Ciao! I'm Laura.
  • Journal
  • About
  • Writing
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Journal
  • Books
  • Podcast
  • About
    • Writing
  • Contact

Ciao Amalfi

TRAVEL · March 24, 2024

A New Season Begins – March 2024

Happy Spring! It's that time of year when shops and restaurants are spiffed up, the ferries start running again, and the bakeries are full of Colomba cakes for Pasqua. That can only mean one thing: a new season has begun! If you're visiting the Amalfi Coast soon, here are a few things happening ...

View the Post

HISTORY & CULTURE · June 4, 2023

La Rondinaia – Visiting “The Swallow’s Nest” in Ravello

There are places where a spirit remains, especially when those places are much-loved homes. One such place is La Rondinaia, a remarkable villa in Ravello that was home to the American writer Gore Vidal (1925-2012) for more than 30 years. Its whimsical name—meaning "The Swallow’s Nest"—comes from the ...

View the Post

TRAVEL · October 23, 2022

Amalfi Coast Autumn Festivals & Events

With mild temperatures and plenty of sunny days, autumn is a beautiful time to visit the Amalfi Coast. Do keep in mind that September is in many ways a continuation of the summer. It's still quite warm and is one of the best months for swimming and enjoying time outdoors. Temperatures do start ...

View the Post

PEOPLE · October 9, 2022

The Amalfi Coast in Song: An Interview with Lucy Kiely

In a landscape so beautiful it often seems straight out of a film, what's missing is a soundtrack that captures the essence of the Amalfi Coast. That's where the music of Lucy Kiely, an Amalfi Coast based jazz singer and songwriter, comes in. Lucy's latest album Un'Estate Italiana has just been ...

View the Post

PEOPLE, PHOTOGRAPHY · July 10, 2022

Photographing the Amalfi Coast: An Interview with Emanuele Anastasio

From brilliant summer days to moody winter storms, the Amalfi Coast is a photographer's dream spot every day of the year. There are, however, some very special days when a photographer's keen eye can capture a moment of history. One of those days is the Regata delle Antiche Repubbliche Marinare, the ...

View the Post

Moon Amalfi Coast

BOOKS, WRITING · February 8, 2022

Moon Amalfi Coast with Capri, Naples & Pompeii, 2nd Edition

It's no secret that I love books. For as long as I can remember, I've loved books. The discovery, the possibility when stepping into a library or bookstore, the comfort in stacks of books around the house. The time spent with books is always special, whether it be hours that pass while lost in a ...

View the Post

LIFESTYLE · October 24, 2021

The Summer of C

After what has been a long year and a half -- for so many of us -- this was the summer I thought I'd be reading a lot of books and relaxing at the beach. Maybe even reading some of those books while listening to the sound of the sea in Amalfi. (Maybe more than maybe.) Instead, it was the summer I ...

View the Post

HISTORY & CULTURE · November 18, 2020

William Kentridge’s “More Sweetly Play the Dance” at the Arsenal of Amalfi

There are few places in Amalfi where the history of the town can be so well felt in its very stones than the Antico Arsenale della Repubblica di Amalfi - the ancient Arsenal of the Republic of Amalfi. Just a few steps from the busy traffic circle Piazza Flavio Gioia, the Arsenal is where Amalfi's ...

View the Post

FOOD & DRINK · July 26, 2020

Recipes from Expats in Positano

The joy that comes from cooking and sharing meals is a staple of Italian daily life. During the long days of quarantine on the Amalfi Coast, time together over lunch and dinner was often the highlight of the days for many families. In fact, in the early days of quarantine the only thing you might ...

View the Post

FOOD & DRINK · July 4, 2020

New Live Streaming Amalfi Coast Cooking Classes with Mamma Agata Live

If you've been missing the flavors of the Amalfi Coast, I have some exciting news. The Mamma Agata Cooking School has launched a series of live streaming cooking classes direct from their kitchen in Ravello! Since so many travelers are unable to make it to the Amalfi Coast this year, they've created ...

View the Post

TRAVEL · June 13, 2020

Amalfi Coast Tourism Restarts

After months of being quarantined and a slow restart, earlier this month marked the reopening of travel between regions in Italy and, an even bigger step, the reopening of borders in the European Union. While we're all happy here in Amalfi to see shops and restaurants opening again, it has been ...

