Positano (Campanian: Pasitano) is a village and comune on the Amalfi Coast (Province of Salerno), in Campania, Italy, mainly in an enclave in the hills leading down to the coast.
A Day in Positano, Italy
TRANSPORTATION TO POSITANO:
Positano can be reached by the SS163 Amalfitana national road, or by the SP425 provincial road. The nearest airports are the Napoli-Capodichino (NAP) and the Salerno-Pontecagnano Airport (QSR) and they have shuttle buses to destinations across the Amalfi Coast, including Positano. Ferries link Positano to other towns including Capri, Naples, Salerno, and Sorrento for transportation. The Sita bus links Positano to Amalfi and Sorrento.
Next Blog will be about Positano!
Film directed and edited by James Carey. All photos are by James Carey.Sources for the information are from Wikipedia and journals of James Carey. The film and this blog are copyrighted by CareyOn,LLC 2022.
Sorrento is an ancient town on the Bay of Naples in southern Italy that dates from the 8th century BC. Sorrento is one of two towns that serve as gateways to the Amalfi Coast. Obviously, one is Sorento on the western side and Salerno on the east. Both of these towns are relatively small. Sorrento had a population of 17,000 in 2007, but if you are traveling by car or bus they’re the only ways to get to the Amalfi Coast. The only other way would be to come in by sea on a ferry or private boat.
Mount Vesuvius from Sorrento
From the cliffs surrounding Sorrento you can see Mt. Vesuvius which exploded and buried the city of Pompeii in tons of ash and lava in 79 AD. To the north directly across the bay is Naples the largest cosmopolitan city in the area and to the West is the famous island of Capri.
Sorrento has been a famous tourist destination since the 1700’s and before. Such famous people as Lord Byron, Frederick Nietzsche, Goethe, Keats, Henrik Ibsen, and many other famous people have either lived in or visited Sorrento through the years. Pizza and Neapolitan ice cream are two of the famous food items that supposedly were created in the area. Neapolitan was the original language/dialect spoken by the inhabitants of the area.
Small altar on the road to Positano
While people have been living around the area for almost 3000 years, legend has it that Sorrento was founded by the grandson of Ulysses and Circe, both figures from Greek mythology. It is probably certain that at one time it was a Greek colony or fishing village as its harbor is beautiful and safe, and the oldest archway that leads from the beach up the cliffs towards the city above was built by the ancient Greeks. The village soon came under the control of the Romans as their empire grew and its Roman name was Surrentum.
Walkway down to the beach and Marina
The other legend that dominates Sorrento’s history are the Sirens, also a famous staple of Greek and Roman mythology. The Sirens were three dangerous mermaid-like creatures who took up residence near Punta Campanella and sang such beautiful songs that they enchanted the sailors on passing ships to wreck their ships on the rocks in the surrounding waters. Even the legendary Ulysses had to figure out a way to resist the deadly song of the Sirens.
Where the mermaids were suppose to sing
As I left Lake Como in northern Italy, I traveled by train through Milano to Naples. The train ride took about 7 hours as I boarded a Eurostar high speed train. Once arriving in Naples at the main Naples train terminal, I boarded a local tram at the same station and after about 10 stops I found myself at the Sorrento train station. Sorrento has no hostels; it only has local hotels or Airbnbs. I chose a small hotel about two blocks from the train station that actually put me right in the middle of the town.
Sorrento on the cliffs
The center of Sorrento, Italy is quite compact, closed to the traffic and easy to explore on foot. Near my hotel was the Piazza Tasso, Sorrento’s main piazza, the best place to catch an expresso or drink and people watch. Piazza Tasso isn’t a particularly historic square…it dates back only about a century. It was built above the gorge which was once home to a number of mills. In the 1800’s, instead of cafés and shops, you would have seen local women hand-washing their laundry in the stream which ran from the hills behind down to the sea below. If you look down from the Piazza, you can still see the gorge known as the Valley of the Mills and, at the bottom, a number of abandoned mills which were powered by the force of the rushing water; unfortunately, the mills are closed to visitors.
Valley of the Mills
The main thoroughfare off the Piazza is Corso Italia lined with fashionable shops, boutiques and the eateries and cafes where both the tourists and the locals eat. While there are some cars and Vespa’s that occasional use the walkway, it’s mostly a pedestrian walkway where at night Italian families and tourists stroll up and down looking in windows, drink espresso in the cafes, smoke cigarettes and talk to each other about family, Europeans football, the weather or Italian politics.
