A long overdue drive to Positano

My life long friends know I have always had a faible for Italy and everything that goes with it. When I married my gorgeous Neapolitan hubby my Dad just said: "You asked for Italian now you deal with Italian". He was the proudest man on earth when is Italo-American grandson was born in Argentina!

Anyways, we periodically return to Naples to visit family and I always complain that all we do is sit around the table and eat for days on end. Admittedly, if I were a total foodie, this alone would be worth the trip. However, after being with my hubby for 20 years, I have still not seen Positano, the most romantic village in Italy. I am a hopeless romantic at heart!

So, this time he decided to surprise me and whizz me down the Amalfi coast in an open sports car to uncover the mythical town of Positano. What had been a sleepy fishing village is now a swanky destination popular with the jet set and common travelers alike.

It is the coast’s most picturesque and photogenic town, with steeply-stacked houses tumbling down to the sea in a cascade of sun-bleached peach, pink and terracotta colours. No less colourful are its steep streets and steps lined with wisteria-draped hotels, smart restaurants and fashionable boutiques.

The fashionista history runs deep: Moda Positano was born here in the '60s and apparently the town was the first in Italy to import bikinis from France.

They also say that it's International fame is thanks to the Americans who "discovered" Positano during the Second World War, after driving the Germans out of Italy.  Their base near Salerno made it easy for soldiers and officers to take their R&R in the town. My Dad would surely agree...