I Can See Capri from My Villa (Take that, Sarah Palin!)

We left Rome Saturday morning and headed to the Amalfi Coast. We chose to go by high-speed train (180 miles per hour!) to Naples and from there we had a driver in a mini-van prearranged to drive us to Positano. To readers who look for travel advice from me: This is NOT the cheapest way to get there and probably not even the most effective. But four Piermans plus two HOPs (husbands of Pierman sisters) traveling together requires simplification over cost effectiveness. Going cheap would’ve cost us a bag, a passport and a sister, and Marsha would have a bruise, I am almost certain.

Our villa–The Villa Arzilla 1, is just magical. There are terraces and balconies and patios everywhere. There are three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Oh, and 600 steps down to the water. We’ve done this trek exactly once.

Our landlord, Salvatore, is related to or knows everyone in Positano so we have eaten at his brother’s restaurant, shopped in another relative’s grocery store, had a nephew for a waiter and a brother for a taxi cab driver. It’s a bit like Sesame Street, this place.

We are having a very difficult time figuring out:
1. The bus schedule
2. The bidets
3. The hot/not hot shower
4. The shower nozzle (Dorothy flooded the bathroom).
5. The type of dog that barks all night below us–or above us–or around us. He is omnipresent.
6. The words to “Volare Cantare” which we must sing always.
7. Why Italian waiters don’t want to sell us house wine.
8. And what in the name of all that is holy is going on with all of the ants?
9. Also, did you know there’s this thing called percolated coffee? And it requires a stove? Mind blowing.

Here are some photos of our wonderful villa. It is perfectly situated between Praiano and Positano–technically walkable to both towns which we have done (and we have the FitBit miles to prove it!)