Following the previous blog about Rome, here I was getting ready for a vacation on the Amalfi coast.

Six days spent in absolute serenity with myself, in that Paradise, surrounded by beauty, colours, aromas and wonderful people.

It was Steinbeck, who once wrote that ‘Positano ( my favorite on the Amalfi coast) isnt’t quit real, when you there and becomes beckoningly real after you are gone’’.

In my case, even I am long departed from there, part of me is still enjoying the place and thinking of a possible return, maybe in the spring this time.

Having been to some of the coastal towns and the island of Capri during previous travels, and loving to explore new places with an easy access to major airports, I was looking for an accommodation in a town – located on the coast, well connected to the airport of Rome ( my arrival/departure point in Italy), very important for me was also, to be able to travel in sea for several reasons : Number One, because one can enjoy the  better views to Amalfi, Positano and the other coastal towns from the sea and Number Two – the traffic, which was saving me time for nicer holiday activities 😀.

For my stay in the end of august/the beginning of September, I booked a charming B&B in the historical town of Salerno, a town located on the Amalfi coast, that had everything and even more, of what I was looking for. The journey with the high speed train connecting Rome and Salerno took around 2 hours time. There are two major port from where the ‘traghetti’ to Amalfi, Positano, Capri, Sorrento, Ischia etc are departing.

I will leave the websites of the two companies, I used (Travelmar and NLG) and if you choose to stay in Salerno, my recommendation would be to confirm at the information or touristic desks for most accurate operation hours and exact departure port. I was super happy to find out, that the traghetti connecting Salerno-Amalfi-Positano were operating daily with very extensive hours until almost midnight, something that was not published on the websites.

To my mind, Salerno itself deserves at least a day to explore and relax after the trip.  A town with very  rich history, beautiful street art, all kind of restaurants and shops, very charming promenades along the sea side and all that, easy accessible by foot. There are some small beaches in the town, but I did not quite like the color of the water, so I stayed just to enjoy a nice Aperol Spritz and the sunset in one of nice beach bars. All that after I visited the Duomo, the Botanical Gardens ‘ Minerva Gardens’ from where the view to the city was more than spectacular.

The next days were a dream like it was the first one. I will try to split the story into two parts, as writing in one might be too long to read at once.

The morning after was beautiful – not too hot at 8am. I spent a full day on Fornillo beach in Positano, where I met a friend of mine. Swimming in the water and admiring the colorful villas, built on the cliffs,  we were both thinking just how sweet that “La dolce vita’ is. The drink of that day, in fact the drink of the holiday, was Spritz – Limoncello Spritz, a fresh mix drink made with Limoncello, Prosecco and sparkling water. I had it at least twice a day, every day except the day spent in Capri, when the Capri Spritz accompany my lunch. Even I had to admit that the Capri Spritz made of Limoncello and Prosecco came a little too strong for me 😄.

I returned home with my very first custom made sandals from Positano. Thinking of that day in Positano and I still smiling – there were many visitors and everyone was just smiling at each other, greeting everyone, loudly asking direction to this or that bar and the people working in Positano were explaining with calma and passion at the same time.. I am not sure if it is the post covid and finally, finally being back to normal, being able to see each other’s smiles, but it felt so different. It felt warm and just nice ❤️.

Another gifts, that I purchased here were also linen dresses and a perfume of Capri, for which I decided to spent a leisure day after the active one in Positano.

Legend has it that in 1380, upon receiving an unexpected visit from Queen Joanna I of Anjou, the first perfume of Capri was created, using the wild carnation of Capri the ‘Garofilium Silvestre Caprese’ . I spent nearly an hour in the factory shop, located near the Gardens of Augustus, listening to the entire story of how everything started and also trying to select my one ❤️.

For such a coffee lover like myself, there was no wonder of my selection in the end -the Terra Mia, a perfume inspired by everything the ‘terra’ has to offer – coffee and hazelnut, entwined with raw nature made of Orange Blossom, Pink Pepper and Jasmine.

I think that I will end the first part of the blog here and will continue with a shorter such from the day spent in Amalfi and Ravello. For the moment, I say cheers with a beautiful red wine from Italy and will add few images from the first few days on the Amalfi coast❤️.