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Snow on the Amalfi Coast over Ravello

TRAVEL · January 28, 2017

Does it Snow on the Amalfi Coast?

Have You Ever Wondered if it Snows on the Amalfi Coast? When you imagine the Amalfi Coast, what does it look like? Do you see rugged beaches bathed in warm summer sunshine, colorful beach umbrellas fluttering in the breeze and the sparkling sea? Or perhaps a bougainvillea draped terrace or trees ...

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ciao-amalfi-september-sunrise

TRAVEL · September 1, 2016

Sunrise on September

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 ...

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Amalfi Coast Travel Spring Mimosa-4

TRAVEL · May 15, 2016

A Straight Shot of Spring on the Amalfi Coast

It has been a rainy weekend on the Amalfi Coast, and we're all wondering just what happened to spring. It seemed like it had arrived early when the mimosa bloomed at the beginning of February. March and the first half of April were picture perfect nearly every day. Then at the end of April it seems ...

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Amalfi Coast Travel May-2

TRAVEL · May 1, 2016

Buon Primo Maggio!

As I sit down to write this morning, rain is pouring down on the Amalfi Coast and low clouds have turned my view into nothing but white. Spring arrived early this year, but the last couple of weeks have been a most unwelcome return to winter. Yet the rains will clear and when the sun shines ...

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Amalfi Coast Travel Winter Weather Ravello

TRAVEL · January 9, 2016

Winter Weather Layers

The first week of this new year has come and gone seemingly in a haze. Mostly because it has been rainy and grey with low lying clouds that actually do make it hazy. At least outside my house! As I write, big clouds are blowing by thanks to strong winds from the sea. Classic winter weather on the ...

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TRAVEL · December 25, 2015

Christmas Scenes in Amalfi

With sunshine and unseasonably warm temperatures, this has been one of the most beautiful Christmas seasons I've experienced so far on the Amalfi Coast. Although it has been a busy time of year, much like this entire year has been, I've been enjoying glimpses of the holiday season in Amalfi. I ...

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Amalfi Coast Travel November Walk

LIFESTYLE · November 23, 2015

Home Again

Last week I landed back in Italy after nearly a month spent traveling in America for work and to visit my family in Nebraska. (Helloooo early Thanksgiving gatherings!) It was a whirlwind trip with stops in New Orleans and New York City before heading to Nebraska. I found there's still a wee bit of ...

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Amalfi Coast Travel Spring Weather Ravello April

TRAVEL · April 18, 2015

Dramatic Clouds Rolling in Over Ravello

April has been a bit of tease so far this year leaving many locals wondering just what happened to spring. It Italy there's an old saying "marzo è pazzo," that March is crazy, and I've overheard quite a few people saying that it's not just March. For every hazy, grey day another brilliant spring day ...

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Amalfi Coast Travel Winter Mist Ravello

TRAVEL · January 30, 2015

Winter Rest on the Amalfi Coast

I don't get the winter blues as the change of seasons just feels right to me. I enjoy watching the way the light shifts and the color palette of nature takes on more muted hues. Gone are the bright bursts of orange beach umbrellas against the expansive blue sky, the brilliant glow of hot pink ...

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Amalfi Coast Travel Snow December 2014

TRAVEL · December 31, 2014

Snow on the Amalfi Coast!

We woke up to the most beautiful surprise this morning. Snow on the Amalfi Coast! What an incredible way to remember the last day of 2014. While we occasionally get snow up in the mountains during the winter, I could tell this was a special snow. I could see snow on the beach in Atrani and snow by ...

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Amalfi Summer Weather Storms

TRAVEL · June 19, 2014

Drama in the Summer Sky

The weather has been dramatic this week with sudden thunderstorms several times a day followed by blue skies and the sunshine peeking out. Yesterday evening at sunset another storm rolled in from the sea. But just before it arrived the sky was full of the most spectacular clouds. It was a ...

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Amalfi Coast Travel Summer Storms

TRAVEL · June 16, 2014

Waterspouts on the Amalfi Coast

From blue skies and beach weather to thunderstorms and waterspouts. I guess that's just the unpredictability of early summer for you! On Sunday the weather turned suddenly quite bad in the late afternoon with lightening, massive thunder that rolled through the valley and the rather unusual ...

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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!

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The 66th Regata delle Antiche Repubbliche Marinare The 66th Regata delle Antiche Repubbliche Marinare is here! This weekend is full of exciting events as the Regatta of the Ancient Maritime Republics returns to Amalfi after 6 years. This event sees teams from Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa, and Venice compete in a boat race in historic galleons as well as a historic parade. Stay tuned for photos and videos from the parade today and the boat race tomorrow. Forza Amalfi! 💙

#amalfi #amalficoast #ciaoamalfi #visitamalfi #italyhistory #italytravel
Last month I did a mini staycation in Positano and Last month I did a mini staycation in Positano and I loved it! Even though it’s just down the coast from Amalfi, I enjoyed the quiet of the early morning and breakfast with those famous Positano views. And a relaxed dinner without a long (and twisty!) drive home. This view from above Arienzo beach is one of my favorites of Positano.

