Amalfi
literally stunning

Amalfi is a treasure crevice cut into the cool rock at the foot of the Lattari mountain range. Quietly it sparkles within, protected; it’s unimaginable what lies within. One enters through arched passageways, which open into a beautiful square. Then splashes gold light catch your eye. You look up to see what must be one of the most exquisite and impressive cathedrals in the world. Its details and outside walls are decorated with mosaic of all colours, even silver and lots of gold. Combined with sunshine, the effect is dazzling.

Every year around June, Amalfi hosts a historical boat race: The Ancient Maritime Republics Regatta. People with history and the spirit of the sea in their souls celebrate the sea. Dressed in traditional costume they perform passed on rituals under the scattering light of fireworks. Fireworks are an important tradition along the coast line and generally in south Italy. Even grown men are passionate about the fireworks.
Every town and village has a patron saint. On the saint’s scared day, a statue of the saint will go around the town on the back of a van or on the shoulders of men. Passing along the streets with noisy clanging music, children and adults alike are calling, “He is coming!” imploring you with a twinkle in their eyes. Those adults have been running into the street to see their town’s saint, ever since they were little and before. Memories flood back as they stand with tears, notes and petals to shower on the passing protector. Once all the offerings have been collected and the complimentary Saint poster has been received, fire works are set off. Loud bangs and sparks try to frighten the sunshine into lighting up. For the entire day and night the fireworks will beat the sky like a drum.

Many people have never left their Amalfi villages for very long, if at all. The dances and food, song and music are all steeped in old traditions. Traditions which have had many a passionate love affair with rogue influences. Traditions which could be accused of being just a little romantic. They are both in love with and living in their past.

Flowers flop over walls, shocking bougainvilleas and coy but testy prickly pears garnish the town. Citrus, in particular lemons are a symbol of the region. All along the coast you are making an educated choice if you choose something with lemons in it. Lemoncello, lemon sorbet, Dilizia al Lemone (a heavenly lemon desert).

If you love fish, then Amalfi is for you. (My husband loves fish the way some people love drugs.) Most of the restaurants serve fish and if you keep it simple, you can’t go wrong. It will be fresh, delicate and special. Order the house white, it’s likely to be home-made by close relatives or friends. It’s not a quiet refined wine but rather an extremely fine home-made wine. Clean, pure, light, delicious and cheap. In summer it’s advisable to throw a peach into your pitcher and even red wine is chilled. A good rule my hubby, the food worshipper, has taught me is to look for the restaurant with a shorter menu. It means things are fresh because that’s what you should be after.
I once heard Johnny Depp (in an interview) say that it is almost impossible to have a bad meal in Italy. The key is eating what is local and in season; (you payless and it tastes better) creamy juicy mozzarella , rich smoked provola, cherries, peaches, oranges, lemons, grapes, wild mushrooms, chestnuts, pasta (no cream, EVER, well hardly) raw olive oil, fish wrapped in lemon leaves, tiny fried fresh fish, simple pizza, mussels, clams and the best tomatoes you will ever eat.

I recommend two important experiences of the Amalfi coast. One from land and the other from the sea. First hire a Vespa and do the whole fifty kilometres from Sorrento to Salerno and back. Especially when it is really hot and there may be traffic, theVespa is an escape. Has to be a Vespa, it’s a tradition. If you are like me and you suffer on bendy roads the Vespa is the solution. The double-decker public buses, believe me, are not the answer. I cannot describe the joy of a Vespa! My second suggestion is to hire a boat or take a sunset cruise. To see the coast from the sea is inspiring, even from a peddle boat. On a calm day one can even dive in the immense blue sea and have a safe off shore dip.

Joanne Dunn

The Amalfi Coastline, from the Mediterranean Sea, seems to be a divine organic tiara. The sun’s rays catch little flashes of splendour from the minute villages which are carved into the sea’s crown. Ravello, the thirteenth jewel, perches straight above on the Lattari Mountains. The Mountains and their straight faced cliffs fall lazily down to the sea from above. From my gushiness, you can tell, I am madly in love with the Amalfi coastline and in particular Ravello. I know the little villages and their curves intimately. We are not able to visit all the villages, since our time is brief, so I’ll selfishly stick to my personal favourites. This is my “Insiders Guide” to the Amalfi coast.

Ravello
Medieval Garden Village

Have to start with Ravello! That’s where it all began. I first heard about Ravello, three years ago, in a book on a plane to Italy. The author described it’s deliciously lush gardens and dizzying views. Little did I know it was a start of a lasting love affair. I do admit that I fall in love with many places regularly. But I have to say that with Ravello it was different and seem predestined. I asked Gianni (hubby) where Ravello was, he pointed at the mountains behind our house, “twenty minutes away”. It’s difficult to decide if Ravello is a garden or a village. This Medieval village garden has a petty coat of lemon and vine terraces. The blossoms and their fall, heavy purple jewels hang from vines, the rusted leaves set the petticoat a flame and finally dissolve into a resting abstraction. Goat and sheep herds with their shepherds and tinkling bells roam the mountains. So on the way up to Ravello, one always goes up to get to Ravello, one is often slowed down my by a scampering pool of fluff and chimes. I always insist on silence in the car as we wade through.

