Positano

Each day has enough troubles of its own. So sayeth the proverb. And this one certainly dawned with such troubles - an urgent message from our host for me to ring my sister for something urgent. To be honest I wasn't really that concerned, clinical one might say, in trying to find out what was going on that could be so urgent, and I guess, not wanting to think the worst. Turned out it wasn't a blood sister of mine trying to call, but a sister in law, which could only mean one thing. Maureen, Vince's mum, Gwen's mother-in-law, Mez's grandmother, had had a massive heart attack and was alive, but only being made comfortable in hospital, awaiting an imminent departure into the heavenly realms for that final journey we all must make. This was naturally quite a shock - particularly to Gwen and Mez, though to be fair, Gwen certainly took it hardest, having been there to support 'Gran' on an almost daily basis over the last four years. It was almost a bit cruel that the time Gran would go, was when Gwen was farthest physically from her.
Not surprisingly we had a quiet morning, to give Gwen a chance to make phone calls back home and have some thinking space. Then just before lunch we headed for Positano - the nearest town to us on the Amalfi coast. Positano is quite an incredible wee town. Built from sea level straight up the cliff face, it's buildings morph out of the landscape in a haphazard fashion which is entirely alluring, and probably ensures every one of them has million dollar views of that famous coastline. It's streets are a narrow array of dizzying stalls and fashion shops, the obligatory grotto's, with a fair few art galleries thrown in for good measure. And of course in the centre of the town, an exquisite church. We had split up to wander through the town with a planned meeting time at the bottom for lunch. When Mez and I passed through there was a concert pianist practicing on the grand piano in the church, filling the space thick with romanticism and an atmosphere of exhilirating light. The white painted walls drew the eyes upwards, and the playful music lifted the soul. Decadent gold paint gave an air of royalty and the grandness of the space was just inspiring. A simply wonderous experience - like Alice felt when in wonderland I would imagine. And the pictures just don't do the space justice... but hey, it's better than nothing. And one of few churches that you get to take photo's on the inside of...

We eventually made it to the beach and enquired about a trip to the Emerald grotto - a cave on the water between Amalfi and Positano... On this day it was not to be, the tourism operator not being willing to take the risk of having a baby on board, despite the glassy flat seas. Just means we'll have to come back I guess! We stopped for lunch just in the nick of time, as a local man had been killed in an explosion earlier in the week, so the entire town was shutting down for a couple of hours to get to his funeral (in the main church). Unfortunately, during lunch came the inevitable call. Gran had died, with family at her side though, and i'm sure a welcoming party awaiting her on the other side too. A pensive lunch was taken, and towards the end, rushed, by the waiters who wanted to get to their funeral. We wandered the fifty metres or so to the beach and sat down to relax in the sun for the afternoon.


Abbey donned her stylish swimsuit for the afternoon (and gave us a reluctant wave!), though spent most of it in the shade, rather than sunning herself like the majority of the other bathers, and it wasn't quite warm enough really to bring her in with us on that occasion!

Judy and Gwen popped into the refreshing waters of the Thyrrenian Sea for a dip, followed by Mez and I. Just glorious. Got some classic video of the mums doing some pilates on the beach too which was a bit of fun and had a few people staring at the crazy tourists, but secretly wanting to join in!!!
And that was pretty much it really. We spent the afternoon relaxing in the sun, and admiring the gigantic yachts, then wandered back up the hill to the biggest parking bill I have ever had €50!!! a relaxing drive home, then dinner at our local resaurant. Total treat day. Magic on almost all accounts.