Montepertuso

by Jo Anne (still waiting on a "he said" post) :)

Last week we took the bus up the cliff to the little town of Montepertuso.  You can walk to the town from Positano.  There are steps just a few minutes from our apartment that will lead you from stairway to stairway and eventually to the town.  There are approximately 1500 steps.  We took the bus.  It's a beautiful, small town set high on the mountain.  It's very quiet compared to Positano and looks like what I would imagine a small town in Italy to be.  There is a town plaza and when we arrived there were a few elderly gentlemen sitting out at a table talking and having something to eat.  We saw two girls on horseback ride by along the road.  There was not an English speaking tourist in sight.  Sometimes, in the town center of Positano, there are so many tourists from the US, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK I find myself straining to hear some Italian.  I love the sound of it even though I still have not gotten through the first chapter of "Italian for Dummies".    We were there to go see the "Natural Arch" or as it is called here "Il Buco".  After a bit of miming and attempting to speak Italian, we were pointed to the steps that lead to the arch.  More steps!!!   There were some protests from the kids but we started up and in only about 20 minutes of climbing we could see it.   There were some clouds that day and when I first saw them through the arch it looked as though if you stepped through it you would be in them.  I think all of us were awestruck for a moment.  I even got a, "You were right Mom, it was worth it" from Ella who had been dragged along a bit on this little adventure.  After going through the arch, there was a sweeping view of Positano below.  I had one hand on Samantha the whole time as the drops down were dramatic.  We took some photos, watched the clouds roll in and out, and eventually decided to make our way back down.

Walking the steps back from the arch, you could see terraced crops to the left and right.  At one point, we went past a farm where someone was out working and they spotted the girls.  I read somewhere before we left that kids in Italy are treated like royalty.  There is lot of truth in that statement.  Everywhere we go, the girls get so much kind attention.  This was no different.  Antonello, as we came to know him, wanted to know if the girls wanted to come in and see some baby chicks.  They were just a few weeks old.  After some confusion (I thought he was telling me the girls were little, not "little chicks") we followed him in.  He showed us the chickens and roosters and then asked if we wanted a to see the rest.  There were tomatoes, grape vines, olive trees, zucchini, eggplant, broccoli cauliflower, lettuce, and finally pumpkins hanging on huge vines down this rock wall.  He had tied baskets under some of them to keep their weight from pulling them off the vine.  Pulling from my limited reserve of Italian phrases, I motioned to the beautiful view of the Arch and the town below and said "La Dolce Vita"  (the sweet life).  To which he replied "Eh" and shrugged his shoulders, possibly proving that farming is a tough business even with this backdrop.  Or that life is life no matter where you are.  There will be peaks and valleys.  Although, I can't help thinking that the valleys would be a lot cushier surrounded by this climate and natural beauty.

When we came to an orchard of plums, he picked some off a tree and handed them to the girls and to us.  They are plum fiends so they were gone in an instant.  When we got to the persimmon orchard, it was different, a couple bites and this unfamiliar fruit was handed back to me.  I was left trying to juggle two partially eaten persimmons, my own, and a backpack when he came to his wine cellar.  It turns out he makes his own wine and it is quite good!  He gave us each a glass and said with a smile "This wine won't make your head hurt, it makes you strong".  We found out he sells his produce to the restaurant Max, a coincidence since of all the restaurants in Positano it is kind of "our spot".  We had just taken a cooking class there the day before and are planning to go there on our anniversary.  No wonder the food tastes so fresh, it only has to make it's way down 1500 steps from the farm to the restaurant!  While we were sampling his wine, his mom stopped by.   Wearing a pretty patterned dress, with her hair pulled back, and a warm smile she looked exactly like what I would expect an Italian grandmother to look like.  She fawned over the girls.  Then she took from her bag an empty wine bottle, gave it to Antonello, and he gave her a new one.  He said he doesn't sell his wine but just gives it to friends and family.  I wanted to tell him how nice he was to invite us in for this tour.  I fell back on some Spanish and said "muy simpatico" (very kind), which I think he understood since he smiled.  He said goodbye to "the royals" and we were off.

The town of Montepertuso

Positano from "Il Buco"