#positano #amalficoast #positanoitaly #amalficoastitaly #costieraamalfitana #italytravel #positanoview #arienzo #amalficoastview #ciaoamalfi
That this place is just down the coastline is stil That this place is just down the coastline is still a marvel to me. Yesterday morning the colors in Positano were brilliant. 💙

#Positano #AmalfiCoast #ciaoamalfi #amalficoastitaly #positanoitaly #amalficoastbeaches #positanobeach #positanoview #positanoamalficoast #expatlife #italyexpat #italyexpatlife #italytravel #italyiloveyou
You know that feeling when you’re walking around You know that feeling when you’re walking around with something weighing on your mind? I didn’t even realize that’s what I’ve been doing until I had a follow up exam yesterday and got the all clear. At the same office in Amalfi where this whole journey with breast cancer began last June. I took a different sort of walk afterwards and that cloud over Amalfi made me laugh a bit. All clear! Float away little cloud of worry that has been following me around. Vattene! 🌬
After Flavio Gioia, the next natural stop for the After Flavio Gioia, the next natural stop for the #AmalfiCoastCompass series is the Arsenale, where the galleys and ships were built and repaired during the Republic of Amalfi. Just a few steps from Piazza Flavio Gioia, the Arsenale is the only medieval shipyard in Italy to have survived intact. Dating back to the 11th century, its two long aisles with stone cross vaults and pointed arches creates an evocative space.

Today the beautifully restored Arsenale is the setting for art exhibitions and cultural events. Yesterday was the opening for Kerameikos (April 8 - May 10, 2022), an exhibition of contemporary Vietri ceramic arts curated by professor and art critic Massimo Bignardi and organized by @agarte_fucinadellearti. The show brings together 160 works by four master ceramicists from the Amalfi Coast: Salvatore Autuori, Vincenzo Caruso, Giuseppe Di Muro, and Ferdinando Vassallo.

Take a look through the photos to see a glimpse of the exhibit. Second photo: I loved the bright colors and geometric shapes of Salvatore Autuori's work. Third photo: beautiful historical elements in pieces by Giuseppe Di Muro. Fourth photo: look closely at the textures from nature in Ferdinando Vassallo's ceramic series. Fifth photo: the mix of colors in this vase by Enzo Caruso was stunning in person.

The exhibit is free to visit and is open from 10am-1pm/ 4pm-4pm Wednesday to Sunday. For more information check out www.arsenalediamalfi.it.
It’s already back to rainy in Amalfi, but yester It’s already back to rainy in Amalfi, but yesterday was something splendid when the sun came out. Colors quite like this don’t come along with the storms. I’ll take it all!
One of the first things I noticed about the Amalfi One of the first things I noticed about the Amalfi Coast was that I had a lot of questions. It was unlike any place I had ever been. Just over 15 years later, I still have plenty of questions and am constantly seeing new things. This place really has taught me to slow down and look closer.

With that spirit, I’m starting a new series called #AmalfiCoastCompass where I’ll show you places you might have missed, things you might have wondered about, and ideas for your next trip to the Amalfi Coast.

There’s no better place to start the Compass Series than with this statue in Amalfi. Have you noticed it before in the middle of Piazza Flavio Gioia? It’s a statue of Flavio Gioia, a figure from the 13th century credited with inventing the compass for sailing. He stands holding a bussola, or compass, gazing intently downward at the instrument in his left hand while his right points forward. 

While the existence of this particular mariner is questionable, what is sure is that Amalfi was Italy’s first maritime republic and its sailors not only crisscrossed the Mediterranean and traveled as far east as Constantinople but also created maritime codes that were used for centuries. So while the exact creator or individuals behind the perfection of the compass for navigational use will likely never be known, the statue represents Amalfi’s contribution to travel as we know it today. 

This statue was created by Alfonso Balzico, an Italian sculptor born in 1825 in Cava de' Tirreni - not far from Vietri sul Mare on the Amalfi Coast. He studied in Naples and created many important statues around Italy. His statue of Flavio Gioia was created in 1892 and won a gold medal at the 1900 World Exposition in Paris. (Flavio Gioia was still getting around the world!) It was on display in Rome after Balzico's death in 1901 until the city of Amalfi acquired the statue and it was placed in Piazza Flavio Gioia in 1926. It’s been moved a couple of times (at least) but now it’s located in the center of the traffic circle surrounded by a fountain and little landscaped garden. And one last little curiosity: the statue of Flavio Gioia is oriented facing north.
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