Amalfi Coast 14 09 09

I have not been sleeping great- jet lag, 4 of us in a room, lots going on...and I have no idea what time it is ever. This morning I woke up before the girls and headed down to breakfast. After I sat out by the pool and read for a bit before is started showering. The plan today was to be picked up by a driver for a private 8 hour tour of the Amalfi coast! Such a great idea of Jen's who wanted to treat us for Kristen and Stephanie's 30th birthdays. I attempted to start packing but was pretty tired from the previous evening festivities. We all crashed for about an hour after hearing the scenes of an italian restaurant story. Our driver was waiting for us and we piled into the mercedes van with all of our stuff and were ready to go. None of us were prepared for the crazy, windy roads and gorgeous scenes. We all got car sick and had to ask our poor driver to stop a bazillion times to change seats, get stuff out of the back, go to the bathroom, take pictures...it was ridiculous. Everywhere we looked we saw colorful houses carved into the coast, jaw dropping drops on the other side and cars coming towards us on the narrow one lane road. The first town that we stopped in was Amalfi. We had pizza in the plaza and then did some window shopping. It had started to rain by the time we left and headed to Ravello. Our stomachs had gotten used to the craziness (and we had all taken an herbal motion sickness pill which must have kicked in) by this point. When we arrived at the top of the mountain, it was pouring rain. We sat in the van for a while to kill time in hopes that it would pass...no such luck. The views were supposedly among the best of the coast so we decided to take our chances and make a run for it. We were all in long dresses and got absolutely drenched on our way up. We were screaming and laughing and noticed that people were standing in doorways cracking up at the sight thatwe were. Luckily, there was a coffee shop/bar and we ducked in for something warm to drink before braving the elements again. After a bit, the sun started to peak out. We ran outside to see the most amazing rainbow I have ever witnessed. It was so defined and long and we walked through a tunnel to try to get closer to it. The views from the location were worth the car sickness and rain - it was breath taking. We explored a bit more and then were off to Positano and our new hotel. I have never had to hike to get to somewhere that I am staying. Our driver dropped us off at the base of the hill and we walked up 5 flights of stone steps (110 +) to get to our place. It is so charming, romantic and quaint. We opened up a bottle of red wine before venturing out on the town. Champagne (free!), ravioli, brushetta and warm chocolate cake was on the menu...