positano & pompeii, the amalfi coast

The next day we woke up and our farm in the clouds was quite literally in a cloud. Which was great, except in and amongst our shorts, t-shirts and summer dresses we'd forgotten to pack cloud appropriate attire. Whatever that may be.

Luckily we were out off on a day trip, and as soon as we descended from our farm in the cloud we reached Positano just below the cloud.

Positano below the cloud

After a several hour struggle, the sun managed to poke his way through the clouds. And when the sun shines, Positano really comes alive.

The Duomo

A net of lilac flowers and green leaves cover the town's walkways. It's beyond beautiful.

Spice up your life

Positano is not for the faint hearted or out of breath. Our day consisted of climbing up stairs to climb down stairs to stop for a drink, then climb back up and head back down again.

But then you get a view like this and it all seems worthwhile. Almost.

Homemade iced teas

Next stop Pompeii. Which honestly is a little bit overwhelming. A sea of tourists amongst the 2000 year old ruins of a town. It's huge. There's so much to see that you end up feeling like you saw nothing at all.  But that doesn't take away from the fact that you're surrounded by 2000 year old stones, bricks and mortar. 

I won't bore you with a history lesson (overview: volcano eruption, people arghh, town destroyed), instead here are some postcards from Pompeii. If you're still curious and would like to spend 2hrs oggling Jon Snow the Bastard topless, go watch the film. If you're more about the facts than the six packs there are plenty of documentaries around.

Looks like the Wicked Witch from Narnia's been to visit Pompeii...

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sorrento, the amalfi coast

When it comes to holiday planning Soph & I are big advocates of the 'follow the pretty pictures' method. So with the help of some pretty pinterest pins, we planned a tour of the Amalfi coast and booked to stay in a cute hotel in an olive grove. Neither of us thought to check the distance from town (8km) or that we were actually staying on a farm! Girl Tourism! That said we lucked in...

Wake up, throw open your shutters and look out tut sea. 

Then go inside to the restaurant-greenhouse hybrid for breakfast.

Which in Italy consists of an early AM afternoon tea spread. Enough sugar to make you diabetic.

The farm make their own jams, chutneys, pestos, liquors, olives, olive oils - beats the usual 'i love Sorrento' keyring if you're looking for a souvenir (or Papa Hew's birthday present if you're all out of ideas!!!)

The olive oil is mind-blowingly good. As is the Pistacchiello (think limoncello but made from pistachio)

One morning I stumbled across the farm's little factory and poked my nose inside. Two local ladies were making limoncello and showed me around.

Limoncello stage 1

Limoncello stage 2

Limoncello stage 3

Then you'll want to be heading into Sorrento town. It's gobsmackingly beautiful, it's also tourist central which is reflected in the prices. A bottle of water from this terrace bar will set you back €6.

Instead head down to the little fishing beach where bottles of water are back to €1.

 Lemons as big as your head. Seriously.

But sometimes a sea view really is worth a few extra cents. Besides you're on holiday right?

The view being Jonathan Livingston Seagull & Mount Vesuvius

Plus if you're there long enough you just might make Happy Hour!!

Then you'll want to be heading back up to your farm in the clouds.

The farm in the clouds does exactly what it says on the tin. It's up a great big hill in the middle of nowhere. No phone service, no internet and the only noise you'll hear all week is the dog barking and the large, middle-aged American snoring in the room next door. Now a 21st century detox is all very well and good, but an alcohol detox was not what we were after...

Then at about quarter to eight run up to the top of the hill for the best seats in the house. Sunset o'clock.

Now your tummy will be rumbling and agrumbling. Dinner time in the restaurant-garden.

Your tummy should now be groaning happily and so you'd best go to bed. We've got a big day in the morning...

If you're looking for somewhere to stay in Sorrento we cannot recommend Fattoria Terranova enough. It's local, family run and exactly like all the pretty pictures. It's rural, but not completely out in the sticks. Travelling by car would be best, down South buses come and go as the driver fancies, timetables are just bits of paper and let's be honest, you don't want to be wasting time standing at a bus stop.

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