its orange and green beach chairs and umbrellas.
Saturday night was the real deal. We decided to go out for dinner at a place called Bruno's ristorante and had a bottle of Campania's finest below €20, and got stuck into mixed bruschetta, lemon and herb fish and balsamic grilled chicken. It was at dinner we met a newly wed couple from New York sitting behind us, the husband very charismatic and giving me a sip of his grappa because "you look like you can handle it". After chatting to both for a while, Elly and I left Vicki and the couple and went to get gelati along the waterfront, meeting two Aussie girls and then headed over to the club.
When we got to music on the rocks and stepped inside, there they were: Jason and Vicki waving from the bar. Elly and I thought it was so funny that Vicki had been convinced to come down for a drink and Jason bought us all drinks (starting at €15 each!!!). Elly and I said to the bar man Ivan "yeah look mate, we don't want to pay for this gig tonight" and so he gave all four of us wrist bands for free, saving each of us €25. We joked about being real Aussies who ride kangaroos to work with our personal belongings stuffed down the pouch and reeled Jason on for a bit, and then finally we met other Aussies and Americans, all newly weds as well! The party got pumping, and whilst Vicki, Elly and I were dancing on the empty dance floor, Jason was securing the eight of us a table and seats and drink selection (which I overheard had cost him at least €1000. The guy was cray.
Drinks and drinks later, the floor was full and we were all dancing about with what seemed like a thousand Italian men, all pretty keen for da ladies, as we soon found out. Shit got cray. We met some twins from the Bermuda Triangle ("HOW DID YOU GET OUTTA THERE?") and then Elly and I found some chicks from Austria and we all danced together, then found ourselves surrounded by a cute Italian boy that was keen on Elly and I had an Italian Matthew McConaughey dancing with me (legit not even kidding the hair and mannerisms and ridiculous tan were the same).
Well, the Aussie bride invited a drunk Vicki and I outside for a smoke. I have never smoked cigarettes and they are foul like nothing else in my opinion, but it happened and after two puffs I left my cigarette in Vicki's already occupied hand, went downstairs, then ended up making out with three different Italian men, one of which attempting to explore my externals and then I escaped and left because that stuff just ain't okay!
This messy white-girl-wasted experience was a one-off, never before one and I now just laugh at everything that happened even though it was completely out of my comfort zone! I can't say "when in Rome" because we were in Positano but "when in greater Italy" seems to apply just as well. Europe is teaching me a lot about this world that exists out of little New South Wales, Australia, and I feel so much wiser and a little bit more liberated because of it. Ciao!!
