il san pietro hotel in positano

If you are going to Positano, we loved our hotel called Il San Pietro.  It is not in downtown Positano....it is a 10 minute car ride, and the hotel provides a shuttle.  Positano can be very crowded and very touristy, so we really enjoyed being away from it.

Look how spectacular it is from the photo below.  Built entirely into a cliff.  See the pool toward the top?  The restaurant is under there.  See the tennis court at the bottom?  You can either take a lot of stairs or an elevator.

This unique hotel opened in 1970 and has remained in the family ever since.  The upstairs restaurant has a Michelin star, the downstairs restaurant is outside on the water.

The Amalfi coast is beautiful, but can be crowded.  Il San Pietro was a beautiful place to take it in while being away from the crowds.

 

 

 

 

the hotel:

some photos:

photo last day --- so relaxed:

macaron

My husband prefers macaroons, I prefer macarons.  Confused?  Read below and learn the difference.  Which one do you like?

 

Although macarons are French, they were actually created in Italy by the chef of Catherine de Medicis in 1533 at her wedding to the future king of France.  Macarons were different back then......more simple.  In the early 1900's, the grandson of Louis Ernest Laduree turned them into 2 level creation filled with chocolate panache to hold them together.  Today macarons are so popular they are even served at McDonalds in France.

Photo below of me in Paris in 2012 enjoying my favorite flavor, pistachio.

paris door

Here is a photo of me in front of one of the gorgeous giant doors in Paris in the Marais district in 2016.  How spectacular!  You will find many of these glorious doors in this area.  Back in the day, they needed to be large enough to accommodate a horse & carriage entering into the mansion.  Even though we technically don't need these to be so large these days, I am so glad Paris protected these beauties.  

Some other photos of other doors from previous Paris trips for you below.  I like the photos with people best to demonstrate the scale of the door.  If you are heading to Paris, get a photo of yourself in front of one of these gorgeous giant doors!

 

From my 2015 Paris trip:

From my 2012 Paris trip:

beautiful things i saw today: ancient olive tree

Puglia, Italy.  Home to 60 million live trees.  Producer of 40% of Italy's olive oil.  I know, this doesn't look like an olive tree.  It looks more like an oak tree.  That is because of it's age.  This magnificent beauty is probably 1,000 years old.  Some in the region are 2,000 years old.  Think about that for a minute.  That is during the time of the Bible!

Olive trees along the coast of the turquoise Adriatic Sea....it really was a dazzling place!

Full write up of Puglia coming soon.

koko crater

Koko Crater is a unique hike in Hawaii on Oahu.  Yes, everyone says the other islands are better than Oahu.......but thanks to some friends who used to live on Oahu (Rebekah & Trina), I found some interesting things to do there.  Get out of Waikiki, and you will see some cool non-touristy parts of the island.

Koko Crater does have tourists......but it is a unique hike.  Have you ever climbed up a rail road track before?  1,000 steps to the top.  It was a little scary going down, as you don't want your foot to go in the hole between the stairs.  A unique hike if you are up for an adventure on Oahu.

italian sandals

I stumbled across the most amazing small local shoe store in Ostuni, Italy, which has been around for 40 years.  If you're headed to Puglia, Ostuni is a must, along with this chic reasonably priced sandal store, Erredibi!

Front of the store:

the shoes:

When you walk in, here is what you see.  I mean, where do you start?  They are all so cute!

my shoes:

Here are the 2 pairs that I chose, and my sweet husband purchased them for me.  Looking back, I wish I had bought more for friends & family for gifts.

 

how can i buy these?

Erredibi has a few stores in Southern Italy.   They do have a website, but the cost to ship is twice the price of the shoes........so, use it as an excuse to head to Italy!  

Although not quite the same.....some examples below of similar simple flat styles you can get in the USA.

my shoes one more time: