ciao-amalfi-september-sunrise
Sep 01 2016

Sunrise on September

Laura Thayer
Amalfi Coast Seasons

ciao-amalfi-september-sunrise

This morning I opened the windows to a majestic sight. The days, indeed, are getting shorter. For so many months now I’ve opened the windows to find the sun shining bright. Today I caught the magic moment just before the sun appeared over the mountains, when the sky is aglow and everything is tinted with shades from deep orange to soft pink across the Amalfi Coast. Even when it doesn’t start so beautifully, September always makes me smile. This just felt like a gift.

While it’s hot and summer still hangs heavy in the air, the first of September feels like a fresh start. And I look forward to it. Since moving to the Amalfi Coast, where August is the busiest month of the year, the beginning of September is something like a prize. I made it. There are still weeks ahead of enjoying the beach and summer weather with fewer crowds now, but those delicious first signs of autumn will also start showing up. I love the crunch of leaves, the smell of wine being made, persimmons and pomegranates showing up at the fruit shop and the colors of autumn.

It also feels like the chance to make a new beginning. I’ve set my intentions and goals for September and am feeling energized. I have some fun plans coming up this month, and I look forward to sharing about them on Ciao Amalfi!

Autumn Colors on the Amalfi Coast

Laura Thayer
LIFESTYLE

Autumn colors on the Amalfi Coast

Much of the beautiful autumn colors that I look forward to each year on the Amalfi Coast have been blown away by a few big rain and wind storms. However, on the drive to the airport in Naples last week, I was happy to see some beautiful colors still lingering up in the mountains above Tramonti. I love the show nature puts on in autumn with all the bright colors!

Autumn Drive to Tramonti on the Amalfi Coast

I took a few shots when I could as the car zipped in and out of the curves. It’s hard to get a decent shot, but I hope these capture at least a little of the beautiful scenery.

Fall Leaves on the Amalfi Coast

Autumn is always such a fleeting moment, but this year it seemed more difficult that usual to hold on to before it blew away. Happy to share the little bit I caught on the Amalfi Coast this year!

The End of the Season

Laura Thayer
Amalfi Coast Seasons
Amalfi Lido delle Sirene Beach - Laura Thayer

The empty beach at Lido delle Sirene in Amalfi

Like clockwork, the end of October often brings with it a big storm and an abrupt change in the seasons. One day the beaches will be dotted with sunbathers enjoying the last warm autumn days while holding onto summer for as long as possible and then the next the beaches will be barren and covered with debris washed up from the rough seas. We’ve had a few intense storms pass over the Amalfi Coast recently, and they brought with them the official end of the summer season. During a break in the rainy weather last week, I was out and about and was struck by the sudden change. Where not long ago there were rows upon rows of beach chairs lining the rocky Lido delle Sirene in Amalfi, now the beach is empty for the winter.

Amalfi Coast Fishing Boat Harbor - Laura Thayer

Brilliant blues in Amalfi

The colors were brilliant, even more so after the recent storms. The rough sea had churned up a spectacular turquoise that only shows up after bad weather. Besides the Amalfitans coming and going, the walk along the harbor was quieter than usual. After seeing the empty beaches, the other indication that the season has ended is the empty port. The boats have been loaded up and driven away on big, traffic blocking trucks to safer spots for the winter. Even the docks that are lined with boats all summer long are pulled up to protect them from rough winter seas. They’ll become scenic perches for the seagulls for the rest of the winter.

Winter in Amalfi Harbor - Laura Thayer

The Amalfi harbor without boats lining the docks

Perhaps the strangest sight at the beginning of winter is seeing the Marina Grande beach, the largest in Amalfi, completely empty. If you’ve been swimming here during the summer months you’ll know just how odd it is to see it without the rows of beach chairs and candy colored umbrellas. It will look like this, besides the odd group of visitors having a picnic on a sunny day and those rare locals that swim all year round, until next spring.

October at Marina Grande Beach in Amalfi - Laura Thayer

All is quiet on Amalfi's Marina Grande Beach

The season has ended, but with it another has begun in Amalfi. While it’s different for everyone, for us this is the time for catching up after a busy season – for running all those errands that there simply hasn’t been time to do and for trying to find some much needed moments of relaxation at the same time. The Christmas holidays are around the corner, but for now I think I can use just a little bit of time overlooking an empty beach.

First Day of Autumn on the Amalfi Coast

Laura Thayer
Amalfi Coast Seasons

Vintage Red Fiat 500 on the Amalfi Coast

Happy first day of autumn! Or, at least the calendar says it’s the first day of autumn. The weather is a perfect sunny and 75° with a lovely breeze today. Autumn? Well, not quite yet on the Amalfi Coast. September is often one of the most pleasant months of the year, with weather still warm enough to enjoy the beach and cool enough to actually enjoy the beach. But I do have autumn on the mind since I love the colors and watching the seasons change. Last year I shared photographs of autumn colors in Ravello and an autumn walk in Scala. Since I can’t do much yet with autumn colors, this lovely red vintage Fiat 500 will just have to do. That’s an autumn color, right? I walked around a corner in Scala yesterday morning and this little beauty was caught between the sun and shade of the sycamore trees. Not a leaf on the ground … not yet at least!

Happy autumn from the Amalfi Coast!

On the Road Home

Laura Thayer
Amalfi Coast Seasons, Tramonti
Autumn drive to the Amalfi Coast

On the road from Naples to the Amalfi Coast

Earlier this week I arrived back home in Italy at Naples’ Capodichino airport, the closest airport to the Amalfi Coast. Anyone who has driven on the autostrada through Naples knows that the stress of  international travel is nothing compared to simply surviving the short drive from the airport to the exit for the Costiera Amalfitana. Jet lag does help to keep one calm though. I always breath a sigh of relief when we reach the exit at Angri, because I know that shortly the road will start winding its way slowly up the the mountains toward the Chiunzi pass leading to the Amalfi Coast. My fiancé said I was in for a surprise, because the autumn colors were still beautiful up in the mountains. Boy was he right!

Autumn drive on the Amalfi Coast

Autumn colors on the drive home

Around every curve in the road there was another beautiful view of the autumn colors up close or covering the mountainsides.

Autumn mountains Amalfi Coast

Autumn colors on the mountains near Naples

As we reached the top of the pass and started over toward Tramonti, the colors reached their peak. I didn’t get any good shots, but you can enjoy the colors from an autumn drive to Tramonti from a couple of years back.

Autumn on the Amalfi Coast Tramonti

Autumn in the mountains of the Amalfi Coast

I never expected to find such gorgeous colors still around Ravello and Scala at the end of November. It was really a joy not to have missed this splendid show!

Autumn in Ravello on the Amalfi Coast

Autumn colors around Ravello

Ravello in the autumn

Ravello surrounded by autumn's colors

Autumn colors on the Amalfi Coast

Autumn colors in Scala on the Amalfi Coast

While hauling (and occasionally dropping) my suitcases down the approximately 60 steps to the house, the gorgeous colors were much appreciated. After much experience with it, I can safely say that 50 pound plus suitcases and ancient stone staircases don’t go well toegther. I stopped often under this terrace of bright red grape vines. What a sight!

Autumn grape vines on the Amalfi Coast

A gorgeous sight while resting

While the autumn colors are more striking up in the mountains on the Amalfi Coast, I did find this stunning bit of color in Amalfi’s Piazza Duomo.

Autumn in Amalfi

Autumn reds near the Duomo of Amalfi

Ciao Amalfi!