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November Snow Above Scala

TRAVEL · November 27, 2013

November Snow on the Amalfi Coast

Yesterday morning we awoke to a wintry surprise ... snow! A cold front blew down from the mountains overnight and left a light dusting of snow at the highest elevations along the Amalfi Coast. Even at the top of Scala the cars were covered with a slushy white covering we don't see all that often ...

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Ciao Amalfi Coast Travel Ravello Villa Cimbrone Wisteria Walkway

TRAVEL · June 8, 2013

Spring Blossoms at the Villa Cimbrone

Spring came a bit late this year, but it wasn’t stingy with its beautiful colors and much needed cheeriness. One sunny day when the internet went kaput I took a ride up to Ravello and headed toward the Villa Cimbrone. I’ve shared photos of a picture perfect autumn stroll through the Villa Cimbrone ...

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TRAVEL · August 19, 2012

Chestnuts in August

Weekends in August are generally a time to avoid the beach on the Amalfi Coast. Crisi or no crisi, I swear half of Italy is on the beach in Amalfi this time of year. With hotter than usual temperatures right now, unless I can nab a spot close to the edge of the water I feel like reenacting the "I'm ...

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TRAVEL · April 3, 2012

Spring Blossoms

This evening I was out folding the laundry while admiring all the spring blossoms that have burst out in the last week. Just when it seems like those cold days of winter will never end, suddenly spring arrives and everything feels better in the warm sunshine. Just yesterday we were trying to ...

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LIFESTYLE · February 4, 2012

Birdwatching in Amalfi

When it's almost lunch time in Amalfi in the winter, the streets go quiet as the locals start to climb the steps that will take them back home. There aren't many tourists around this time of year to keep the pizzerias and quick food spots busy during lunch. Yet, there's always something to watch in ...

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TRAVEL · November 27, 2011

Autumn Glory on the Amalfi Coast

"The pleasure of doing a thing in the same way at the same time every day, and savoring it, should be noted."   — Arnold Bennett One of the joys of doing the same thing over and over again, whatever it may be, is finding the beauty in the littlest of details. While out walking, I love watching the ...

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TRAVEL · November 16, 2011

An Autumn Walk in Ravello

Autumn is a glorious time of year to visit the Amalfi Coast. One of my favorite spots to walk during any season is the town of Ravello located high in the mountains overlooking the coastline. If you enjoyed the Autumn Walk in Scala, you're going to love coming along on a beautiful autumn walk ...

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TRAVEL · November 12, 2011

An Autumn Walk in Scala

Autumn arrives quietly on the Amalfi Coast. Slowly the grape vines take on a rich red hue and the leaves of the sycamores turn a golden brown in the evening light. It's an exercise in looking closely at first, but before long the landscape is dotted with autumn colors. This year's warm and dry ...

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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 · May 9, 2011

Stopping to Enjoy the View

The thing with steep hills and lots of steps is that you just have to stop sometimes for a rest. Last Thursday, a cool and dry wind blowing down from the mountains had cleared away any trace of humidity left in the air from the rainy days before and turned the sea into an intense shade of azure ...

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TRAVEL · April 25, 2011

Wisteria Blooming in Ravello

After a couple of years of rainy and cold springs, the Amalfi Coast is finally having the mild and beautiful spring weather that it's famous for. The wisteria has been blooming for weeks already along the coastline, and I've been enjoying its sweet scent filling the air. While the wisteria in ...

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PHOTOGRAPHY · April 15, 2011

Photo Friday: Wisteria in Ravello

Last weekend I was walking in Ravello and passed through a walkway that leads in one place between and under part of the beautiful gardens of the Villa Rufolo. I could smell the sweet scent of wisteria as I climbed a steep staircase, and as I reached the top was welcomed by this beautiful trellis of ...

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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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Latest on Instagram

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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