AmalfiTano??

We initially confused one for the other. We expected to dock at Positano, but arrived instead in Amafi at noon. This meant our dinner reservations were about 12 miles off - a loooong detour given the serpentine Amalfi Coast Road (more later). Our ship dropped anchor in the bay and we tendered to shore.

When we met our guide, I asked her how Positano, our next stop, could possibly be more beautiful. She said, sottovoce, "I shouldn't say this while standing in Amalfi, but it will be". After a brief orientation to Amalfi, we boarded our third vessel of the day, a tour boat, and sailed west along the Amalfi coast to Positano.

She was right - Positano was a postcard come to life as you can see from the sample of photos below. We wandered the steep streets and alleys, passing shops, art galleries, restaurants and gelato shops. Of course, each of these towns and villages is centered around churches that are suprisingly ornate, given the parishes they serve.

Much as we hated to leave, it was time to return to Amalfi on the tour boat. We had so many reasons to want to stay longer - including the fact that we had made dinner reservations in the hills above Positano, not Amalfi. Abandoning those plans, I asked a local tour guide in confidence, "Where do YOU eat in Amalfi?" - "Smeraldino" was his response. A great suggestion, since it was west of the dock and the crowd all went east. We got a great table and I could chat with our waiter in Italian.