20th Century Mary Poppins

by lisa moroney (Australia)

I didn't expect to find Italy

Take a stroll through Positano and you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into one of the hundreds of photos you see on Instagram during European summer. Just like Mary Poppins. As you venture downhill through the town and towards the coastline, your upwards gaze is of vines with beautiful blooming flowers. Passing by inviting restaurant courtyards and local stores, each as quaint and admirable as the next. When the vines clear and the path opens, the sight makes you simply stop. And smile. Coloured beach shacks, local fishing boats, blue and white striped beach umbrellas shading tanning tourists and drool-inducing restaurants with a ‘money-can’t-buy’ experience. Welcome to the Amalfi Coast line. There’s a settled and inviting difference in Positano compared to other parts of Italy, like Rome or Sicily. The locals don’t rush. I can only think it is due to the calmness the ocean brings and the beautifully coloured houses stacked perfectly from ground up, along their Cliffside town. An unplanned art piece. While the buses of tourists from surrounding towns arrive every morning and unload, cameras at the ready, there is still quiet throughout the cobble streets. One of my holiday rituals in any new town is to wake up early and experience it before the smell of coffee at breakfast service starts to stir the early risers. This is the time of the day where you can sit and watch local store owners putting out their crisp linen pieces, unpacking boxes of beautifully ripe produce and the locals lighting a candle in the local church. This time of day there is blissful silence. Just the sounds of the town; the birds, the waves lapping the sand and the silent hum of small fishing boats. I expected to find beauty in Positano from all the photos and research. But I didn’t expect to feel like I could belong there. Or perhaps in a past life, I had.