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Another Euro-trip photo recap...

We setup base for 3 nights in Salerno, between Rome and Florence.

The first night: our first anniversary dinner at Dubl restaurant on the beachfront.

We hadn't had anything special planned, though it turned out to be amazing.

The following day: a boat cruise up the Amalfi Coast all the way to Positano and back. Stunning.

Here, follows the venture...

Beautiful Positano. Quite busy with tourists during the summer, but quite breathtaking - especially from the water.

(regretting not getting some pics of the HUGE yachts pulling up to Positano - some 5-deckers owned by Russian oil tycoons, were pretty spectacular - though pics probably wouldn't have done justice from those angles. Nonetheless, you can see why they parked where they did)

Yours truly chillin' like a villian.

heading out, came across the smoke of some forest fires setting the background...

and thickening up, from another angle. kinda beautiful, in a weird way.

amazing fortress posts lining the coast, from back in the days when the Italians were defending against invaders.

the deep blue color of the water... OMG.

HUGE cave sitting overtop huge cliffside fortress... can't get much cooler than that.

absolutely lovely, charming townsides lining the coast.

on the ground in the town/city of Amalfi...

not sure if this was merely a joke, or that's what the Italians use. makes for good smiles either way, at the least.

the color of the water again… pics could not do justice. took my breath away. (not literally. but DID make quite the impact.)

more magical cliffside buildings. too cool.

this pic couldn’t quite capture it, but on the way back, there was this effect of the sun getting filtered through the forest fire smoke and creating golden sparkles on the water… magical.

dopeness.

we entered this grotto for a few minutes, and were instructed to make a wish. way awesome in there. will require a year or so to see if the wish comes true…

at the marina in Salerno.

and backtracking to the anniversary dinner. that Feudi di San Gregorio wine from grapes grown in volcanic soil… OMG. obsessed.

All-in-all, a great stopover. Would love to go back - though with faster, more expensive travel routes, and higher-class accommodation in/around Positano or on the island of Capri. And either slightly before or after summer to avoid the crowds.

Italy, you didn't disappoint here... :-)