Next on the agenda was a two-night stint in Positano – the hillside Italian town that is quite possible the most photographed view in all of Italy. I’ve longed to visit it for years, ever since seeing it depicted in the movie Only You with Marisa Tome and Robert Downey Jr., oh so many years ago. So imagine my delight when Hotel Le Sirenuse – known as the best in Positano, and featured in Only You – offered Barbara the travel writer a free night’s stay!
Le Sirenuse is a beautiful hotel, and the setting is spectacular. The view from my balcony was the fantasy image of Positano, and the room featured comfy furniture, beautiful artwork, and a sparkling bathroom with a huge Jacuzzi tub. The restaurant and pool level overlooks the same stunning views as my balcony, and there are lots of overstuffed chairs and couches to chill out on in the bar, one level up. 
I have to admit though, while the pool is gorgeous, it looked about 10 times as big in the movie.
The hotel is also one of only a handful of Aveda destination spas that exist around the world, so naturally I booked myself for one of their more unusual treatments – the double massage (or as William G. likes to call it, the “massage à trios”). This goes down as the best massage of my life, and I’m now convinced that the next step on the evolutionary path for humans is to grow two additional arms and hands.
Exploring Positano itself, I found a slightly more unique selection of shops than I’d found on Capri and Ischia. I bought a couple new dresses, and for the first time in my life, had custom leather sandals made for me. Later that evening, decked out in a new dress and my hand-made sandals, I headed downstairs for dinner at the hotel restaurant. Unfortunately, on the first step I learned that my new sandals had absolutely no traction whatsoever, and promptly fell flat on my ass. Picking myself up, I continued down three flights of stairs to the restaurant – holding the handrail with the grip of death. Unfortunately, already feeling a bit bruised (both my ass and my dignity), my dining experience was less than stellar. I won’t get into the details of the minor pity party I threw for myself, but let’s just say that I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m done travelling alone to expensive, romantic places. Not only is everyone already paired up (and therefore not interested in meeting new people), but I’ve also found that folks are generally standoffish at ritzy hotels.
And as for my second hotel in Positano… let’s just say that it’ll be a cold day with pigs flying overhead before I return to the Hotel Domina Royal. Aside from the scuzzy room and creepy porter, I found it oddly creepy that every single person in the hotel pool was wearing a bathing cap. I mean really, what’s up with that?
Nonetheless, I found Positano to be beautiful, and I was happy to have satisfied a long-standing dream to visit there. And here’s the photo I’ve been waiting so long to take.
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