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Friday » April 25 » 2008

Little known Praiano a jewel on coast

Margaret Cowan Special to The Vancouver Sun

Friday, January 11, 2008

Most tourists exploring the magnificent just south of Naples stop at the two big diamonds, and Amalfi, and ride right through the little jewel town of Praiano, about half-way between Positano and Amalfi.

What a mistake! Beautiful Praiano is smaller, less crowded and feels less touristy than its more famous neighbours.

This September I wanted to hike the mountainside pathways between Positano and Amalfi (another story for another time) so chose Praiano as a good point between the two. It turned out to be a three- day stay full of delights. CREDIT: Visitors soak up the sun in the little-known My single room in Hotel Perla on the edge of town of Praiano, on 's Amalfi Coast. Praiano opened on to a sunny little balcony with good views of the coast - of dry, brown and green, steep mountains falling to the blue sea. Perched above the Amalfi Coast road the hotel is quiet, but you walk only a few steps to the bus stop for buses to , Positano, Amalfi or . I enjoyed a good buffet breakfast on the sea view terrace and the convenient Internet service in the lobby. (Hotel La Perla, perlahotel.it Phone: 089-874246. Doubles range from 100 to 150 euros.)

Best of all, a staircase a few feet along the main road from Hotel Perla takes you down past a Saracen tower to a great restaurant on the sea that doubles as a beach spot during the day. CREDIT: The Paradies Restaurant sits on rocks above the Visitors soak up the sun in the little-known water's edge so you look out along the coast, watch town of Praiano, on Italy's Amalfi Coast. boats come and go and admire the lights sparkling over the sea as darkness falls. I liked it so much I went twice.

The fish soup was full of prawns, mussels, squid, octopus and clams in a delicious tomato broth. The roasted peppers with capers and black olives with good quality olive oil were excellent. The outgoing owner gave me good advice on what wine to order by the glass. I spent about 27 euros on the meal.

My third day, back from lots of sightseeing, I ambled down the same stairs to find a sun cot to laze on by the sea for a couple of hours and found the same restaurant owner. When I asked him how CREDIT: much the sun cot rental was, with a big smile he Visitors soak up the sun in the little-known exclaimed, "For you, it's free!" (Terrazze Paradies in town of Praiano, on Italy's Amalfi Coast.

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Praiano, Via Terramare 6. Phone: 089-874534.)

A two-minute walk east along the Amalfi Coast road from Hotel Perla takes you to a little sandy beach. You can also catch a water taxi from here to Positano where you take boats to Capri or along the coast.

Walking west for about 20 minutes on the pretty, sea-view back roads from the hotel past houses, gardens, school, shops and hotels takes you to the centre of Praiano. To go there by bus, you can catch the cheaper, local orange buses or the more expensive, crowded Amalfi Coast SITA buses.

For local orange bus tickets at 1 Euro you pay the driver directly. For SITA buses, you buy your tickets first in designated places like some coffee bars. Tourist tickets good all along the coast are 5 euros for a 24-hour period. A SITA bus driver told me SITA won't sell foreigners 1 euro local tickets unless they can prove they're local residents. A small thing but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

In Praiano's town centre I descended into the large main piazza dominated by the gleaming, white San Gennaro church with its striking dome of white, blue and yellow tile and tower with yellow and green tile roof. Inside the church I got a really nice surprise, a very pretty Baroque interior in yellow, green and white. On the piazza I gazed out over the sea along the coast to Positano.

I followed steps below the church on narrow streets past homes, gardens and patios with tomatoes hung to dry, down to the other beach, a series of patios on the rocks, with views of Positano, sun cots and umbrellas, beach bar and restaurant. The 5-10 minute climb up and down the steps is good exercise!

I was in Praiano on September 19, the festival of their saint, San Gennaro, so what better place to have dinner than Trattoria San Gennaro set right above the main piazza. At my open air table it felt like a dinner theatre. In the piazza brass bands were playing. The church was outlined in strings of white lights. The piazza was all dressed up in big flower forms of yellow, green and white lights. Children ran around the piazza playing with new toys bought at the stands. What a magical sight as the sun set in pink and orange over the sea.

My linguine allo scoglio loaded with fresh tomatoes, parsley, prawns and other seafood and my bountiful salad of lettuce, arugola, tomatoes, fennel, carrot and radicchio were excellent. (Trattoria San Gennaro, Via G. Capriglione. Phone: 089-874293.)

I would have loved to stay longer in Praiano and hang out for some carefree days at its beaches and eat more fish and drink white wine. Praiano is a little jewel set between two big diamonds, the perfect quieter spot to base yourself as you explore the busier, more famous Positano, Amalfi and .

Margaret Cowan of Vancouver runs cooking tours to Italy. For more information visit www.italycookingschools.com.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

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