Memory is an odd thing. Sometimes I can barely remember what day it is or what I had for lunch, not even an hour before. Other times, I can remember things that happened in my youth like it was right now….so clear and vivid….a significant sports event….a tender moment with my father…or, a trip to a faraway land that previously, I didn’t even know existed.
My father had no reason to be a traveler. He grew up a sharecropper’s son in grinding poverty with little hope to believe he would travel out of the state of Alabama much less around the world. And yet, at twelve, there I was in Sorrento, Italy just southwest of Naples along the north shore of the Sorrentine Peninsula, with my father and two older brothers exploring the world. It was very heady stuff at twelve and made the impression you would expect, and no doubt, my father had hoped. I remember the cliffs and treacherous drives along the sinewy roads…..the beautiful flowers and lemon trees right outside my room…..the azure water that was so brillantly blue. And so, I decided to go back almost 50 years later to rediscover what I felt in my heart of hearts way back when.
Actually, I am driving along the southern side of the Sorrentine Peninsula better known as the Amalfi Coast. That is a detail that most tourists and travelers might take fairly lightly but I would bet the locals would fight you over…maybe like New York City versus Upstate. While the north shore is spectacular, the Amalfi Coast is….well…otherworldly. My destination of choice is Positano and I have to admit that it is because of movies. Under the Tuscan Sun, The Talented Mr Ripley and Only You…to name just a very few had scenes filmed here and while Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Diane Lane, Raoul Bova and Marisa Tormei are all impossibly beautiful, they truly are upstaged by the stunning vistas of this coastline and specifically, this town.
This is the end of the season…late October….just days before this coast scales way back…if not, shuts down for the tourist trade. I am here to celebrate my 61st birthday….alone but not really……here with my long lost love and I want to spend these days of celebration with her….this coastline and specifically, Positano. If this was the high season, these roads would be treacherous…..shear cliffs and hairpin after hairpin, tour buses and choked with cars…..they are much less so now and I have rented a Volvo convertible to get as much out of the driving experience as possible and still have room for luggage…maybe next time it will be in my dream car…a 1962 Alfa Romeo Spyder 2000….but the drop top Volvo is certainly enough car to enjoy the view. So I pull into town, at night, after a much longer drive from Rome Fiumicino Airport than anticipated…..along the serpentine ribbon of Strada Statale 163 (SS 163)…through other Amalfi Coast beauties like Ravello, Amalfi, Atrani, Maiori and Minori.
I check into my hotel….. Hotel Palazzo Murat….perhaps not the grandest hotel in Positano but very close to it and located center mass of the town which I value….some of the other hotels of note are along the margins of Positano and so I feel vindicated with my decision….it had been a difficult one as I value hotel location greatly. I quickly find my balcony and prosecco and leave my long day of travel behind and enjoy the night time view of this gem of a town.
The next morning I wake to birds and citrus scents….lemon and bougainvillea……espresso on my balcony and my first sight of daytime Positano. As suspected, it is ridiculously beautiful. The vividly tiled dome of Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta is so close I feel like I can touch it and looking past it, there is the blue azure water of Tyrrhenian Sea awaiting me. After a wonderful garden breakfast, I head out to see the small town….I suspect this was at one point a fishing village that found gold in tourism and panache. There are well heeled shops…art galleries, clothing boutiques and the ubiquitous high end watch stores that always seem to find where those with money hang out…..while I am a watch guy, they will be disappointed in me as I speed past them. It is a winding path to the water……and then, the narrow street opens up and the beach begins. As is true of a lot of European beaches, this is one of harsh, grainy sand and pebbles and in truth, it doesn’t seem to be about actually getting in the water at all…..I’m over that reality quickly…..my children will tell you that I don’t do even slightly cold water well and nothing has changed. What it most certainly is about are bars and restaurants right along the edge of the beach and in some cases with bars….sofas and chairs extending out on the beach themselves.
What is spectacular though are the cliffs, rising straight out of the blue waves….and those waves, well, they are not for the faint of heart…..this is a classically beautiful, protected harbor but it seems to do no good against the wave action. There is a boat dock on the west side of the beach and it does a strong business….various boat services to the Isle of Capri and other spots along this coast. I spent a bit of time enjoying an Aperol Spritz and watching tourists step on these craft….it is theatre really… but I will give them credit…they are brave although I suspect that their soon to be realized bout with debilitating nausea will be legendary and make for a great story back wherever home is. I would take a ride to Capri…I did 50 years ago and know first hand of its beauty, but this four day trip is all about Positano with only one stop outside of this little harbor.
