Youngs Around the World

Picture this: a pretty little piazza among whitewashed buildings with green accents, ivy and flower boxes. There is an outdoor café in the piazza filled with the quiet chatter of locals. Laundry dangles from upper story balconies against paint-chipped walls, giving the square a lived-in feel. Suntanned Italian children play around an old stone fountain and bounce balls which occasionally land on the café tables making everyone laugh softly before returning to their conversations. The air is perfect. The dim streetlamp gives off a soft yellow light, illuminating the glass of crisp white wine in your hand.

Our ten-hour stretch of travel between Barcelona and Amalfi was exhausting, involving six separate legs of transport and a half-kilometer uphill hike with our bags in tow. Our hostelkeeper, Felipo, greeted us warmly when we finally arrived, exhausted. You could play an accordion to the sound of his gentle, happy voice. He explained that each morning would begin with “a beautiful breakfast”. There was free access to the beach and everything we needed was in the piazza. After our long day of travel, we wearily stumbled out into the moonlit square; the chaos of the day melted away and we slipped into paradise.

The Amalfi Coast is as stunning as it sounds. The coast itself is a Unesco World Heritage site composed of whitewashed towns built into sheer cliffs on the perfect blue Mediterranean. Small strips of black volcanic sand, peppered with smooth pebbles and beach glass, dotted with striped beach umbrellas line the coast and, on any given day, there are as many locals swimming as tourists. The waves are gentle and the coast sits at such an angle that the sun lights up the cliffside towns both morning and afternoon.

We came to the Amalfi Coast to celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary and, upon our arrival, we realized that it was the perfect place with nothing to do but eat and drink, shop, swim and soak up the beauty of our surroundings. We were staying in Atrani, just a ten minute walk along the beach from Amalfi. Our little piazza was the heart of Atrani. Felipo said that it was paradise and he was right. We fell in love with it that first evening.

Our breakfast the next morning, served graciously by Felipo’s brother, was indeed beautiful. Our cappuccinos even had cocoa-powder smiley faces sprinkled into the froth. It was a lovely start to our anniversary. After breakfast, we walked to the port in Amalfi and caught the bus to Positano – the coast’s most picturesque and expensive town. The coastal towns are connected by a narrow winding road with hairpin turns, which the fearless young drivers navigate with gusto. Around every bend is a new breathtaking view and sparkling blue water for as far as the eye can see.

Positano stretches around a crescent moon-shaped bay with each end elevated on a cliff side, which makes for excellent photography. The pretty building facades, painted white, yellow and terra cotta, light up beautifully against the steely cliff. The bus from Amalfi stops at one end and by the time you make it down the hill and into town, you have used up half your camera battery and are brimming with excitement. We began by wandering through the tangle of whitewashed alleys with colorful shops around every corner. By mid-morning it was already hot and we treated ourselves to some terribly stylish hats and a few other treasures, letting ourselves pretend to be two-week vacationers just for a day. We sat for lunch at one of the beachside cafes and shared a pizza and, after a bit more wide-eyed wandering, headed back to Atrani. Both Positano and Amalfi have pretty beaches but we were drawn to our own beach at Atrani, mostly because it was close to our piazza.

The water looked so inviting that we could barely bring ourselves to spread our beach mats before wading in. The waves were gentle and the water perfectly cool. It was absolute Heaven! As I stretched out and floated on my back, gazing up at the beautiful little town, I enviously reflected that the locals here get to do this every day. I wondered what it would be like to live out the rest of my days in paradise.

With all of the wonderfully decadent and expensive restaurants in Amalfi and Positano to choose from – I could get away with anything on my anniversary – it’s no surprise that I chose the restaurant in our piazza for dinner. We shared a bottle of wine, the freshest mozzarella I’ve ever tasted, and a dish of fresh pasta in a place that felt like a home we might have known in another life. The evening concluded with heaping cones of gelato which we happily moved from lips to hips on a bench overlooking the sea.

The Amalfi Coast was the perfect place to spend our anniversary because its many delicious similarities to Santorini – the whitewashed buildings, black sand beaches, and pristine blue waters of the Mediterranean – recalled wonderful memories of our honeymoon. We recounted the many blessings in our lives and the happy dream that has been this year traveling the world. Highlights from our great adventures flash through my mind as I sit in our piazza staring out at the ocean and I am tickled by the blooms of our rather unconventional decision just over a year ago. At this moment, in this beautiful place, my heart is full of happiness and I suddenly realize that the pain and hardships that we must endure in our lives make the joyous moments so much sweeter. I realize that, today, I finally feel whole again, my once-faltering faith restored after our recent loss.

We spent our last day exploring Amalfi and now lounging in our piazza while the Mediterranean beckons us for one last swim in its Heavenly, healing waters. I think we shall be persuaded.

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