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LIFESTYLE · October 24, 2021

The Summer of C

After what has been a long year and a half -- for so many of us -- this was the summer I thought I'd be reading a lot of books and relaxing at the beach. Maybe even reading some of those books while listening to the sound of the sea in Amalfi. (Maybe more than maybe.) Instead, it was the summer I ...

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Amalfi Summer Weather Storms

TRAVEL · June 19, 2014

Drama in the Summer Sky

The weather has been dramatic this week with sudden thunderstorms several times a day followed by blue skies and the sunshine peeking out. Yesterday evening at sunset another storm rolled in from the sea. But just before it arrived the sky was full of the most spectacular clouds. It was a ...

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Amalfi Coast Travel Summer Storms

TRAVEL · June 16, 2014

Waterspouts on the Amalfi Coast

From blue skies and beach weather to thunderstorms and waterspouts. I guess that's just the unpredictability of early summer for you! On Sunday the weather turned suddenly quite bad in the late afternoon with lightening, massive thunder that rolled through the valley and the rather unusual ...

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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 · May 18, 2012

Signs of Summer on the Amalfi Coast

Maybe it's the Nebraska girl in me, but few things capture the feeling of summer quite like watermelon. Yesterday I stopped into one of my favorite fruit and vegetable shops in Amalfi. The couple ahead of me had asked for a piece of anguria (watermelon), and the woman in the shop was busy cutting ...

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TRAVEL · April 13, 2012

Let the busy days begin!

If it hasn't started to get rolling yet, the long weekend for Easter is the official start of the tourist season along the Amalfi Coast. In the days leading up to Easter last week, the mornings were already buzzing in Amalfi. Tourist buses have started to arrive nearly every day from Sorrento, ...

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PHOTOGRAPHY · August 5, 2011

Photo Friday: A Bit of Bougainvillea

How about a bit of bougainvillea to end the week? Ahh ... now that just hits the spot! Wishing you a beautiful weekend from the Amalfi Coast! ...

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LIFESTYLE · August 1, 2011

Enjoying the sunshine in Amalfi

My trips to the beach have been few and far between so far this summer. When I do find time to go, however, I enjoy every moment! Last week on the beach in Amalfi I was able to get some sun at last on a very pretty afternoon. The bright colors of the beach umbrellas were striking against the blue ...

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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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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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Amalfi Coast Seasons · June 26, 2010

Oleander blooms on the Amalfi Coast

  I love it when the oleander comes into full bloom on the Amalfi Coast. Many towns have planted oleander (Oleandro in Italian) along the side of the road or around town, and it grows very happily in the Mediterranean sun. I noticed the other day this beautiful oleander just outside the ...

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What's On · June 13, 2010

Summer Religious Celebrations in Atrani

    Two Sundays ago I went for a wonderful walk from Scala to Atrani with two new friends from England that I met through Ciao Amalfi! who where staying in Atrani. Experienced walkers on the Amalfi Coast, they showed me a new pathway I hadn’t explored yet, and along the way we shared ...

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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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