Boat Excursion

The Boat

Well, Pamela and I knew there was a reason why "little voices" in our heads told us to stay an extra day and night at the Tritone... We informed the hotel the day we were scheduled to leave that we wanted to stay an extra day and night. They easily obliged us and since the hotel was not nearly full, we kept the same suite we had been occupying. The next morning Pamela went to the desk and saw a sign that said stated there was a private boat excursion, and the boat was large and sturdy enough to dock up to the Tritone beach (few boats can dock there - the water is rough and it's too dangerous) and was scheduled to begin around 10:00am. NOW, we knew the reason we were going to stay another day! The boat comfortably held 24 people, so we knew we would not have it to ourselves...

On our 3rd day at the Tritone we signed up for a boat excursion that was leaving Positano... we traveled to the town and could not find the boat! We had already paid our money and we were quite disappointed that we missed that excursion - thinking we would not be able to do it again. The hotel contacted the company running the excursion and they came down the coast, however, they were not able to dock the boat. It was too small for the waves and would surely crash into the rocks. Of course we were disheartened.

As luck and prayer would have it, today was our day for a nice boat ride in the Mediterranean sea...

We watched the well built and ample sized boat pull up and we were shocked to see only 3 people in it... the Captain, and a nice couple from New York City - Roman and Elana. Roman was an opthamologist who was dating Elana, a dancer. They came to Italy for romance and fun. We were hopefully and cautiously optimistic that no one else needed to be picked up from somewhere else... 4 people and the Captain was as good as a private boat all together! As our luck this day would have it, there were no more pick-ups and off we went into the deep blue sea.

Left - Captain Gennardo, our excursion guide. He is enormously proud that he is a 7th generation fisherman in his family, around the waters of Positano

Above - Gennardo's boat off the coast of Positano and Praiano... I took this photo from land on Nureyev's isola.

Above - Pamela, Gennardo and Donamaria whizzing by the Amalfi coast. This was so exciting to have only 2 other folks on the boat with us, and we felt really comfortable with them. Roman, our boatmate is taking this picture.

Gennardo was a sweet old guy who had more stories to tell than fishermen catch fish. He was a real joy to be with and was able to devote a lot of time to us since our party was so small. We were really curious about the isola with the castle looking structure on top and inquired about it. It was then that we learned it was Rudolph Nureyev's home before he died, and it was recently purchased by an Italian man from Naples. There was a lot of rennovating going on and Gennardo said he knew the foreman of the crew and would we like to go over to the island? Gennardo would speak with him about giving us a private tour of the island and castle. We were THRILLED, and Elana was overcome with the offer since she is a dancer in NYC. Onward we went...

We reached the island we were greeted by the foreman and workmen, who were close to the water's edge. Gennardo spoke to the foreman, Pepe' and was told that if we came back in about an hour he would accomodate us with a private tour We were all happy happy happy!

Gennardo was planning to take us down the coast well past Praiano to a restaurant where we would eat outside, and advised us that another friend owned it and would serve us our feast. We knew we would be treated to excellent food, and we all looked forward to it. While we waited for the hour to pass, Gennardo took us into the waters near and around the islands and we captured some really nice pictures of the landscape. We also watched seagulls mating on one of the smaller islands ~ ahhh ~ there goes "NATURA" again...

Top Left - This is the cluster of islands that are the same property as the main one where Nureyev's home is located.
Above - Structure on one of the islands
Left - Nureyev's "castle". The other islands are on the backside of this main one

We were able to dock and receive a private tour of Nureyev's island and it was SO impressive that I have made a separate page for it... which is next. Pepe' the foreman, was wonderful and took us through the entire home all the way up to the roof where the view was just awesome and incredible. We sipped a brisk Italian wine from the rooftop while looking out towards the Isle of Capri. Pam and I just shook our heads and claimed "it doesn't get any better than this...:

We stayed on the island for over an hour, perhaps an hour and a half and then it was time to go. Gennardo told us we were welcome to offer Pepe' a tip for going an extra mile for us, and he thought $35USD from each "couple" was sufficient. Pam and I enjoyed our time immensely, that we each gave him $25. Thank you Pepe' for your time and willingness to give we four "Americana's" the royal treatment!

Back on the boat we found out it was time for lunch and headed south down the coast to "Eduardino's" restaurant. What a fabulous experience this was! Eduardino's had a charming restaurant with outside dining. It is located down past Praiano... in a little cove where the fisherman come in when the day is done and have something to either eat or drink. There are a few hotel type places also tucked away in this cove, and I found it simply charming. We were served at least 5 or 6 different local specialty foods in at least 3 or 4 courses. It was delicious and the vino was plentiful. We sat outside eating for at least 2 hours and the company and conversation was great...

Top - The cove where the fisherman are coming in for the afternoon. Eduardino's is behind me as I take the photo.
Bottom - Here is a great shot of the cove from high above on the Amalfi highway. Eduardino's is the very last building with the brownish roof.

Top - Photo taken from the Amalfi coastal road, looking down to where the cove begins
Bottom - Here is a great shot of a few of the businesses in the cove. Note the lounge chairs on the roof of the motel. Eduardino's is the very last building, and we had lunch on the front grounds.

Lunch at Eduardino's was so enjoyable. It was time to say goodbye to Eduardo and go for a nice, long cruise down the coastline. Initially our tour was to last only 2-3 hours for $35USD per person, however, Gennardo was very gracious and charitable and it lasted most of 6 hours. We rode down the coast and caught some exquisite scenery along the way. I sat in the back of the boat and caught a great suntan, while chatting back and forth with Pamela and our Captain. Roman and Elana were basically in their own little world since they were on a romantic adventure, and they were leaving Italy the following day. I thought how fortunate we were that we would be traveling down into southern Calabria, and then up through Basilicata to Matera, through Bari along the Jonia Sea, through the different Regione's all the way up to Abruzzo and into the mountains to see my family I had just visited 6 months before. What an adventure, and I was doing my best to live it one second at a time...

Two views of Grande Hotel Tritone from the Mediterranean Sea

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