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LIFESTYLE · September 8, 2010

Favorite Italian Films: Under the Tuscan Sun

With the Venice Film Festival under way and three big movies out in America - “Letters to Juliet,” “The American” and “Eat Pray Love” - all filmed in Italy, I thought it would be good timing to host a series of guest posts on Favorite Italian Films. I’ll be weighing in on some of my favorite flicks ...

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FOOD & DRINK, WRITING · September 6, 2010

Cookbook Review: Cooking Up an Italian Life by Sharon Sanders

I enjoy cooking throughout the year. But when the weather begins to feel cooler, and the sycamore leaves turn that light golden hue, I find myself looking forward to the evening hours and preparing dinner. The first rainy day—with a cool breeze blowing down from the mountains—has come and gone, and ...

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FOOD & DRINK · August 30, 2010

A Delectable Panino in Florence by Katie Greenaway

When I visited my friend Katie in Florence this past May, she was kind enough to meet me at the train station since it was my first time in Florence. After dropping off my bag at the hotel, my stomach rumbling reminded me that after the train ride from Salerno to Florence it was certainly time for ...

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WRITING · August 25, 2010

Bleeding Espresso’s Gita Italiana 2010

Have you all been following the Gita Italiana 2010 (Italy Tour 2010) over at Bleeding Espresso? If you love Italy, then this is the perfect chance to do some virtual traveling around the boot this month. Michelle has invited guest writers from all over Italy to write about where they live, and each ...

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Italy · August 24, 2010

Tempting Tuesday: At the Beach in La Maremma, Tuscany

When it comes to planning a trip to Italy’s Tuscany region, the first images that comes to mind are naturally of rolling hillsides, medieval hilltop villages, winding roads lined with those “creepy Italian trees”, and fields of sunflowers. And that certainly is Tuscany! But the region also has ...

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Italy · August 10, 2010

Tempting Tuesday: Tropea’s Tantalizing Beaches by Cherrye Moore

For this week’s Tempting Tuesday beach series, we’re traveling to Calabria’s beautiful Tropea with Cherrye Moore from My Bella Vita. Here on the Amalfi Coast, we also know all about August heat and crowded beaches. But that’s just another part of the summer season here. Either you stay home in ...

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Beaches, Italy · July 27, 2010

Tempting Tuesday: La Spiaggia della Giannella in Argentario, Tuscany by Katie Greenaway

You might think that with so many tempting beaches on the Amalfi Coast that I wouldn’t dream of traveling anywhere else to hit the beach in Italy. But I have to admit that the white, sandy beaches of Tuscany have always been alluring to me. Especially this time of year when the massive Amalfi Coast ...

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Beaches, Italy · July 13, 2010

Tempting Tuesday: Cooling Off in Calabria at Giovino Beach by Cherrye Moore

This month we’re heading to the beach with a great line up of Tempting Tuesday posts by writers from around the world. I asked them to share with us their favorite beach, which is a refreshing topic during this sticky and hot time of year in southern Italy. This week Cherrye Moore from My Bella Vita ...

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Italy, Travel Inspirations · July 1, 2010

Tempting Tuesday: Dropping Anchor in Venice by Andrea Perullo

When I think of Venice something in my heart still sighs. It was the first place I visited in Italy ten years ago and it certainly stole a piece of my heart. I am happy to welcome this week Andrea Perullo from My Beautiful Adventures, who experienced a similar draw to Venice just as many years ago. ...

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Italy, Travel Inspirations · June 27, 2010

Walking among the cobblestones in Florence, Italy

  This Sunday I’m happy to welcome back my friend Katie Greenaway, an American who now lives in Florence, Italy. She tempted us last Tuesday with her favorite church in Florence, and today she’s taking us on a walk through the streets of her beloved city. These two guest posts on Florence have ...

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Italy, Travel Inspirations · June 22, 2010

Tempting Tuesday: SS. Apostoli in Florence with Katie Greenaway

This is a very special Tempting Tuesday for me. I am happy to welcome my friend Katie Greenaway to write about one of her favorite spots in Florence, where she is so lucky to call home. This is special, because last month when I visited Florence and met Katie in person for the first time, she took ...

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Italy, Travel Inspirations · June 15, 2010

Tempting Tuesday: Sicilian Dreams

Last week for  Tempting Tuesday Cherrye took us down to the Sizzlin’ Soverato beach in Calabria. That post was perfectly timed with the arrival of the first sunny and hot weather of summer. I’ve been sizzlin’ this past week on the beaches of the Amalfi Coast, and taking some lovely photos to ...

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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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