748 steps to be precise! Early in our Italian adventure I’d dragged James away from the pool (he’d have ended up bright pink and wrinkly if I’d left him to it 🙂 ) and onto a blue SITA bus. Groans! But not so far this time. Destination Positano, the picture postcard perfection that had swum in my imagination ever since I’d booked the trip. And did it disappoint? What do you think? Just look at that view! But I do remember a bit of confusion about where to get off the bus, and it being seriously hot. Which was all very well going down those steps, nicely distracted by shady shops and pressing your nose up against a window or peering through an open door.

Down on the beach it was even hotter and not a place to linger, though the colourful boats and beach huts made a pretty sight. To be honest, the beach itself fell well short of our usual standards, but who comes to Positano to lie on a beach? Maybe to sit in a harbourside bar and observe the stylish comings and goings. But then, no way but up- 748 steps! And a hunt for a bus stop. Upwards again to the village of Montepertuso, where legend has it that the hole in the mountain was created by the Virgin’s finger. The scenery sublime.

But never fear, the hotel pool was there and waiting, and never looked so inviting as at the end of that day.