October 14-15, 2017

David and I left Saturday, October 14th, about noon for the Logan Express in Framingham.  We met up with Dan and Linda and took an Aer Lingus Flight from Boston to Dublin. Then a flight from Dublin to Naples. We were picked up with a car service from the airport to Villa Laura in Montepertuso.  Here are a few photos from 10/15/2017.

Here is the villa from afar. The whole family lives there. Our villa was the portion on the left where the flowers are sitting on the ledge.  For lovely professional photos from their website, click here.

The view from our kitchen window.

There was an attached yard where we sat in the evenings and ate breakfast in the mornings. It was gorgeous! We sat right under the lemon and olive trees with grapes growing and flowers blooming.  There were potted herbs growing and a pear tree full of fruit. No wasted space.  Everything was practical and beautiful at the same time.

Beyond the yard was a view of the hole in the mountain and the ocean.

Shades of blue by day.

And pastel sunsets by night.

Our hosts, Antonietta & Renato, were so nice. They had a snack for us when we arrived and the breakfasts were amazing .... but I'll get to that later.  That first night we arrived we were tired and didn't want to go into Positano to eat, so we ate at their family restaurant - La Tagliata.  You can see all the photos and take a virtual tour on their website. I've never seen anything like it.  There is a garden, a farm with all kinds of animals and a three-story restaurant. It's quite a place. It's family owned and operated. Antonietta's mother cooks. Renato runs the front of house. Mario Batali recommends it in Food & Wine. There were photos of many celebrities on the wall.  It was truly a destination restaurant in this area. 

The restaurant looks empty in these photos, but it is only because we went early ... 7:00pm.  By the time we left it was full. Most diners seem to come in between 8:00-9:00pm. We were astonished by the amount of food.  Just to give you an idea, here's what they brought out to us.  (There is no menu to order from. You eat what mamma makes, just like home.)  I wrote it all down so I wouldn't forget anything.  We had:

A welcoming prosecco to start. 

Then came the anti-pasta course. A plate of each of these:

• Bruschetta
• Buffalo mozzarella and Parma ham (YUM!!)
• Chick peas
• Brown beans
• Spinach
• Broccoli
• Peas
• Meatloaf
• A cheese/pizza type bread
• Mac and cheese
• Squash medley (including zucchini and pumpkin)
• Bread basket with two types of rolls

Then came the pasta course.  (Of course I thought all the above was dinner so I foolishly ate what I wanted including a piece of bread.  I had no idea what was next. All the pasta was handmade of course and the cheeses were fresh ... so delicious!)

• Gnocchi stuffed with mozzarella
• Cheese ravioli in a tomato sauce
• Onion and spinach pasta
• Stuffed shells with spinach

Then came the salad course.  

• Salad (lettuce, carrots, tomato) with a simple olive oil/balsamic dressing. 
• French fries (or really potato chunks fried in olive oil - still a little soft and very delicious) 

Then came the meat course. 

• Lamb
• Rabbit
• Chicken
• Pork ribs
• Beef
• Sausage

And finally, dessert.

• Assorted fruit with white melon
• Chocolate Tiramisu
• Ricotta cake
• Rum baba - two kinds
• Bar cake with chocolate filling

And the finale to every meal we had in Italy, lemon cello.

I'm not exaggerating.  And it wasn't a sliver of meat or a spoonful of pasta. It was platter after platter.  I wish I had taken photos of everything, but I was so overwhelmed.  We ate until we were going to burst, each of us tasting every component. It was really good.  

We finished the first full day of our trip full as ticks. Off to sleep with no idea in a few hours our  breakfast would be almost as elaborate as dinner.