Amalfi Coast, Italy

Hey friends! This post is LONG overdue... because well, life! We have been BUSY around here, but I am excited to catch the blog up. 

Ready for a news flash: we fly back to the US in one week. ONE WEEK! It is so hard to believe that our year abroad is coming to an end. 

Anyways, more about that later. Now to share Amalfi. I have dreamed about the Amalfi coast for a long time. I think everyone has that one (or 12) place(s) where they dream about because the pictures are just that dreamy. Amalfi is one of my places. 

The Amalfi Coast is a 50 km (roughly 31 miles) stretch of coastline in Italy, just south of Naples. It is so amazing that UNESCO deemed it to be an outstanding example of Mediterranean landscape. Mountains plunge into the sea between picturesque small towns. (It even sounds dreamy, I know.)

February may not appeal to all Amalfi travelers because the town is a little sleepy. It is not considered tourist season and the weather can be iffy. A lot of shops, restaurants and hotels are closed from October until May. BUT, if you do your research Amalfi has a lot to offer in February. 

One of the downsides of traveling during a low season is that the transportation to and from Naples airport is scarce. You don't have as many trains/busses (so timing is an issue) and there are no ferries that run. We opted for a car and drove the coast, which truthfully may have worked out for the best! 

Google maps was even preparing us for the drive... the street we were turning on is called Panoramica!

Remember how I said the weather could be iffy? Well our arrival day was cloudy, cold and rainy! But the excitement made all that okay.

We stayed in Positano, which is one of the first small towns on the coast. It is incredibly charming. Our hotel was incredible and the workers really treated us extra special. We normally opt for hotels/hostels that are budget friendly - meaning it is clean and has a bed, but Positano was my birthday trip and Blake really pulled out all the bells and whistles for this fancy hotel!

There are only 3 restaurants in Positano that are open in February. One in particular was super close to our hotel and offered a shuttle to and from the hotel to the restaurant- we loved it so much that we ate there every night. 

  

Bruschetta, pizza, pasta, wine and of course limoncello. 

Fun Fact - Limoncello is a liqueur produced from the lemon peels of Amalfi lemons. 

Yes, you have to look at my feet. But woah views! That was pretty nice to wake up too. Day 2 promised sunshine and blue skies!



Walking down to the shore!



Positano



Selfies with my love.



The water was so incredibly blue! Unlike anything I've ever seen!

We declared this day Amalfi day and we dedicated the whole day to exploring this city! After exploring the city, we did a little chunk of the Path of The Gods hike!









Too many pictures, because I love them ALL!



So. Many. Stairs.

But, the view just keeps on getting better!



Our view to the left.

And to the right!



Making our way back down!



I love all the houses!

About this time, I was probably in a tri-pod! I think it was over 1500 steps!

We made our way to our dinner spot, devoured something delicious and went to sleep early!

Day 3 we headed out for the coast!



Just driving along!



A ceramic shop... okay we spent too much time here! How amazing.



First stop: Amalfi (the city on the coast).



Beautiful, but not as charming as Positano - in my opinion!



Amalfi Cathedral



The town was definitely more lively though! There were quite a few shops and restaurants open!



And we found gelato, so I was pretty much STOKED!



Continuing our drive! That peninsula WAY out there is Salerno; the last coastal town.



Ravello: a small town way up the side of the mountain!



Exploring Villa Rufolo in Ravello. *Side note* If you go in the winter months, paying for Villa Rufolo isn't really worth it because all of the gardens are dead!



Lemon trees!

We finished out the evening by driving back to our hotel and heading back to our dinner spot! We met a wonderful couple who were living abroad in Naples. We chatted and drank way too much wine - as one does in Italy!

Amalfi needs to be on your list! It was an amazing few days.

Porto, Portugal

When people think of Portugal, people most often think of Lisbon. It is, after all, the capital. But Porto has a certain unique charm that I would argue shouldn't be missed.

Our flight arrived pretty late, and despite the awesome metro system - we opted for a taxi. We cashed in some hotel rewards on this trip so we stayed a few metro stops outside of downtown. It really worked out!

Our Saturday started with coffee and croissants. And then we set off to explore.

Porto City Hall

Being silly in front of the Porto. sign!

Don't think I will make it to London, so this will have to do.

Azulejos! Azulejos are Portuguese tin-glazed tiles. They can be found all throughout the city, but the most impressive spot is in the Sao Bento station. 

Charming streets, making our way to Clergios Church.



Clergios Church!



Inside the church! It was very beautiful.

On the back side of the church is a bell tower which you can climb for views of the city! And I say climb because there were A LOT of stairs!

But the views made it all worth it!



The street along the river was outstanding!



Selfies in Porto!

In order to see the infamous port wine houses and to taste port wine at the source, you have to cross the Dom Luis Bridge.



Image courtesy of Oporto City Hotel, because lets be honest. I could never capture something like that!

Anyways, I didn't realize that I am kind of scared to walk across bridges! We walked along the bottom, and then returned on Sunday to cross the top. Needless to say, my limits were tested!

Once you cross the river you are in port wine tasting heaven. We selected Calem and went on a tour.



Now, I had never tried port wine before (and I didn't think I would be a fan), but having it at the source seemed like the right thing to do!

Port wine is produced exclusively in the Douro Valley of Portugal. It is typically very sweet, often red. I learned though that it also comes in white varieties. The tour got very technical in the process of making port wine - from the grapes to the way it is stored/aged. The tour concluded with a tasting.





I didn't actually hate it! I was shocked. It has a very high alcohol content and it is very sweet, but in small quantities I could see how one would drink this as a dessert wine!

After our wine tasting/tour we just relaxed with a bottle of wine by the river and admired the beauty that is Porto!





The next morning I set out to find some pasteis de nata. 



It is essentially a custard tart... and I was not a fan!



It was raining pretty hard after our breakfast stop, but we carried on and made our way to the Porto Cathedral!



Cathedral from the other side!



From the very top of the Dom Luis Bridge! Lovely view of Porto...Super scary when windy and rainy!


Next I made Blake take me to Livraria Lello... The only bookstore I have paid to enter.



Because WOW!

Livraria Lello is on every list of 'Most Beautiful Bookstores' and for good reason! It is rumored that the red stair case inspired J.K. Rowling when she was writing Harry Potter during her time living in Porto. (For all you Harry Potter fans.)



Reality photo... There were TONS of people.

But we really enjoyed spending a bit of time looking at all of the books!

The rain continued to pour, but we made one last stop before making our way to the airport.



We admired this church! I loved seeing the blue tiles all throughout the town.