After a day or so, I almost forget about the reason I am here….a birthday celebration…but the hotel kindly reminded me and showed up with a massive slab of scrumptious Italian birthday cake and the ubiquitous prosecco. Some people would think this sad….all alone with my cake and bubbles but I don’t feel that…on the balcony to enjoy my birthday reminder with a view towards the blue sea is a pretty special way to do this. The Hotel Palazzo Murat is an old world type of hotel featuring great service….built within a compound, it provides an oasis in which to enjoy privacy and peace….a nice pool to swim…..luxurious grounds and gardens…outdoor dining to take advantage of the beauty of the surroundings and then…well appointed sitting rooms….my favorite place though…is the outdoor cocktail bar. This is no average cocktail bar….the drinks were tasty and effective but the real star is the setting….bougainvillea draping off the roof of the bar is so so wonderful and aromatic….I find myself there often. After a libation or two, and as I have for the nights previously, I head out for dinner and find it….tasty seafood…. along the water of course. I could sit still and enjoy Positano for the rest of my stay and that would make for a perfect birthday but I have something to balance off all this beauty…..beauty of a different sort…but beauty nonetheless.
Pompeii was a very prosperous Roman city when it was destroyed by a Vesuvian eruption in 79AD…it had been a place for at least eight centuries before that. It eventually came under Roman influence around 300BC and became a Roman colony around 90BC. One of the reasons for it’s prosperity was the close proximity to the Bay of Naples and the Appian Way which was a major Roman road connecting Rome to Brindisi, located south along the coast on the heel of the boot of the Italian Peninsula. Pompeii grew wealthy on this and it’s structures provide testament to that wealth.
There had been significant and damaging earthquakes in the years leading up to the eruption and this had done considerable damage to both Pompeii and it’s seaport, Herculaneum….I wonder if they were aware of the connection of these earthquakes to the volcano that towered over their city. When Vesuvius finally erupted, it lasted for only approximately two days. For a day and a half, pumice and ash rained down on the city and because of this, the vast majority of the population could and did escape. Eventually though, a combination of pumice and ash and hot gasses called a pyroclastic flow moved at great speed down the slope of nearby Vesuvius and covered much of the city and any population that had chosen to stay behind.
What I find so amazing about the site of Pompeii is the advanced culture that existed there….not in anything grandiose….of which there are many examples….but of the normalcy of living. It is more like today than we would suppose and it is what makes it so interesting to tour the site. There are millers and bakeries with the grinding stones and ovens still intact…..laundries (fullonica), where continuous running water to clean was supplied and “top service” in the form of pressing machines were offered, and “fast food emporiums” known as “thermopolium” with it’s distinctive counters with multiple openings for recessed pots of food…some grains were found there during the excavations.
Pompeii was supplied fresh water by an aqueduct and this was routed to over 25 street fountains (public street fountains can be seen all over Italian cities to this day)…..as well as public baths and private homes….there was also a dedicated hospital. There are even more simple things…..street crossings made by blocks that make passage of carts, wagons and chariots equally possible….shards of white marble imbedded into the road grade that allows for reflection from wagon-based lanterns at night…essentially, an ancient version of reflective highway markers that line our own highway systems. The well-heeled were comfortable in their wealth and it shows in the adornment of their homes…..intricate mosaics at the threshold are plentiful displaying guard dogs, bears and aquatic motifs…….detailed and sometimes sensual paintings are still on display as their owners left them….their amazing vividness still intact…..some structures had heated walls and indoor plumbing. There were theaters and an arena but also cafes and what may be thought of a dives bars which attracted the underbelly of society. It is all here on display and it is wonderful to see just how similar their society is to the present.
I had toured Pompeii when I was here previously as a twelve year old and while it was fascinating then to my twelve year old eyes, it was so much more now. I would like to think my insight into human nature and the foibles that also define us made this so and I think it did. Indeed, on my 61st birthday, both the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii resonated differently and I feel fortunate to have seen them so many years apart. But, the obvious reality is that so much had changed for me and yet, so much is the same…..human beings are as they have always been and there is great comfort in that.