Our first meeting was not the moment we fell in love. It was not love at first sight. I didn’t make an effort to explore very much past the piazza. We missed everything. Ravello is to be climbed and explored. It is three hundred meters above sea with the sea of Amalfi directly below it. Ravello has many stairs but each one is worth it for the views are unimaginable. It was later, when I was commissioned to do a photographic reportage on Ravello, that I saw her many faces and dresses. I woke up at four one morning to search for the best view point to shoot the sunrise. Climbing the many, many, many stairs… a light which seemed celestial. I had a moment. Empty, quiet and suspended, seemingly from the sky above the sea. Truly unbelievable and yet giving one perfect perspective. Vast and close, things seem miniature but yet immense. It’s confusing, as the eye is not used to such huge perspectives and being reminded how very small we are.

Ravello is a place of music. Old music, classical music, folk music and occasionally you might catch a few swinging jazz notes on the wind. Beautiful and prestigious classical concerts are performed in front of these overwhelming spaces. Sea, sky, clouds, mist, specs of colour and light. It is said that Villa Rufolo was Wagner’s inspiration for the gardens of Klingsor, during his visit in eighteen eighty. An enchanted garden and Parsifal is a magical piece with a little of Ravello’s soul. Every year, since the nineteen twenties, Ravello has been home to the Wagner Music Festival. It is held in the hot summer months of July. Set in the very gardens which inspired the master. The festival is a celebration of a passionate love affair of the artist and the landscape. A landscape with coloured flower wings and enchanting Arabic influenced architecture.

There are other music festivals and performances such as Jazz, Arabic, Spanish, Medieval, Folk, Opera and Classical. Ravello and its surroundings have a long concert season from March to November. (Even in midsummer, take a warm jersey. You are up in the clouds and it can get nippy). There are dawn concerts which commence with the sunrise. Ravello is at her most beautiful from four till six in summer mornings and afternoons. In the late summer evenings, on the piazza (Duomo Square), small concerts take place under the watchful gaze of the great dark pines. Music lovers and other lovers come from all over the world to see the astonishing views, drink in the sent of the flowers and take pleasure in the music.

Ravello and its surrounding mountains are inhabited by a little tribe of folk musicians and dancers. Some are classically trained and others play Jazz, but their love is for folk. The leader of musical gnomes can play and sing just about anything. Mad as a potter but thoroughly captivating. He and his fellow musicians earn a living doing concerts in Ravello for wealthy Americans and English, who come to get married. These musicians are some of the happiest humans I know. Ravello seems to have intoxicating powers and has been known to have strange effects. I once saw an extremely wealth lady in her seventies, kick of her shoes and “give” herself to the music. There are times when Ravello is particularly dangerous to self control. As different trees and fruit trees blossom and bloom in spring and early summer, they can quite confuse a restless soul. The sensation is similar to being in-love. The fact that one is at the top of a mountain looking down does something quite wonderful to the head and heart. Add a little sublime music of your choice and well it’s the perfect place to cast a love spell. No discussion of Ravello would be complete without mentioning my favourite little part of this world. The gardens, flowers, views, trees of Villa Cimbrone are unimaginable. A steep demanding little fifteen minute walk from Ravello, the villa is open everyday from nine till sunset. The Terrace of Infinity is one of Ravello’s best views. The terrace looks straight down onto a seductively curvy part of the coast. The effect is startling due to the sharp drop of the mountain the garden is on. It gives the impression that one is looking down from a window in the sky. The lemon tree terraces frill round the mountain and tiny ladybird size cars trace the contour of coast. The effect is just a little surreal.

Villa Cimbrone’s gardens are filled with sculptures, trees, flowers and various other little treasures collected by the English Nobleman who built it. The pines are tall ancient silhouettes and the castle-like villa evokes longings for fairytales. There are grand discoveries, like an oversized marble rose garden, centered with a sundial and gated with huge ceramic urns. There are also places which seem to be secret places to sit and think. Little sculptures tucked away. The bronze turning that special powdery mossy green, while giant blazing leaves float gently to the ground. The time is older up there. It is another world, with its own time, a magical time which offers another perspective. Writers and artists have been besotted Ravello’s virtues. The immense space inspires, humbles and even inflicts melancholy. The Spanish artist and ceramist Miro, the English painter Tuner and the writer Virginia Woolf are but a few of the many artists who have visited Ravello. “Room with a view”, written by Foster depicts many a Ravello scene. Even us mortals can’t help but be inspired by Ravello’s eternity. Yet it has a special naturalism as villagers go about their day. It proposes many unique vantage places to examine without and within.

Joanne Dunn