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Ciao Amalfi

WRITING · October 9, 2011

A Writing Life

Not long ago, I changed the tagline of Ciao Amalfi from "Savoring Daily Life on Italy's Amalfi Coast" to "A Writing Life on Italy's Amalfi Coast." This small change reflects a significant shift within myself, one that has been happening so gradually over the past four and half years that I had ...

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LIFESTYLE · September 5, 2011

Old Man of the Mountain

One day I was having lunch on my own in Ravello, or at least I thought I was having lunch on my own. I looked up from the table to see along the top of the mountains the face of a man with a bulbous nose and prominent chin. I've heard locals point out several faces in the outline of the mountains ...

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LIFESTYLE · August 2, 2011

Practicing Reflection

This morning as I opened my journal to write down a few thoughts to start my day, a folded piece of paper slipped out from between the pages and fell to the floor. I leaned over to pick it up and smiled as I unfolded the sheet of paper to see my handwriting scrawled across the page in all the ...

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LIFESTYLE · July 24, 2011

My 7 Links Project on the Amalfi Coast

It's been quite a busy summer for me, and that means it has been hard to keep up with many of my friends in the blogosphere. I smiled when I saw that Lisa from Wanderlust Women Travel tagged me recently in the My 7 Links Project started by Tripbase. If you haven't heard about it yet, it's a fun idea ...

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PHOTOGRAPHY · June 17, 2011

Photo Friday: Amalfi Bougainvillea

I love it when the bougainvillea blooms on the Amalfi Coast each summer, and I know I'm not alone in this passion. Photo Friday this week is dedicated to Saretta from Amid the Olive Trees, who stopped by last week's Positano Bougainvillea post and left a sweet comment asking for more bougainvillea ...

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PHOTOGRAPHY · June 10, 2011

Photo Friday: Positano Bougainvillea

Simple because Positano is always Positano! There's that bright pink bougainvillea that I love and recently bought in Positano. If you're like me and can't get enough of Positano, you're going to love Positano Daily Photo. Have you checked it out yet? I love Nicki's photographs of daily life in ...

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LIFESTYLE · June 1, 2011

Tonight is the Twitter #italychat on Amalfi Coast Travel!

Are you planning a vacation to the Amalfi Coast? Do you have a few questions ... about where to stay, what to see and how to move about? Should you stay in Positano or Amalfi or Ravello? When is the best time of year to visit the Amalfi Coast? If you're on Twitter, please join in the #italychat on ...

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FOOD & DRINK · May 11, 2011

Eat your way through Calabria

Many of the regular readers of Ciao Amalfi will remember my friend Cherrye Moore from My Bella Vita who has contributed many guest posts about the beautiful beaches of Calabria - the region in southern Italy she calls home. If you follow her blog, you already know about Cherrye's passion for sharing ...

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FOOD & DRINK · February 4, 2011

Know your pasta!

What kind of pasta is on your plate? by Charming Italy Earlier this week, CharmingItaly.com shared a fun infographic chart to help you learn about the 100s of different types of pasta shapes in Italy. It's really charming, and made me laugh quite a few times as I worked my way through it! This is ...

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TRAVEL · November 9, 2010

Tempting Tuesday: Church of Santa Trinita in Florence

Anyone who knows me knows that I can't walk past a church here in Italy without stopping. And if it's open, I just have to pop my head inside. In big cities and small towns alike, so many of Italy's artistic treasures tucked away inside churches. Even if you're not usually one to stop at religious ...

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FOOD & DRINK · November 1, 2010

Cookbook Review: My Calabria by Rosetta Costantino

It is my pleasure this week to welcome fellow southern Italy expat blogger Cherrye Moore to share about a new cookbook. Cherrye writes often at her blog My Bella Vita about the beautiful region of Calabria where she lives, and this week she is here to tell us about a new cookbook called My Calabria: ...

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LIFESTYLE · October 20, 2010

Favorite Italian Films: Il 7 e l’8

There are days when you just need a laugh, and that's when you pull your favorite funny film off the shelf. This week Cherrye Moore from My Bella Vita is back to tell us about her favorite comic Italian film. Even if comedies aren't your first movie choice, you'll enjoy traveling to Palermo, Sicily ...

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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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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.”
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