It’s August and the beaches are getting mighty crowded here on the Amalfi Coast. Those of you who have traveled in Italy this time of year know that the month of August is when Italians go on vacation. While some cities might be a bit less crowded, that is certainly not the case for the Amalfi Coast. The Italians come here! I just love the brightly colored beach umbrellas along the Amalfi Coast, and I couldn’t think of a more appropriate banner image for the month of August. This month the photo is a group of umbrellas from Amalfi, but right now every beach along the coast is full of bright single- or multi-colored umbrellas fluttering in the sea breeze. You can tell when summer has reached its peak by the number of beach umbrellas, and right now in Amalfi there is hardly a free spot!

You might have noticed around the blogosphere that many of your favorite Italian blogs have gone on ferie, or holiday, for the month of August. While a tempting idea, there are too many fun events, festivals and things to do this time of year that I want to share with you all here on Ciao Amalfi. I have decided, however, in order to balance my writing workload (why does everything have to come in August???) with a bit a my own time under the beach umbrellas, that I will take a break this August from my regular weekly Sunday Shout-out and Tempting Tuesday features. That doesn’t mean I won’t be tempting you all with photos and videos from the Amalfi Coast this month, it just means my posting schedule will be a bit more relaxed—a perfect reflection of these lazy and hot days of August!

I snapped these photos of the bright orange beach umbrellas last weekend at Santa Croce, which is one of my favorite beaches on the Amalfi Coast. I love taking photos of the beach umbrellas, and I am sure there will be more coming this month!

Buon agosto!! Happy August!!