Saluti from Ravello!

Change of plans! Amalfi turned into one giant crowd today, and I just couldn’t. So I hired a car and went straight up the mountain. I only knew I needed to breathe.

Ravello was like walking into a fairytale. I wandered through town until I came across an endless stone stairway shaded by flowering trees and followed it simply because it was too enchanting not to. At the top was Palazzo Avino, the hotel my friend Max had told me to find. Once a 12th century noble residence, it opened into pink courtyards, sweeping staircases, gardens, terraces, and layer after layer of mountains and sea. They welcomed me in for lunch, and sitting on the veranda, I could feel everything Ravello had witnessed, royalty, wartime history, artists, dignitaries, and generations of celebrated guests. To this day, they are the most beautiful hotel grounds I have ever seen.

Sending love from somewhere worth getting lost,