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PHOTOGRAPHY · January 24, 2016

Intrepid Naples with Carla Coulson

Many travelers zip through Naples on their way to Sorrento or the Amalfi Coast, or think of it as just a point of arrival or departure for exploring the area. But that means you're missing a remarkable place, full of history and energy and an Italian allure all its own. I could get lost in the ...

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WRITING · September 15, 2012

Book Review | InterRail by Alessandro Gallenzi

There is something inspiring in a train station. The coming, the going, the energy of the crowds or the sadness of an empty platform - everything adds to the air of possibility and adventure. And freedom, of course. It's all three of these that entice Francesco, a university student living outside ...

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LIFESTYLE · November 2, 2011

We are who came before us.

Today is All Souls Day in Italy, a day traditionally spent with family and visiting the cemetery to leave flowers and prayers for your family and friends. As a dear friend of mine recently said, "We are who came before us." Wise words in their simplicity. My thoughts today are with my family and ...

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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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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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TRAVEL · October 26, 2010

Tempting Tuesday: Falling in Love with Florence

This week Cecil Lee, travel photographer extraordinaire, is back to tell us about Florence, another spot in Italy he fell in love with during his travels earlier this year. And since I just visited there for the first time this past spring, I know what it's like to fall in love with the beauty of ...

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PHOTOGRAPHY · October 15, 2010

Photo Friday: Early Morning in Florence

  Last week I was invited by Katie Greenaway over at Olio di Oliva e Sogni di Vino to write about one of my favorite photos. I chose this one from my trip to Florence last May, because it reminds me of the beautiful moments I spent watching the city come to life each morning. If you're looking for ...

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TRAVEL · September 28, 2010

Tempting Tuesday: In Love with Venice by Cecil Lee

While Venice might not be geographically all that close to the Amalfi Coast, it is a place very close to my heart. The first time I traveled to Italy, I visited Venice and only Venice (with a little jaunt to see the Museo Ferrari in Maranello), and it was a memorable trip. For this week’s Tempting ...

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LIFESTYLE · September 15, 2010

Favorite Italian Films: L’Ultimo Bacio

I’m happy so many readers enjoyed the first installment in my Favorite Italian Films series last week with Lisa Fantino’s review of Under the Tuscan Sun. That’s one of my favorites! This week Katie Greenaway from Olio di Oliva e Sogni di Vino is here to tell us about one of her favorite films in ...

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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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