The town is filled with back alleys and small streets and winding walkways that lead off of the Corso Italia toward the cliffs above the Bay. Here you will pass tourist shops, art galleries, more restaurants, chapels and cathedrals. It’s very easy to get lost in this rabbit warren of small back alleyways between the main drag and the cliffs. Most of the town lies on the cliffs above the Bay. As you near the cliffs you will find a few walkways that lead down the face of the cliffs to the beach and Marina below past buildings that have been there for more than a few hundred years. It is an old town with its own history and its own culture and its own way of doing things, and it’s delightful.
Sea with Vesuvius on the distance
One of the most famous products that Sorrento produces is limoncello, their famous liqueur made from lemon rinds, water, sugar and alcohol. The lemon groves are throughout the town itself. There were two of them directly across the street from the hotel that I checked into, and you can find them everywhere in the town where they grow their own lemons and then they’ll sell you the limoncello right there.
Lemon grove right in the town, fruit not ripe yet.
I found Sorrento to be an extremely cordial town. Maybe it’s because they’ve been dealing with tourists for over 500 years or it’s just the small-town feel. While I was traveling by myself I spent five days based in Sorrento as I traveled around the area, and I totally enjoyed my entire time there, and given the opportunity I would go back in a second.
Another walkway down to the Marina
Plus I felt it was a perfect place to explore at least most of the Amalfi Coast without having to be on the coast. You can reach almost any of the small towns along the coast by bus which can be a harrowing experience as they travel at high speeds along the cliffs high above the Bay, making you feel sometimes like there is literally nothing underneath you. Or you come in by ferry or hydrofoil from either Sorento or Salerno. Each one of the separate villages along the Amalfi Coast have their own different feel and thing for which they are famous. You can find books and articles and travel blogs about what each one of those towns specialize in whether it’s their beach, food or their party or family atmosphere.
Positano from the shoreline.
If you’re looking for a slightly larger town then most of those small villages along the coast that has plenty of places to eat and a lot of things to do not only for kids but also adults, Sorrento is perfect place.
Source information in this blog comes from James Carey journals, Wikipedia, www.sorrentoinfo.com. All photos and short film by James Carey.
The famous phrase “the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray” is taken from a poem by the Scottish poet, Robert Burns and it is also the basis for the title of John Steinbach’s book and play, Of Mice and Men. Basically the meaning of the phrase is that no matter how careful you plan for the future, something is probably going to go sideways at some point. That just recently happened to me this week.
I owe the faithful readers of this particular blog an apology because I haven’t written anything in about six or seven weeks. However, there was a reason for that. For the past few months while I’ve lived in Atlanta, I have been taking meetings and meeting people trying to get a few theater and film projects off the ground, and six weeks ago all of that work seemed to come to fruition at the same time. I was hired to direct 2 plays for a new theater group here and about the same time a short film script that I had written called Love Potion attracted the attention of local film producers. We did a reading of it, and they agreed to move forward with us and one of the producers actually wanted to be the lead in the movie. So quickly my summer went from being pretty empty, I had been planning a lot of travel, and all of a sudden it was full of projects. So, the blog and the three articles that I owe all of you on Italy – Sorrento, Positano and Milano got put on hold.
Yet, as the phrase says ‘the best laid plans of (mice and) men often go astray and that’s exactly what happened. This week in a matter of 16 hours, I lost every project. First, the plays and then the film. Suddenly my summer is completely wide open again.
First the executive director of the theatre organization that had hired me 5 weeks ago called to tell me that because of budgetary concerns and some internal struggles on their board of directors, they were changing course in how the plays were being done. I was sad, but I still had the film, and I was most excited about that anyway. Yet, 16 hours later as I was working on the fund-raising campaign for the film, my two producers called with wonderful news for them, but it was bad news for me. They had just signed a four-picture deal with a movie studio in Hollywood. I was extremely happy for them. They are wonderful guys who I have worked with before and they deserve all the credit and all the opportunities that come their way. However, now their schedule did not allow for a short film, so it was back to the drawing board.
I will not say that it did not discourage me to lose all my projects at the same time but to quote another old phrase ‘that’s the way the cookie crumbles’. But it’s left me ‘at sixes and sevens’ which is another old phrase from the 1500’s which means you’re uncertain on what to do next.
In the meantime, I’m going to return to the blog and write those three articles that I promised you many weeks ago and they’ll be coming very quickly because at this point – I really don’t have anything else to do.
I want to thank you my loyal readers for hanging around and a lot of stuff will soon be coming your way.
