by Anne Woodyard | Aug 27, 2019 | amalfi, Amalfi Coast, Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Festival, Anacapri, Caprese, Capri, Food and Wine, Fritto Misto, Italian food, Italy, Italy travel, Music and Markets, Positano, Ravello, Villa Cimbrone
Interested in a Music and Markets Tour? We’d love to hear from you! How about an unforgettable holiday with us at New Years’ Jazz in Italy?
What do we love about the Amalfi Coast? Well, there are the VIEWS – always astounding, always drawing oohs and aahs, whether we’re relaxing by the pool at our favorite Capri hotel,
approaching iconic Positano from the water,
gazing up at the majestic Duomo of Amalfi,
posing before the Faraglioni rocks of Capri,
watching Vesuvius fade into the distance
as we speed across the bay, pulling into Capri’s colorful Marina Grande before spiraling high above to Anacapri,
or enjoying the vista from the Belvedere of Infinity in Ravello.
We’ve taken in these views for nearly twenty years, and they still make us gasp anew each time!
Then there’s the food….a fritto misto fresh from the surrounding waters,
a caprese salad created on the island for which it’s named,
pizza in the land of its birth,
a lemon granita (a slushy) from our favorite cart up the hill in Positano,
fresh fish from the sea below us in Ravello,
and that marvelous lemon-tinged lunch we learned how to make with our guests at Villa Maria Agriturismo,
under the lemon groves above Minori, before enjoying it with yet another fabulous view.
We also love the history that surrounds us – that 13th century Moorish style cloister
and loggia of the Duomo in Amalfi,
the peaceful Villa San Michele,
constructed in Anacapri for a Swedish doctor at the turn of the 19th century, incorporating relics from the ruins of a villa of Emperor Tiberius on which it was built,
the gardens and cloister of Villa Cimbrone,
dating from the 11th century, and the mysterious 13th century passageways in Atrani and Amalfi,
even more enticing after dark.
Is it any surprise that we chose this fabulous part of Italy to premier our Wonder Tours last spring?!
We’ll be back in April 2020 – why not join us and experience these wonders for yourself?
by Anne | Aug 3, 2015 | Amalfi Coast, Gardens, Italian food, Italy, Italy travel, Music and Markets, Ravello, Uncategorized, Villa Cimbrone, Villa Rufolo
Thursday, July 16, 2015, part one
Ravello, Italy
Interested in a Music and Markets Tour? We’d love to hear from you!
How about celebrating Mozart in the matchless city of Bath, England in November?
We start and end the day above it all…first, Ravello, the elegantly dazzling rather removed-from-it-all haunt of those who prefer their glamour subdued and quiet. We park, then continue climbing via steps and ramps to the beautiful old town.
Along the clifftop a row of gorgeous old palazzos, homes of captains and merchants of old when Amalfi ruled the seas centuries ago, are now luxury hotels,
with one of the prettiest public gardens ever tucked along the cliff edge as well.
Rising from the main piazza, stairs lead into the Duomo (dating from 1087!), cool and white, with a couple of spectacular pulpits. Twisted, gold-enhanced pillars atop lions support the Pulpit of the Evangels,
and precious mosaics, depicting a cheery Jonah waving goodbye as he’s swallowed by the fish, decorate the lesser Pulpit of the Epistles.
On the opposite edge of town from the palazzos we visited first, Villa Cimbrone’s glorious gardens
stretch to the Balcony of Infinity, high above the sea.
A shady refuge on yet another blistering hot day, the cool paths lead to rose gardens,
grottoes, pergolas and bloom-surrounded statues. The Villa itself is a prestigious hotel, so areas of the extensive gardens are private.
Far below we spy Maiori, the Reginna Palace Hotel, headquarters of the Amalfi Coast Music Festival, right in the center by the beach.
The views continue at lunch on the terrace of Villa Rufolo.
Although it’s been a few years since we’ve been here, the long-time staff recognizes us and we them. Fresh from the waters far below, here are the catch of the day choices.
First courses arrive with a flourish,
and the salt-crusted seabass, which several of us share, is expertly filleted before our eyes.
We’ve been “bragging” about the marvelous Delizia di Limone, a creamy, tart Amalfi Coast specialty,
and one is enough to share after this delicious lunch…it disappears quickly!
To be continued…