Arienzo

Today ended up largely organized around a beach club. I mentioned one of these a few days ago when we had dinner, but they are essentially clubs where you pay for access to the beach, and they give you chairs, umbrellas, towels, and have a restaurant and staff on site. We went to Arienzo Beach Club just south of Positano; it’s a little out of the way and pricier, but we were going to do a hike first (which we bailed on; too hot and too long a hike), and it’s an actual beach as opposed to a dock on the water (like where we had dinner). Beautiful little spot, right next to a cliff to offer some shade in the water, which is amazingly clear and refreshing as it’s HOT. Zoom in on some of the pics from today and yesterday and look for the orange and white umbrellas; you can see it from a distance “Where’s Waldo?” style if you look.

Typically you’d take a boat from Sorrento to Positano (and then the beach club has a water taxi from Positano to the beach club), but we already had a car ordered to drop us off (originally planned to bring us to the start of the hike). Actually ended up very happy to get the ride instead. The views from the mountain tops were gorgeous, and it was interesting to look down on the water and towns that we were looking up at from the boat yesterday. Our driver went into full tour guide mode; he stopped at a few picturesque areas, took our pictures, and described the area. Best unexpected benefit in a while.

Lunch was decent, nothing too special. Pasta, octopus, meatballs, calamari, fried shrimp. Turns out you can eat shrimp whole if it’s fried, and I’m still not a huge fan. Dave and I had a healthy debate about the price elasticity and what the club should charge for a Clase Azul Margarita in order to make the most money.

When you spend all day in the hot Sun at a beach club, you get gelato twice. It’s just a rule. So in Positano, on the way back to Sorrento, we found the gelateria that required the least amount of stairs to climb. I splurged for the brioche con gelato, which is a fancy Italian ice cream sandwich on a brioche bun. Apparently it’s a breakfast in Sicily. I wouldn’t complain if I saw one show up at any meal.

Credit to Dave for finding a random pizza joint on TikTok for dinner that was crazy good: Pizzeria del Franco. We started with what we thought was a simple charcuterie board, but included effectively a cookie sheet lined with prosciutto. Amazing. The three pizzas we ordered were also fantastic, and I’m too full to remember all the details.

All in all, a chill day at the beach with some great food. Can’t beat that!Read more