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Amalfi Coast Festa della Liberazione

PHOTOGRAPHY · April 25, 2014

Foto Friday: Festa della Liberazione

Today is the Festa della Liberazione, a national holiday in Italy commemorating the liberation from fascism at the end of World War II. Quite an important historical event to celebrate and an even more important one to never forget. I caught this photo of the Italian flag (with the symbols of the ...

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Amalfi Coast Travel Positano Photography

PHOTOGRAPHY · April 18, 2014

Foto Friday: Love Me Tender

When I'm in Positano there's always one person I miss - my mom. I'll never forget that February day back in 2007 when we first walked on the beach together, picking up sea glass and pebbles and alternating between smiling and crying from happiness. This photo is dedicated to my mom, Sandra Thayer, ...

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Ciao Amalfi Coast Blog Sunny Saturday April

TRAVEL · April 6, 2013

On a Sunny Saturday in April

It amazes me each spring just how quickly we can forget certain things. Dinner with the gas heater blazing by the table for warmth, the hot water bottle (or cat) sitting on my lap to keep my fingers warm enough to keep typing and that old "for the rain it raineth every day" attitude. But then one ...

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LIFESTYLE · May 5, 2012

Enjoying the Twists & Turns of Life on the Amalfi Coast

It's been a rainy spring on the Amalfi Coast, but yesterday was the perfect day to take my scooter out for a ride. While I have been out for some short trips, this was the first time I enjoyed a ride with the spring scents in the air, the sun shining and the trees all leafed out. As soon as I ...

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TRAVEL · April 20, 2012

PlanetSolar Visits Amalfi

As my eyes scanned the familiar view across Amalfi's harbor, they stopped at something with a large, flat top docked on the opposite side. "What is that?" I asked my husband as we stood there squinting into the sunshine. "It looks like a spaceship landed in Amalfi," I said. And with that there was ...

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TRAVEL · February 16, 2012

Sunshine & Snow in Amalfi

The colors of February on the Amalfi Coast are some of the most vivid and striking of the entire year. The sea in Amalfi turns a particular shade of intense blue that I've only noticed this time of year. It reminds me of the first time I visited Amalfi and stood marveling at that shade of blue back ...

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Villa Cimbrone - Romantic Spots in Ravello

TRAVEL · February 12, 2012

Where to Propose on the Amalfi Coast

With San Valentino just around the corner, romance is definitely in the air. The Amalfi Coast is one of the top travel destinations for romance in Italy – popular for engagements, destination weddings, honeymoons and special anniversary celebrations. As a romantic at heart, I would love to share ...

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TRAVEL · October 6, 2011

Positano’s Laurito Beach

While I never need an excuse to hop on a boat and head to Positano, what lured me there on a stunning October day last weekend was an invitation from Eleonora from Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino to join her at Positano's Laurito beach for the afternoon. Eleonora had already tempted me to discover this ...

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HISTORY & CULTURE, TRAVEL · June 13, 2011

2011 Regatta in Venice Annulled

I wish it was with happier news that I was writing this morning about the results of the 56th Regata Storica delle Reppubliche Marinare that took place in Venice yesterday. No, I'm not sad that Amalfi didn't win, or came in a close second like they did in 2009 and 2010. I'm disappointed to have to ...

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LIFESTYLE · June 6, 2011

A Saturday in Amalfi

Now that the weather is sunny and warm, daily life in Amalfi is starting to take on its summer feel. The harbor is busy with boats, buses are lined up three rows deep and there are people everywhere enjoying the town. A couple of weeks ago I was in Amalfi on a beautiful Saturday, and I took some ...

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PHOTOGRAPHY · May 27, 2011

Photo Friday: Small, Medium & Extra Large

Last weekend the new Marina cruise ship from Oceania was in Amalfi, and while walking along the harbor I caught this image.  The tiny boat named Stenella, the medium size Sorrento Mini Cruise and the extra large Marina cruise ship all lined up perfectly by size. It only lasted a couple of minutes ...

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LIFESTYLE · May 2, 2011

A Kayak Lesson in Atrani

A few weeks back I was walking through Atrani on a bright and sunny April day. The water was clear and shimmered in an intense mix of green and blue. I stopped to take a look at the beach, which still hadn't been cleaned up and moved back into place after winter. The scene was thorougly winter, with ...

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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!

Ciao Amalfi

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Celebrating Independent Bookstore Day with a newsl Celebrating Independent Bookstore Day with a newsletter inspired in part by this beautiful song by @samantha_whates & @mgboultermusic. While I could never decide on just seven bookshops for my whole life, I’m sharing about seven remarkable indie bookshops I visited earlier this month in Bath and London. The link is in my bio, but swipe through the photos here for a look inside - each bookshop is tagged if they’re on Instagram. But definitely give them all a follow: 
@persephonebooks 
@mrbsemporium 
@toppingsbath 
@sherlockandpages 
@huntingravenbooks 
@hatchardspiccadilly 
@lrbbookshop 

Long live the independent bookshops! 📚
Thanks Amalfi … I needed a little reminder of th Thanks Amalfi … I needed a little reminder of that this morning. 🩶
Magic to watch the reflections dancing on the wate Magic to watch the reflections dancing on the water. Magic when they’re frozen in time. Just so much magic all around. I could spend a long time in moments like these. ✨
While it’s been a beautiful Easter Sunday in Ama While it’s been a beautiful Easter Sunday in Amalfi, I’m still processing all of the incredible experiences from my trip to England last week. And, thanks to “Square Haunting” by @francescawade, I am still very much haunting the streets and squares of London. Her book opens with this marvelous quotation from Virginia Woolf’s diary written 100 years ago today on April 20, 1925 (photo 1). It captures just what it felt like I was doing days ago - including a saunter through Bloomsbury Square (photo 2). Diving into this book over the weekend has felt like I’ve been able to linger even longer in those rare April days of spring blooms and blue skies in London. 

This book caught my eye immediately at the ever so charming @sherlockandpages in Frome (photos 4 & 5). How could it not when it was surrounded my one of my all time favorite books (“Letters to Camondo” by @edmunddewaal) and one of the best books I read last year (“All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me” by @patrickbringley)?

Hope that your Easter weekend has been a lovely one - with a little bit of “street sauntering & square haunting” wherever you may be!
Just had an unforgettable spring day visiting the Just had an unforgettable spring day visiting the Jane Austen House in Chawton as an early birthday present for myself.(Quite a bit early as it’s not until June.) But earlier this year I decided to have a Jane Austen theme for the year, especially since 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth in 1775. I do love a theme! Seeing the place where she wrote all of her novels, her tiny twelve-sided writing table, a quilt she made, and sitting in the garden listening to the birds sing is altogether something I’ll never forget. ✍️
Watching the colors of the sea and the fish swimmi Watching the colors of the sea and the fish swimming and thinking of the deep connections of old friends. And this poem by Mary Oliver. Hold tight to the friends who always find a way to say “Look!” and laugh in astonishment.

Mysteries, Yes 
— by Mary Oliver

Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
to be understood.

How grass can be nourishing in the
mouths of the lambs.
How rivers and stones are forever
in allegiance with gravity
while we ourselves dream of rising.
How two hands touch and the bonds will
never be broken.
How people come, from delight or the
scars of damage,
to the comfort of a poem.

Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers.

Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.
Mary Oliver wrote in a poem that “happiness isn’t a town on a map.” But when the little bit of wisteria blooms in Amalfi, I’m not so sure. 💜
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