Travel Tuesday: Minori [Amalfi Coast, no. 1)

I used to post about different travel adventures. Although I enjoyed putting together these posts, it took a long time to edit photos and include history or other facts about each city. Wiith limited time I had for blogging as a newlywed, I eventually stopped this part of my blogging niche in exchange for mostly reading-related posts. I definitely intend to keep those coming with my monthly reading round-up of reviews, but with being home so much during this pandemic and with a recent much-anticipated trip to Oregon to visit family getting cancelled, I have had a case of the travel bug. So, in effort to do some "armchair travel", a term I heard from Tsh Oxenreider in her book, At Home In the World, (which, if you love travel memoirs, YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY READ!),  I wanted to revisit my 2017 trip to France and Italy since I never finished blogging about it.  I have been dreamily looking back at our photobook of our adventures and had the idea of reviving my once weekly installments of travel diary posts on Tuesdays, aptly called Travel Tuesdays. So, whether you're sitting in an armchair or bed or bench, come along for a bit of traveling in the months ahead. I cannot promise I will post weekly, because #MomLife, but I will try at least bi-weekly posts about previous travels.

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Greg and I went to Europe for our two-year wedding anniversary in October 2017. We spent three glorious weeks in France and Italy. We experienced breathtaking sights, delicious food, incredible history, and memories to last a lifetime.  I posted about our time in France, but never got around to Italy. I also have not posted about our day trip to the D-Day beaches in Normandy, which I plan to do in honor of Memorial Day.

[ HERE is my post about Paris ]

[ HERE and HERE are posts about visiting Claude Monet's home and gardens ]

After we left Paris, we flew down to Naples and then took a bus to the Amalfi Coast. The weather was perfect for October, hovering in the 80s during our stay. We found an affordable Airbnb rental in a tiny village right outside of the traditional Amalfi Coast, a mere ten-minute boat ferry away from the town of Amalfi. We saved a ton of money since we were not staying in the more luxurious Positano or Sorrento (although I wish we could have visited one of those dreamy villages fora day during our stay). And we actually ended up loving the small, less tourist-heavy village since it was the perfect place to rest in between two busy cities (Paris and the our next stop, Rome).

Minori was once a vacation spot for Roman aristocracy. It remains celebrated for its cuisine, stunning  cliff-surrounded landscape, and wonderful  year-round climate. It has earned the nicknames Città del Gusto (City of Taste) and Eden della Costiera Amalfitana (Eden of the Amalfi Coast) for these reasons. 

The uncrowded, unpretentious seaside town has a quaint and quiet charm about it with its rustic, slightly sun-faded architecture.  The terraced gardens and cliffs surrounding the village make it against the contrast of the sparkling blue water is breathtaking. We met very kind and helpful people there too, particularly the owner of a restaurant I will share below. We even were able to walk the stalls at a seaside farmer's market during our stay!

This photo below was my favorite view of Minori, which was taken as we were hiking away from Minori. 

THIS was the Airbnb we stayed at (the iron archway was the patio of the one-bedroom apartment). It was very affordable (less than $60 a night and we were right by the beach).  It was the perfect place to come home and rest after exploring. Several evenings and early mornings, I sat on the chair outside and read while my laundry was hanging on the wire balcony to dry. A quintessential, laid-back Italian  experience for sure! 

One early morning, as Greg was still sleeping, I went for a stroll around the village while it was barely daylight and only shopkeepers and fishermen were outside. I loved exploring while the village was still waking up. It felt like I had it all to myself for an hour. The weather was crisp and cool, warming up later in the day. Absolute perfection! 

Basilica di Santa Trofimena

We ate several times at the affordable Midnight Sun Bar, which was right in the square near our Airbnb rental and across the street from the beach. We had a view of the vibrant buildings as well as the azure blue water nearby. The pizza was delicious but my favorite meal from our whole Europe trip was the lemon butter pasta and lemon-spritzed bass I had here. The owner came out and greeted us each of the times we were there. He was very friendly and told us about the history of  his family-owned restaurant.

The tart but delicious limoncello that is a popular drink in the Amalfi Coast, made from the citrus that grows in the cliffside gardens.

We caught a ferry to Amalfi this day, but as we waited for it to arrive, we enjoyed the sunshine on the pier. Again, this was across the street from our rental! Minori is so small, it's easy to walk everywhere and we were especially lucky to find an Airbnb right in the middle of it all.

This sunset view took my breath away as we were descending the cliffs after a hike (I'll post photos from that hike soon!!). It was a perfect place to call home for three days while in the Amalfi Coast.