View the Post

View of Scala on the Amalfi Coast

TRAVEL, WRITING · May 17, 2020

A Glimpse of My Scala in Italia! Magazine

While travel and most everything has been on hold this spring, the April 2020 issue of Italia! Magazine featured an article I wrote called 48 Hours in Scala. For those of you following Ciao Amalfi for some time now, you'll know that I've spent a lot more than 48 hours in Scala. About 12 years ...

View the Post

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 14
  • Next →

Ciao!

My name is Laura and the Amalfi Coast is my passion and my home. I’m a writer and photographer who is endlessly inspired by the incredible beauty of the Amalfi Coast. Welcome to Ciao Amalfi!

Ciao Amalfi

  • Journal
  • Moon Amalfi Coast
  • Newsletter
  • Contact

Amalfi Coast

  • Amalfi
  • Positano
  • Ravello
  • Amalfi Coast

Explore

  • Travel
  • History & Culture
  • Food & Drink
  • Shopping

Laura Thayer

  • About
  • Writing
  • Book Reviews
  • Work with Me

Latest on Instagram

What a moving experience yesterday morning to see What a moving experience yesterday morning to see the Olympic torch in Amalfi. 🔥 One of the many many reasons I love living right in the center of Amalfi is that in one minute I can be in the middle of making pasta with artichokes and the next watching a historic moment happen. I never take that for granted! @milanocortina2026 @olympics
Well that was unexpected but fun! 🎄#amalfi #christ Well that was unexpected but fun! 🎄#amalfi #christmas #natale
Lovely new Christmas ornament created by @illustra Lovely new Christmas ornament created by @illustrationbyjonathan of Jane Austen’s House in Chawton and her tiny 12-sided writing table. It looks exactly like the beautiful spring day when I was there in April this year. Such a beautiful memory! I think this will have to stay out all year.
Happy 250th birthday to Jane Austen! One of the de Happy 250th birthday to Jane Austen! One of the definite highlights of my year was visiting @janeaustenshouse in Chawton on a beautiful spring day. I still think of her tiny writing table and what it felt like to stand there and take it all in. I’ve enjoyed the book “A Jane Austen Year” throughout the year - pulling it off the shelf at the start of each month. While at Chawton, I picked up the embroidery kit by @abigailrosecreative made to celebrate the 250th celebration. I’ve been wanting to learn to do embroidery for years, so this was the perfect souvenir from Jane Austen’s House. Still a work in progress, but I’m nearly there! 🧵🪡
I don’t know how to begin describing Naples, which I don’t know how to begin describing Naples, which is how I felt seeing “Partenope - Musica per la sirena di Napoli” at the @teatrosancarlo yesterday. This opera in one act was written by the great Ennio Morricone 30 years ago, and it was finally performed for the first time this weekend. Just in time for the 2,500th anniversary of the founding of Naples. Mary Oliver wrote: “A town cannot live on dreams.” I was thinking about that line yesterday and wondering if maybe a town could live on mythology. 2,500 years later, Naples might just be proof that it can.
A beautiful and very festive Christmas tree lighti A beautiful and very festive Christmas tree lighting at the @anantaraconventodiamalfi tonight! Always love hearing the beautiful voice of my sweet friend @lucykielymusic. Now it feels like Natale in Amalfi! ✨🎶🎄
As 2025 winds down, I’ve been making my way throug As 2025 winds down, I’ve been making my way through some of the books sitting unfinished on my bedside table. I usually finish a book once started, but occasionally I come across one that is so good I can’t let myself rush through it all at once. I want to hang on to that first read as long as I can, slowly savoring the way it changes the geography of my mind.

This autumn that has been “Upstream” - a selection of essays by Mary Oliver. If “attention is the beginning of devotion,” as Oliver writes in the first essay in the book, I am deeply devoted to her writing. Few writers capture my attention and hold it the way she does. This will be a book I know will return to again and again. And, even though I’ve finished, it might be a long time before it leaves my bedside table. I’ll just leave you with a couple of Oliver’s magical lines:

“You must not ever stop being whimsical.

And you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life.”
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Disclosure

Copyright © 2026 Ciao Amalfi · Theme by 17th Avenue