Salvatore or Marcello???

[High C's]

High C,

 

in all fairness, I think a lot more is being made over this shopping issue than Marcello does. He never made an issue of it. He never made any comments about Americans, wealthy or otherwise. He did point out that Positano is full of American tourists, which was the absolute fact as we found out during our walk through the town.

 

As for souvenirs, I walked past a t-shirt place and rememberd I had to buy something for a granddaughter. I bought one (in less than 5 minutes) and end of story. Also, I had to pick up a purchase for a friend and we simply told him and he made the stop while we went in and got the package. Again, no hassle and no comments.

 

My main objection to "shopping" is the obligatory shopping stops that many organized tours make. Plus, as I said before, I rather spend my time seeing new places or old favorites without sending time at the shops, especially when most souvenirs are not really authentic or local. I really don't feel like spending time going from souvenir shop to souvenir shop when I could be visiting the cathedral in Amalfi or the Villa Cimbrone in Ravello.

 

Marcello did say that he feels he has something to offer as a tour guide, more than just taking people from shop to shop and I agree with that. I believe he (and all other tour guides) sees this board and he was a little upset about some of the comments.

 

So really, this may be more of an issue on the board than it is in reality. If you go with him, just tell him of anything special you would like to do and he will fit it right in.

 

As for his English, yes, he does have an accent and every once in a while he is at a loss for the right word, but how many of us speak Italian as well as he does English?

 

In any case, there are plenty of good tour drivers and some people click better with each other. Marcello has many repeat users and so do the others. So relax and have a good time. Seeing a beautiful part of the world is the important thing and you will have a good experience with whoever you feel is best suited for you.

 

Marazul - thank you for posting this information! It seems to be a fair balance of some of the posts I have read, and puts some of the reported comments into perspective. Marcello has enjoyed wonderful reviews for a long time on these boards, so it did seem odd that these negative comments suddenly appeared. I think you are right in that more is being made of them than should be.

 

Hopefully the OP takes this into account when deciding which guide to select. Again, from personal experience, I can only say that we thoroughly enjoyed our day with Salvatore, as others have enjoyed their time with Marcello. I guess the bright side is you will have a great day with either one of these gentlemen!

[212cruiser]

Personally, I think these two guys got very lucky with this board.

People should realize that the Amalfi coast "tour" is a fairly simple, straightforward, drive and many other drivers/services are available. Having used one of those drivers myself I can state that there was certainly nothing "exceptional" about him. He in no way made our day in Naples. He was safe and timely, and familiar with the area-- the minimum things to be expected from a $750.00 driver using a van, but I would not book with him again. I would definitely look for a different experience next time.

[2serendip]

I must have given the wrong impression in my comments, and for that I am very sorry. We enjoyed Marcello and would recommend him. He was an excellent guide for what he prides himself on doing very well -- introducing his clients to his Amalfi, the coast that he remembers as a boy growing up in Naples and which he now is celebrating. He is not a fan of the tourism, or the new hotel development, that has changed the old villages although of course he does profit personally by our presence there since it's now his livelihood. I did not intend for my comments to be seen as strongly, or even very, negative. His criticism of shoppers was motivated by his desire to make the best use of our time, and of his, and he believes that it would be wasting that precious time to spend two hours strolling through stores. I imagine that on a return trip we will book someone else because we have spent our day with Marcello and will appreciate another point of view next time. I would also try to find someone who could tell us more history, but Marcello is an excellent source of information about what is happening in Italy today,and his life story is very pertinent to the tour you'll be taking. I hope this helps to present a more balanced view of his services because as I said in my previous comments, we had a wonderful and very memorable day on the Amalfi.