As a bonus for you the last blog that I did was a short film about Sorento and I’ve attached that to the bottom of this blog.
Sorrento, Italy is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. Sorrento is a coastal town in southwestern Italy, facing the Bay of Naples on the Sorrentine Peninsula. Perched atop cliffs that separate the town from its busy marinas, it’s known for sweeping water views and Piazza Tasso, a cafe-lined square. The historic center is a warren of narrow alleys that’s home to the Chiesa di San Francesco, a 14th-century church.
Looking across the Bay of Naples toward Mt. Vesuvius.
A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located within easy access from Naples and Pompei. The town is widely known for its small ceramics, lacework and marquetry (woodwork) shops. It also serves as one of two gateway cities to the famous Amalfi Coast. From Sorrento you can have views of Naples, Mt. Vesuvius and the Isle of Capri. The Amalfi Coast Drive connecting Sorrento and Amalfi, is a narrow road along the high cliffs above the Tyrrhenian Sea. Ferries and hydrofoils also connect the town to Naples, Amalfi, Positano, Capri, Ischia.
The city is also famous for its Limoncello, a liqueur made from lemon rinds, alcohol, water and sugar, which is grown in lemon groves right inside the town.
My next blog will be about traveling to Sorrento and things to do there.
Film directed and edited by James Carey.
All photos are by James Carey.
Sources for the information are from Wikipedia and journals of James Carey
The film and this blog are copyrighted by CareyOn,LLC 2022.
As international travel reemerged in 2021, tourists were generally asked to show one or more of the following: Proof of vaccination Recent negative test Proof of recent recovery
But a trend has emerged quietly over the past month: countries, throughout Europe especially, have been getting rid of their Covid entry rules altogether.
Two months ago, every country in Europe still had Covid restrictions for travelers. Today, the following eight countries have entirely scrapped any pandemic travel requirements. No test, no proof, no problem.
🇬🇧 UK 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇮🇪 Ireland 🇷🇴 Romania 🇳🇴 Norway 🇲🇪 Montenegro 🇸🇮 Slovenia 🇭🇺 Hungary
And over the next month or two, expect this group to double in size if not more.
At this point, if you’re a vaccinated American, there are just two countries in Europe that require you to also show a recent negative test: Serbia and Poland (temporarily).
International travel is still down 30-40%, in large part because of uncertainty about border restrictions. The trend towards countries removing these (as the World Health Organization and others are urging) will certainly boost international tourism. But until the US removes the requirement for all arrivals—regardless of vaccination status—to show a negative test, overseas tourism will stay depressed.
WARNING: The BA.2 variant is on the rise in England and may appear here in the States in just a few weeks. So still look out for warnings or changing schedules or entry rules. COVID is still around and still deadly. Safe Travels!
The city of Zurich, Switzerland may seem like a strange place to visit in winter, but the offer of a really cheap roundtrip ticket kind of sealed the deal, so off to Zurich I went. But in the age of COVID travel a few things are different than they used to be.
A Day in Zurich – A Short Film
First, every different country will require some form of COVID vaccination proof and that includes countries that you are just passing thru waiting for your next plane at the airport. My flights were through London Heathrow and then onto Zurich. Britain requires you to fill out a form called the Passenger Locator Form that you can find at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/passenger-locator-form-how-to-guide. This will tell you everything that you need to know about the form and what information that you will need to provide. You have to do this within the 48 hours before you take off or the airline will not let you board the plane at all. There is no debate about this – no form, no fly. The UK will process it quickly and let you know if you pass. If you are full vaccinated you will have no problem but you must upload a digital copy or a photo of your vaccination card with the form. You need the plane number and your arrival time and takeoff time. They will give you a QR code you can use on your phone but I suggest to also take a paper copy along just in case. Remember this form is only for passing through Britain, if you are planning on staying that is an entirely different process so check ahead. You may still need to quarantine for up to 10 days if not fully vaccinated and you will have to pay for tests and other fees on top.
Limmet River
Because Switzerland is not part of the EU, I also needed to get permission from Switzerland to enter and stay. You can find out all the needed information from this official website of Switzerland – https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/en/home/krankheiten/ausbrueche-epidemien-pandemien/aktuelle-ausbrueche-epidemien/novel-cov/empfehlungen-fuer-reisende.html – here you will find information on requirements and a link to the form that you have to fill out. They also have a handy link called Travelcheck that can take you through exactly what you need to do step by step. Remember the form must also be filled out and approved before you can even get on the plane or a train to enter the country. They will also give you a QR code but take a paper copy along as well.
