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We traveled to the Amalfi Coast at the very cusp of the off-season, late March, and so missed the spring birth of the many incredible flora and vegetation of the region. But we also by-passed the intense crowds and traffic that bloom along with the flowers beginning right after Easter. This fortuitous timing also coincided with the “settimana santa,” the holy week preceding Easter. We thus experienced the pageantry of “giovedi santo” [Holy Thursday], including “Lavanda dei piedi” ‘[the washing of feet] symbolic of the day and the “Prossessione del SS.Sacramento alla Cappella della reposizione per l’adorazione.” The latter is a stunning and haunting procession intended to remember the betrayal of Christ. On that night, we followed the townspeople as they walked for hours up and over the hills of Ravello behind men dressed in white robes and hoods singing the dissident lamentations that mark the sadness of Christ’s tortuous journey.

We chose, as our base, Ravello, a village in the hills above the Amalfi drive, which we found to be less hurried than the coastal cities of Amalfi and Positano, and one more accessible to other destinations, such as Pompeii and Naples. We arrived at night at about the hour of apperitivo and thus decided to take in the ambiance of the central piazza with the back-drop of Ravello’s church, La Chiesa d’Annunziata. There, beyond the signs warning of “no ball-playing, no bicycling, no roller-blading and no scootering” we sat outside at the local bar and watched our children join ten year-old resident, Enrico and others, playing ball, bicycle-riding, roller-blading and scootering. As the children got to know each other, we began to talk to the owner of the bar, Enrico’s uncle, Luigi Schiavo.

“It’s such a beautiful, tranquil setting,” I said to him as he brought us a glass of pinot grigio, “All the kids seem to get along so well.” “We’re practically all related,” he told me, “See that shop over there? The one that sells ceramics. She’s my cousin. The travel agent around the corner … that’s her husband. Then there’s Vincenzo …”

In the following one-hour period, an explanation of their extended family, as well as another glass of Pinot Grigio, ensued. Mario Capuano, Luigi’s cousin, owns “Wagner Tours.” He specializes in planning weddings on the Amalfi coast, but also organizes just about any other kind of tour you can imagine. “We try to cover every detail,” says Mario. We know the importance of family, and believe me, the first step, is a happy, stress free wedding day …”
Mario’s wife is Paolina Amatruda. She’s the one who owns the ceramics store next to the bar. For 25 years, the store has offered the traditional ceramics of nearby Vietri noted for their refined beauty and quality. “We are always trying to renew ourselves,” Paolina said, “to adapt ourselves, but without losing the traditional quality that has sustained us all these years. Our kids keep us young and our family memories help us to keep true to our traditions”
The family talent doesn’t end with Mario or his wife. Vincenzo Amatruda, Mario’s brother-in-law, teaches cooking classes out of his private home, situated on a cliff top, 350 meters above sea level. After many years as a chef and owner of a restaurant in Ravello, “Vincenzino” [diminutive for "Vincent"] developed a cooking school where he says people can cook and eat “with the heart and not just the mouth.” First, Vincenzino takes his students to some of the little food shops located in the historic alleys of Ravello. Speaking Italian and English, he introduces his students to the shop owners and an explanation of how the locals choose their wine and vegetables follows. Together, they decide the menu, according to the season and tastes of all gathered. Finally, they proceed with the hands-on preparation of the meal, from apperitivo and wine, gracefully past “il primo” course and “il secondo” and finally to dessert and espresso. If the weather cooperates, as it so often does in Ravello, Vincenzino’s students will eat on the terrace so that their culinary experience can be enhanced by the spectacular view of the Mediterranean.

An entire experience as a family can be had by venturing no further than the warmth of the Capuano extended family, but one can hardly come to this region of Italy without taking in the joys of the Amalfi drive. Step one in this process, if you have the nerve and the inclination, [and kids old enough to sit behind you without squirming] is to rent a scooter.

When you rent a scooter in picturesque Positano, are you just renting a scooter? Perhaps. But if you also “fa quattro chiacchiere” [make a little chat] you may also realize that you are renting from Pepe Mandara of Positano Rent a Scooter, [Viale Pasitea 99, tel. 089 812 2077], cousin of Giulio, Anna, Rosa and Rafaelle Mandara who own the Pizzeria across the street, Valle Dei Mulini, [Via Vecchia 5, tel. 089 875 232]. Or perhaps you might meet their other cousins at the Boutique Luisa, next door, including Susanna Mandara, the designer, Luisa and Gaetano Mandara, the owner and Susanna’s mother and father, Giovanna Mandara, Susanna’s sister and the seamstress in charge of the production of Susanna’s designs. “In Positano, it’s very common for the whole family to have a hand in a successful business,” Susanna told me “We do what we can to help each other. My success is their success and in some small way, theirs is my success as well.”

