4PM IN POSITANO

Nicole Storey Make-up artist

“Positano is amazing during winter – you can stand on the beach and watch the sun setting into the sea. The colours are magical. In summer, when the sun sets much later, you can’t actually see it here because it sets behind the mountain – you’d only be able to see it if you were on the Sorrento side of the peninsula. But in winter, it’s very colourful. The beautiful sunsets go from around October through to February.

Surprisingly, in winter, Positano is still busy with Italian daytrippers and weekenders – not as much as June and July but busy for a town that’s closed up. One beach restaurant stays open and it’ll be packed on the weekend. It’s a great atmosphere – the locals walk into town and if you’re feeling lonely at home you can join them for a walk to the end of the beach to watch the sunset. Once it’s over, it gets cold and it’s time to go home and light a fire.

I’ve been living here for more than 20 years – I’m originally from England – and my husband runs the local cemetery. That’s actually one of the most beautiful places in town and most people don’t know where it is so they don’t explore it. It’s full of brightly coloured flowers and people sit around in the entrance area and chat for hours. You can’t catch a bus there; you’ve got to walk up about three hundred-odd steps. For a lot of people, that’s too many!

I started making YouTube videos because I had a friend in her 80s who wanted to walk the Path of the Gods [an Amalfi Coast trail] but she couldn’t. After that, I made more videos because I wanted people to see that there’s so much more to the Amalfi than just the beach. One of the things I do is go kayaking at sunrise – at that time the sea is completely smooth and silent. As I’m coming down into town there are sometimes revellers staggering home but often it’s just me and dolphins in the water. The sky and sea are pink and it’s so special. It’s worth getting up early for.”