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Ciao Amalfi

TRAVEL · October 23, 2022

Amalfi Coast Autumn Festivals & Events

With mild temperatures and plenty of sunny days, autumn is a beautiful time to visit the Amalfi Coast. Do keep in mind that September is in many ways a continuation of the summer. It's still quite warm and is one of the best months for swimming and enjoying time outdoors. Temperatures do start ...

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View of Scala on the Amalfi Coast

TRAVEL, WRITING · May 17, 2020

A Glimpse of My Scala in Italia! Magazine

While travel and most everything has been on hold this spring, the April 2020 issue of Italia! Magazine featured an article I wrote called 48 Hours in Scala. For those of you following Ciao Amalfi for some time now, you'll know that I've spent a lot more than 48 hours in Scala. About 12 years ...

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Trattoria da Lorenzo in Scala with View of Ravello

FOOD & DRINK · February 16, 2017

Trattoria da Lorenzo | Excellent Seafood Restaurant Overlooking Ravello

Trattoria da Lorenzo in Scala For this month's Italy Roundtable theme of Flavor, I'd like to share with you one of my favorite restaurants on the Amalfi Coast - Trattoria da Lorenzo. You'll find it in Scala, just across the valley from Ravello. This restaurant has all the charms of a ...

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ciao-amalfi-torre-dello-ziro-postcard-color

HISTORY & CULTURE · October 20, 2016

Watching Over Amalfi’s Legends

There's something captivating about an old watchtower, isn't there? Even if it's crumbling or half ruined, its very nature tells us that there are stories - something to be protected, something to be taken, conquests, danger, mystery. Sitting in the mountains above Amalfi is a watchtower that ...

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ciao-amalfi-ravello-sunrise

LIFESTYLE · October 18, 2016

A Rose-tinted Morning

  Sometimes the curiosities of the night and weird places my dreams carry me linger on after waking. I suppose that happens to everyone now and again. This morning I woke up even earlier than usual and couldn't settle down again to rest. We all carry things from long ago inside us, even ...

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Amalfi-Coast-Travel-Scala-Terrace-5

TRAVEL · July 26, 2016

The Best View of Ravello … is From Scala!

Of all the towns on the Amalfi Coast, perhaps the one most noted for incredible views is Ravello. Situated on a promontory about 1,200 feet above the sea, there are indeed amazing views in every direction. Yet, one of my little secrets is that the best view of Ravello is from the town of Scala. ...

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Amalfi Coast Travel Spring Mimosa-4

TRAVEL · May 15, 2016

A Straight Shot of Spring on the Amalfi Coast

It has been a rainy weekend on the Amalfi Coast, and we're all wondering just what happened to spring. It seemed like it had arrived early when the mimosa bloomed at the beginning of February. March and the first half of April were picture perfect nearly every day. Then at the end of April it seems ...

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Amalfi Coast Travel Winter Weather Ravello

TRAVEL · January 9, 2016

Winter Weather Layers

The first week of this new year has come and gone seemingly in a haze. Mostly because it has been rainy and grey with low lying clouds that actually do make it hazy. At least outside my house! As I write, big clouds are blowing by thanks to strong winds from the sea. Classic winter weather on the ...

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Amalfi Coast Travel Basilca Sant Eustachio Ruins

HISTORY & CULTURE, TRAVEL · July 26, 2015

Remarkable Ruins of the Basilica of Sant’Eustachio

Along the stone steps between the sleepy villages of Minuta and Pontone in Scala, you'll find something a little unexpected. Set in a commanding position on a promontory surrounded by terraces of olive and lemon trees sits the ruins of what was once one of the finest churches in the Republic of ...

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Amalfi Coast Travel Spring Blossoms Bees

TRAVEL · April 22, 2015

Beautiful Spring Blossoms on the Amalfi Coast

My heart soars when the trees burst into bloom and the air is full of the sweet scent of wisteria on the Amalfi Coast. Spring has officially arrived and brought with it all the excitement of a new season. Tiny leaves are the brightest shades of green and the valleys glow with a vibrant new tint. You ...

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Amalfi Coast Travel Spring Weather Ravello April

TRAVEL · April 18, 2015

Dramatic Clouds Rolling in Over Ravello

April has been a bit of tease so far this year leaving many locals wondering just what happened to spring. It Italy there's an old saying "marzo è pazzo," that March is crazy, and I've overheard quite a few people saying that it's not just March. For every hazy, grey day another brilliant spring day ...

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Amalfi Coast Travel Snow December 2014

TRAVEL · December 31, 2014

Snow on the Amalfi Coast!

We woke up to the most beautiful surprise this morning. Snow on the Amalfi Coast! What an incredible way to remember the last day of 2014. While we occasionally get snow up in the mountains during the winter, I could tell this was a special snow. I could see snow on the beach in Atrani and snow by ...

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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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