No discussion of family here in Positano would be complete without the notable inclusion of the Sersale family, owners of La Sirenuse [+39 089 875066], the most important hotel in Positano. The Sersale family owned a summer home in Positano, an 18th century palazzo in the center of town, where they often spent summer vacations, but during the Second World War they retreated there full-time to escape the bombing of their native city, Napoli. In 1951, however, the family decided to turn their vacation home into a small elegant hotel. They started with eight rooms and a large terrace overlooking the Islands of the Sirens. Fifty years later the hotel has 62 rooms with all the comforts of a five star luxury hotel. But staying at La Sirenuse still has the feeling of being home.
To this day, the Sersale family owns Le Sirenuse and family members work together to maintain its position as a world-class hotel. Four descendents of the original owner, Antonio Sersale, were responsible for the initial opening of the hotel. For years, the eldest brother, Aldo, managed the hotel with the help of the mayor of Positano, Paolo Sersale, Aldo’s brother. Together these two brothers ran the hotel until Paolo’s death in 1991. Aldo, also ill at that time, stepped down, and their younger brother, Franco, stepped in. Franco began making the improvements today credited with the hotel’s current luxury status. His taste in furnishings, paintings and sculpture have a vehicle for expression as Franco liberally purchases antiques that offset beautifully the architecture of the hotel and bring pleasure to guests. His son, Antonio, now runs the hotel as Franco, at age 77, describes himself as “semi-retired.” “He’s retired, but he’s still our ‘center.’ We know that we can go to him about important decisions regarding the direction we want the hotel to take. We always get the kind of response that allows us to hold fast to our family roots, while at the same time creating a vision for our future that will keep up with the pace of our guests evolving needs and tastes.”
As for our ‘semi-tired’ family, I’m back at the bar sipping a glass of Chianti this time and watching the kids play ball behind the “no-ball playing” sign with their new-found friends. We continued our trip with a visit to Amalfi, Capri, Pompeii and Napoli … but that’s a story for another article…

So if you like Yoga, then you can exercise gentle yoga with caring and experienced teachers in heavenly settings, benefit you can take guided sort walks in unspoilt countryside, or if you feel like being pampered, then there are a strain of different holistic therapy holidays, where you can certainly heal yourself and relax in the lovely surroundings.

Another traditional art that has become trendy in France is Tai Chi, which is all about fitness and therapy using your own home body energy, and with course and keen breaks in masses of towns and villages throughout this scenic country, you could end with feelings of wellbeing and middle dilution you never knew you had!

Also, we all know that France is a country proud of its good food and good lavender to accompany it, and what better place could you go to for a cooking festival. So for those of you who are into erudition more about French cooking delights, there are cooking courses open in most areas of France, where you can learn to steam some of their traditional dishes, while enjoying the pleasures of tasting the native gourmand food from top chefs right through from pate to grilled fish and deserts that look too lovely to obsess!

Nevertheless a cooking feast in France is not just about being in the kitchen, the idea of these courses is to get you out and about by experiencing the society of the zone, take tours and visiting the community markets, so that you can explore their delicacies, enabling you to form the great meals for incredible dining experiences that will be a delight to your family and contacts when back home.

Of course, lets not overlook about the many lavender tours, which is also another very common activity festival and the vast collections of vineyards can make for a truly educational and worthwhile experience, positive you get to experience the different types of wines and end aware precisely what to look for when shopping back home.

There is no disbelief about it, that France is the best destination for lavender tasting and although Bordeaux has forever been the most common place to stopover, there are many other areas such as Burgundy and the Champagne Ardenne district, and after you have walked around an estate on a hot summer’s day, then ingoing the cellars to cool down while experimenting with different wines can be an experience you will never forget. Nevertheless the great thing about a plum tasting feast, is that you get skilled opinion on tours, so you can impress your friends with your expertise when you get back home for those pleasurable dusk dinners!

If you have thought about making your own pots and jumble but do not know where to establish, then perhaps a stoneware course is just for you. Gaining inspiration from your surroundings, you pioneer by education how to make and then adorn tons of stuff from vases to plates so that you can take your new found talents and facility of art home with you as a reminder of your activity festival in France.

Limousin county is legendary for its stoneware and the museum in Limoges can afford more inspiration than most would get in a time, but there are numerous other areas in France that bestow ceramics courses.

Almost as old as time itself, dirt is a traditional cunning and what could be better than having a ceramics opening in an old restored chateau or hangar, so you can enjoy erudition the traditional methods of moulding wet earth, running the potter’s turn, firing the clay and then ultimate off your wonderful pots, and by the end of your holiday you will be able to cause home with you the fallout of your artistic feel from the skills you have educated.

Everyone knows that France is also legendary for its artists and, wherever you go, you will always boil someone sketching or painting, so you will find numerous doodle and painting holidays vacant, which are set in the most beautiful countryside settings, where you can learn new techniques to paint and draw or just brush up on the skills you already have.

Many of these will incorporate trips to museums and galleries along with tutorials, but instead than just being wedged in a studio, the accent is put on leisure and pleasure by getting out and about in the area, so that you can experience a category of different scenarios from landscape painting to the regional architecture in your area, which can only allow the nascent dancer to experiment in areas they may not have considered before, even using different materials, so you can have a holiday satiated of enjoyment and inspiration.

With a lot of courses, they are more than gleefully to cater for individuals or for small groups, and alter in duration from a weekend exceed through to an inclusive week, and of course, these types of activity holidays are untaken for all levels of experience and while you tour and learn by day, each sundown you can sit down to gastronomic delights, superior wines and interesting conversation with like-minde people.