Atrani From The Sea

By Josef Rebell (1787-1828).  Born in Vienna, from 1811 to 1815 Rebell was the Court painter for Joachim Murat, King of Naples and Napoleon's brother in law.  Rebell's time as court painter ended when Murat was overthrown and executed after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo.

Atrani is a small town on the Amalfi Coast, just east of the town of Amalfi.  The painting shows Atrani when it was a poor town clinging to the cliff side.  Later in the 19th century, the Amalfi Coast Drive was built along the coast, starting the area's path toward being a destination tourist spot.  This is what modern Atrani looks like.  On the cliff above Atrani is the beautiful town of Ravello, perched 1,000 feet above the sea, about which I've written before.

A Walk In Ravello

If you are looking for a way to imagine yourself outside the Covid penalty box and lower your blood pressure at the same time, watch this real-time video of a walk in Ravello.  Located on Italy's Amalfi Coast on a thousand foot high plateau looming over the coast it is a dramatic, beautiful and peaceful location.  The Mrs and I were supposed to be there right now before Mr Covid thought otherwise.  We've walked all these paths before and had looked forward to returning for our 4th visit.  Now we hope to make it there in 2022.  The hotel we stay in is located about 150 yards beyond the end of the tunnel shown in the last minute of the video.  Don't miss the view from the Belvedere of Infinity at the Villa Cimbrone which begins about 42 minutes in.

Villa Cimbrone

One of our favorite spots in the world, beautiful and peaceful, particularly if you can avoid the height of tourist season and visit in during the morning.  The views, the gardens, and the joy of just sitting quietly.  The entire town of Ravello is worth a couple of days visit.

We had planned to return this fall.  Hope to make it next year.

Italian Passageways I

From our spring trip to the Amalfi Coast and Capri.  These passageways are not neglected by-ways.  They are major thoroughfares for the towns we visited.  Why?  Well, this is Positano.

They apparently thought it was a good idea to build on cliffsides and narrow ledges, jamming all the buildings together and leaving little room for foot traffic.  That's why.

From Ravello.  If you'd like to walk from the town down to the coast this is the path:

Walking through the main part of town:

Down at the coast in Praiano the paths are still narrow.

Even to get to our room at the Onda Verde we had to go through a passageway internal to the hotel that was cut through the cliff side.

And back to Positano where we started:

Villas Of Ravello

As promised this is the next tranche of Ravello photos showing the town's best known villas.  While the buildings are quite nice what makes the villas memorable are the grounds and settings.

Villa Cimbrone is one of our favorite places in the world.  It's about a ten minute walk from the central plaza of the town. Perched on an outcrop about 1000 feet above the coast it features gardens, walking paths and a feature called "The Belvedere of Infinity" at the point of the outcrop.  The Villa has existed in one form or another since the 13th century but it's current look is attributable to an initial restoration by Lord Grimthorpe who purchased it in 1904 and then to the work of the Vuilleumier family which has owned it since the 1950s.  There is a hotel on the ground.

Entrance to the villa   The grounds.

The paths.

The Belvedere

Let's look down from the Belvedere:

 

Villa Rufolo is located right off the central plaza of Ravello and its origins also go back to the 13th century.  The restoration of the buildings and gardens began in the early 20th century.  During the summer season, chamber music concerts are staged in the garden area below.

Time for an expresso break!

Ravello

We already did  one post on our visits to the Amalfi Coast (see Praiano) in 2006 and 2010 and we'll probably return there next year.

This is Ravello, another one of the towns we've visited.  Unlike most of the other towns which are located right on the coast, Ravello is on top of a small mountain making it a torturous drive to get there.  This map shows the convoluted road network.  That's why the second time we visited we stayed in Ravello instead of making the daily drive even though it was only about 10 miles from the hotel we like so much in Praiano.(Looking from Ravello down to the coast.  From Google Images.  Rest of pictures are from our trips.)

Your first assignment is getting to Ravello which can be a challenge.  Here's a tip - fold in your side view mirrors.  These photos are of the main road - not a side street.  I just thought of another tip - make sure you get damage coverage on your rental car - take my word on this one.

The central plaza.

The neighboring hill town as seen from the plaza.

No motor vehicles are allowed in the center of town so you can walk undisturbed on the paths, stairs and alleys (there are no roads).

 
We stayed at the Hotel Graal.

View from the hotel restaurant.

Working hard at Ravello restaurants.

                                                                Our terrace.

We've haven't even gotten to the best part of the town yet - the villas - which we'll cover in a separate post.  Let's start walking towards the Villa Cimbrone and stop at a little cafe for a drink first.