Cathedral in Old Town
Switzerland also gives you a separate Vaccination QR code so that you are able to go into bars or restaurants or theaters or concerts. Any place where people gather inside. I must stress that all stores and restaurants and bars in Zurich check this QR code religiously. You cannot enter into any establishment and stay unless you can provide them with vaccination proof. I could never quite figure out how to download that code although that QR code and the information are also on the Switzerland site. The official name of that department is the Federal Office of Public Health or the FOPH. When people asked for my QR code I kept showing them the one on my entry document which always came back negative, and I was even asked to leave a restaurant once when I could not provide it to them. However if you carry your American passport and your American vaccination card around, they will accept that and you will be able to get in any place and do normal things. Just don’t lose it!
Lake Zurich fountain
And one more thing before we move onto what it’s like to visit Zurich. Please wear your mask! The Swiss do not play around with this. You are required to enter any establishment with a mask on and if you do not they will ask you to leave. If you want to argue or fight with them about your right not to wear a mask, they will just call the police. Please remember this is not the United States. This is a separate country with separate rules that their people follow in order to get along. You are expected to follow those rules. It doesn’t matter what you believe or how you feel about the subject. You are required to wear a mask indoors. Now when you sit down to eat you can take your mask off, but you must wear your mask even when getting up to go to the bathroom.
Limmit River
Now after all that required research and form filling out, did I find Zurich to be a a good place to visit? The answer would be yes. I was using Zurich as a jumping off point to cross into Italy which has its own separate rules and regulations about COVID and traveling in Italy which I will cover in my next article. Yet the city of Zurich is beautiful, very historic and a very modern city with all the conveniences that you would want in terms of transportation, entertainment and things to do and see.
Zurich Operahaus
Zurich is a global center for banking and finance. It lies at the north end of Lake Zurich in northern Switzerland. I chose to stay in a part of the city centre which is called Old Town because it is truly where the city was first founded as a military outpost by the Romans around the time of Julius Caesar. Old Town is very picturesque and runs on either side of the Limmat River. Here you will find historic buildings that reflect the deep and rich past of the Swiss like the 17th-century Rathaus (town hall) or massive clock towers and giant cathedrals.
Old Town at night
I flew into Zurich International after dark and while most people in Zurich speak English, the official language of this part of Switzerland is German. French is the preferred language on the side of Switzerland closest to France. Despite the fact that English is a prominent language there are no signs that are in English. Everything is in German, so at first I was confused trying to find my way around. There’s a large train station right outside the airport with trains and subways and trams running in all directions. I finally with the help of strangers found the correct train that leads into Old Town and also the main railroad terminal for the city of Zurich. Coincidentally the train station is located on the most prominent and upscale shopping street in Zurich which is Bahnhofstrasse.
Fountain on Lake Zurich
I chose to stay at a highly recommended hostel which provided me with a private room and bathroom for about $100 US a night. The hostel was on the other side of the river from the train station about a 10-minute walk. The hostel is called the Old Town Hostel Otter and is recommended by both traveladvisor.com and booking.com. It still had all the standard aspects of a hostel with a public kitchen and shared dorm rooms and bathrooms but also offered private accommodations. There’s also a fully stocked and friendly bar downstairs. Their check in process is a little complicated so I will leave it to their website to try and explain that to you, but I do recommend them as a high-quality hostel. You can find their website by searching on Google or information and ratings about them on traveladvisor.com or booking.com.
View from Uetilberg
I was in Zurich for three days. The first day I did nothing but walked the quaint cobblestone streets and narrow alleyways of Old Town. I wandered up and down ancient streets and over bridges coming across interesting alleyways, upscale stores, little churches and giant cathedrals. I did not hire a tour guide or use any particular tourist map of Old Town. It’s not real large and very hard to get lost in because everything is centered off the river which splits Old Town down the center.
Lake Zurich
The next day I walked along the promenades that line both sides of Lake Zurich discovering marinas, parks and interesting neighborhoods plus the impressive Zurich Operahaus. I also went sightseeing on Bahnhofstrasse and admired the pre-Christmas window displays of the high-end stores that reflect every famous fashion brand. It was fun to watch the chic and well-dressed Swiss as they rushed from place to place as I sipped my café latte in one of the many cafes and coffee bars that line both Bahnhofstrasse and the alleyways of Old Town.
