Atrani

After our brief, one night stay in Verona, we took the train to Naples where we then caught a taxi to the gorgeous Amalfi Coast! Driving from Naples to the little town of Atrani was quite the adventure, the roads are extremely narrow and extraordinarily curvy. Beth and I had to keep eating altoids to ward off getting too car sick. But the views of the coast were breathtaking.

There are about 15 little towns along the Amalfi Coast, we choose to stay in Atrani which is right next door to the East of Amalfi. I loved staying here, it is small and charming and we had made friends with half the town at the end of our three day stay here. Atrani is the smallest Municipality in Italy and has a population of only 588, the people are so welcoming and friendly, and the town itself is beautiful and much less touristy than some of the other towns on the coast.

Though it is part of the Amalfi Coast, it is the only town along the coast to preserve its antique, traditional characteristics. The initial houses face the beach directly, they are grouped around the square and move around the church of San Salvatore and the marble fountain before going up towards the valley and climbing along the rocky mountain and crossing the gardens and the lemon fields. Atrani is isolated from automobile traffic because it is protected by its antique houses with flowered balconies. The central square of Atrani leads directly to the beach and the sea by crossing an antique passageway created to save boats from sea storms.

The central square

Our little Airbnb, Casa Giovanna Gioia, was one of the higher up apartments that had been built into the rocky terrain next to some lemon groves, which made for beautiful views from the balcony. But also, we had to find our way through the labyrinth of tiny walk ways and long staircases to get to our home every day. We were so excited when our Airbnb offered the service of having our luggage carried to our apartment for us, because I know for a fact there is no way I would have been able to get my luggage up there, it was quite the trek.

The walk to and from the square from our apartment took about 10 minutes. We all had to work together to remember all the correct turns we had to make. It is such a maze, that people would mark their paths with nail polish. Between the four of us, we managed to memorize our way without having to make any markings. I actually loved this daily walk, I thought it was fun and exciting and such a unique experience. It was hard to document, but we tried our best.

At one part of our walk, there was a little cat that we named Lemon Butters. He would always be waiting for us, and would walk part of the way with us, he was a highlight of our stay in Atrani.

Our apartment was right above this flowering walkway and green door, so we knew we were almost there when we reached this beautiful home.

For some reason  I didn't take any pictures of this Airbnb. I was getting a little tired at this point of our trip, since we had been gone for a full month at this point, so that may have played into why forgot. Luckily, the Airbnb site had some good photos of the apartment. It was small and cozy and perfect for what we needed.

We spent a lot of time relaxing at home while we were staying here. We watched movies, ate cookies from the local market, took naps, and V loved to "paint" her finger and toe nails every morning while I was getting ready...

One of our favorite things about this apartment, was the balcony that over looked the ocean and part of the town. We would often eat breakfast out there and enjoy the view and the warm sunshine. V loved to take pictures of the view with her "cell phone" which was actually the remote to our air conditioning.

Our little movie star, having brunch in her big sunglasses and checking her "phone" for messages while being fed cookies.

A couple of mornings, we wandered down to the main square to have home made pastries for breakfast.

Every day, when we walked to the main square, we would pass by the local market. The guys who owned and operated the marked were enchanted with V and wanted to say hello to her every time we passed by. They would often have little gifts for her, they were the sweetest.

The Atrani beach, we walked by it every day and had plans to enjoy it one day, but in the end we were too tired and felt like we got a good Amalfi beach experience when we visited Positano.

There was a pizzeria right on the beach that we saved for our last night in the Amalfi Coast. We didn't know what time it opened, and we arrived about an hour too early. So we decided to sit in a fisherman's boat on the beach and play Disney heads up, which turned out to be so much fun and resulted in lots of giggles and smiles.

For most of the time, V was pretending to be Moana, and was singing her theme song and hoisting some imaginary sails. But every once in a while, she would want to join in on our game. She used a tube of lipstick as her phone, this girl has the best imagination.

We were the first ones seated when the restaurant opened. One of the local families was throwing a birthday party for their daughter, they had set up a festive corner with a large table that was close to ours. We had the best time watching all the guests arrive, the birthday girl gave every one of her guests a hug when they arrived, I think she was around 7 or 8, it was so cute to watch. The community of Atrani is very close knit, and it was fun to watch candid little moments like this.

The Amalfi Coast is known for their lemon groves and lemon flavored everything, I made sure to try as many lemon flavored dishes as possible. For my appetizer, I got mozzarella cheese wrapped in lemon leaves and grilled. It was delicious, the lemon flavor was very subtle, but added a depth and complexity to the flavor of the cheese.

Pizza for my main course. I ate a LOT of pizza while in Italy.

Chocolate cake with lemon sorbet for dessert

Another night we ate at a family owned restaurant in the main square. V was in love with our waiter, and flirted with him all night long. 

After dinner we took a stroll along the beach at sunset, it was beautiful and relaxing, it was pure bliss.

I absolutely loved living in Atrani for our three day visit to the Amalfi Coast, I was actually kind of sad when we had to leave. I am so glad we stayed in this town, and not one of the other, more well known towns. I loved the town, the beach. the food and most of all the people. I felt like I could have easily moved right in and felt right at home. I can't wait to go back and visit one day.

Next up, our beach day in Positano!