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Last Voyage of the Valentina by Santa Montefiore

WRITING · June 22, 2013

Summer Reads for Amalfi Coast Lovers

The summer has arrived and with it comes some much needed beach time with a great book. I hope your summer brings you travels to a warm and sunny destination ... perhaps even the Amalfi Coast! If you can't make it to the Amalfi Coast this summer, I've put together a list of books set on or about the ...

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Ciao Amalfi Coast Travel Positano Wisteria Pergola

TRAVEL · May 25, 2013

Wisteria in Positano

Spring came late and all at once this year. The villages along the Amalfi Coast went straight from overcast wintry days to the buzz of activity rushing to prepare for the busy season seemingly overnight. The flowers loved all the rain and suddenly burst in bloom last month. Speaking of flowers, ...

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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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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 15, 2011

Buon Ferragosto from the Amalfi Coast!

Yesterday I took a quick hop over to Positano, which was filled with a festive air in preparation for the Ferragosto celebrations last night and today. As the bright balloons floated in the sea breeze, I looked up to see the colorful dome of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, seeming to catch both ...

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PHOTOGRAPHY · July 1, 2011

Photo Friday: Listening to the Doves

A lot can happen while you're trying to park on the Amalfi Coast. Or, more specifically, while you're waiting for someone else to find and maneuver the car into an impossibly small parking space. The other day, I was sitting on the wall on the side of the road while the Tour Guide worked his magic ...

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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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HISTORY & CULTURE, TRAVEL · June 8, 2011

Summer Religious Festivals on the Amalfi Coast

June has arrived ... and it's summer on the Amalfi Coast! If you're planning a trip to the Amalfi Coast this summer, here is a list of some of the best religious festivals from June to August. Even if you're not Roman Catholic, timing your holiday on the Amalfi Coast to coincide with a religious ...

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LIFESTYLE · May 18, 2011

A Happy Birthday Bougainvillea!

On Monday, I mentioned that the bougainvillea in Positano was already blooming and shared a photo of a bright pink variety that I love. It so happens that this is also the Tour Guide's favorite color of bougainvillea, and he was the one who first pointed out to me how beautiful it is on Capri and in ...

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LIFESTYLE · May 16, 2011

An Evening in Positano

When the weather is warm, I love the early evening hours on the Amalfi Coast. The tourists buses have all departed to head back to Sorrento and Naples, the beach umbrellas are closed and stacked up ready for the next day and the locals come out to enjoy an evening stroll through town. As the colors ...

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TRAVEL · April 13, 2011

Wisteria Wonderland in Positano

Last spring Rosa from the Bell'Avventura blog in Positano wrote a post filled with gorgeous photos of the wisteria season in Positano. I was smitten. Wisteria is one of my favorite spring flowers, and I love how the sweet scent fills the air this time of year. I just had to experience the beautiful ...

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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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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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