View from Uetilberg
On the third day I just went to the train station to make sure I knew what train I was taking to Italy the next morning, and on a spur of the moment decision, I took the S10 train to Uetilberg Mountain. Uetilbeg overlooks the city giving you panoramic views of Zurich, the lake, and the surrounding area. It was beautiful this time of year and I imagine in summer it is breathtaking.
View from Uetilberg
The cuisine choices of Zurich are broad and mostly good. I found everything from Asian to hamburgers to jazz bars and first rate restaurants. If you’re looking for something good to eat, I am sure that you can find it in Zurich, but it won’t be inexpensive. The Swiss have maintained their own currency which is known as the Swiss franc and currently the exchange rate is $1.15 US to 1 Swiss Franc.
The temperatures in the first part of November were in the 40’s F but there was no snow anywhere except on the mountain tops in far distance. Make sure that you have an umbrella just in case because the weather on the lake can change at a moment’s notice from sunshine to rain and back again in a matter of minutes. Time in Zurich runs on a 24 hour clock as opposed to our 12 hour clock in the United States. So what Americans would consider as 1 PM would be 13:00 in Switzerland and in most of Europe.
Enjoy Zurich, it’s a great city!
All photos and short film are by James Carey @CareyON, LLC.
I graduated high school and college in a small town in South Georgia called Valdosta. My mother and I had moved there after my father passed away. We joined my oldest sister, her husband and three sons who were living there making this part of Georgia our home. Moving from hilly Tennessee, the typography of South Georgia came as a shock as it is mostly flat, subtropical and filled with lakes, rivers, pine trees and swampland. It is a wonderful place to go hunting or fishing or just driving down a quiet dirt road to discover what’s around the next bend. However, to a teenager and soon to be college student more interested in social activities and girls, the nature that surrounded me was a little concern.
The same could not be said for my oldest sister who while she was a wife, mother and third grade school teacher for over 30 years, she’s always been an ardent environmentalist and genuinely concerned about man’s effect on nature and our climate. So on a recent visit back to Valdosta to spend time with her, I received a lesson from her as Big Sisters often do. Yet this time instead of telling me how I could improve my life, this was a lesson on the nature and ecology that surrounded my former home town that I never even knew was there. On a Sunday with really nothing to do but visit more, she suggested that we go for a hike in an area called Grand Bay Wildlife Preserve. I had no idea what she was referring to and so began the lesson just like the school teacher that she had been.
Just outside of Valdosta near Moody Airforce Base, she took me out to a 1350-acre nature preserve with a 3-mile hiking trail and a 2600-foot wooden walkway that was built out into the wetlands that leads to a repurposed fire tower where you have a 360 view of what is known as a Carolina Bay. Never having heard of what a Carolina bay was, she explained that bays are elliptical to circular depressions concentrated along the Atlantic seaboard that run from New York state down to north Florida. In Maryland, people call them Maryland basins.
She explained that Bays have different vegetative structures, based on the depression depth, size, and subsurface. Many are marshy; a few of the larger ones are lakes. Some bays are predominantly open water with large scattered pond cypress, while others are composed of thick, shrubby areas called pocosins with vegetation growing on floating peat mats. On our hike through and around the bay, she pointed out the rich biodiversity the bay contain, including many endangered species. From the top of the fire tower (flown in by helicopter and placed down in the bay) we saw heron, egrets and other waterflow. I was informed that deer, black bears, and other mammals plus uncountable numbers of insects made their home there besides the expected snakes and large alligators.
And as we walked and she told me about Grand Bay, other hikers would pass us and ask her questions since she seemed to know so much. One man asked her if she was an environmental scientist because of her knowledge while she pointed out to another the carnivorous plants that inhabit Carolina bays like pitcher plants.
So what started out as a hike to get out of the house on a slow Sunday afternoon became an interesting science lesson about Carolina bays and how they were formed. Especially about Grand Bay, a place I did not know even existed in my own home town. All thanks to my Big Sister!
Grand Bay is part of a 18,000-acre wetlands complex of Carolina bays and forested swamp second in size only to Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia. Open from daylight Saturday until sundown Sunday, year-round, for outdoor sports including fishing, canoeing, hiking, camping, and deer and small game hunting. Boaters and canoeists enjoy this area. From a launch site on Knights Academy Road, six miles north of Valdosta off Highway 221, they can run a loop through a fascinating array of habitats in the area. Boat motors are limited to 10 hp.
There is no entry fee charged. For additional information please call 229-333-0052.
Photos by James Carey, exploregeorgia.org, visitvaldosta.org
Some information courtesy of WikiPedia.com, and LowndesCounty.com
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