Positano is probably the most famous town in the Amalfi coast. I had heard so much about it that I was dying to visit it. And honestly, I was totally disappointed. Yes, it's beautiful... When you see it from the outside. But when you dig deep into it, you come up with a sour taste. I felt it was like an undercooked pie. It looks delicious on the outside but when you taste it, it's a disaster. It's so touristy that I feel it's been totally damaged.
The bus dropped us at the top, so we had to walk downhill to the bottom. Thank God we chose a bus and not a boat because the vertical climb up would have left us breathless. The downward slope was a string of stores selling you everything, from linens to sandals, from jewelry to ceramics. In the midst of the madness, there was a Duomo. Of course, we can't have an Italian town without its cathedral and patron saint. The patron saint of Positano is St. Virus. Unfortunately, the Duomo was closed. We missed it by twenty minutes. But I had already visited my quota of churches for the day and I was not disappointed. At the very top of our downward climb, there was a little church, and it was just perfect. The little yellow Church of the Holy Rosary was serene enough to get my mind off the tourist madness and into a pilgrimage mood. There I was able to get my five minutes of prayer time to thank God for keeping us safe during this last minute vacation and to pray for all of you: my family, my friends, and my Emmaus and CSS brothers and sisters in Christ.
Finally, we made it pass all the tourist traps, and we reached the beach. It's supposed to be one of the nicest beach destinations in Italy. Really? Everyone is packed shoulder to shoulder like sardines. The sand is black and full of rocks. The water is as cold as ice. It made me realize how blessed I am to have Miami Beach on my backyard.
But I'm in Italy... So I'm not complaining. I love this country. You just won't catch me at the beach. We had a delicious lunch on a terrace overlooking the beach. I felt it was a much better choice to enjoy watching the beach from a terrace while enjoying a delicious meal, than having to deal with the rocks, the heat, the cold water and the crowd. I am so thankful and blessed to live in Miami.
At this point we decided that it was just not worth the heat to climb up vertical Positano to catch the bus. Luckily, they have water taxis. We caught the next available one and returned to Amalfi. It is by far my favorite town on the Amalfi coast. I wonder if it's just a coincidence or there is a reason why this entire coast was named after this town. I think it was a God-incidence that when I searched for hotels in Positano, three weeks ago, everything was sold out. Amalfi turned out to be so much better.
The hilight of our day was the Amalfi Duomo. It turns out that St. Andrew's tomb is at the Amalfi Duomo. St. Andrew was one of the twelve apostles, the brother of Peter. I never expected to find his tomb and his relics in Amalfi. And I didn't have to book it in advance (like I had to do for his brother Peter). I did have to pay, but just three euros. And it was so worth it. I just sat there, dumbfounded, staring at his relics... a little piece of bone. But just to think that he knew Jesus, that he was one of the twelve. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.
One thing that struck me, was that St. Andrew was crucified on a cross that was an "X" shape, and not a "T" shape like Christ's cross. I did some research and the reason was, that just like his brother Peter, he didn't feel worthy to be crucified on the upright cross of Christ. Therefore, just like Peter requested to be crucified upside down, Andrew requested to be crucified diagonally. He hung for three days on the cross, fixed not by nails but by rope round his hands and feet.
St. Andrew, pray for us.
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