SALERNO, ITALY // JULY 2023
- TRAVEL DIARY -
Life has given lemons to Amalfi. And Amalfi has handled the task. Here, it is all yellow.
Here, it is nothing but sunshine on tan shoulders. Here it is nothing but the curves and clinging of roads, and beaches, and grape vines. The delight of it all can leave one spinning around. Like a tendril, reaching out, hold on.
Built upon curious and stunning coastal terrain, this area is sprawling, jagged, perched, precarious, salty, divine and juicy.
Across towns, narrow roads are hugging, winding, and shared with the local, free-range farm animals. Cows and sheep wander with their clanging bells around their necks, an alert to their otherwise quiet presence.
An artichoke grows wild, fennel everywhere, too. Fruits here are clustered, busy mothering what will soon be enjoyed as wine. Things are fermenting. Being savored. Life moves colorfully, but slow.
Tucking into our farm-stay, perched on the mountainside above Salerno, we mostly spent our days here lazily by the pool. We faded in and out, legs making shadows on the pool’s bottom, while the blue sky faded, gradient, and indistinguishable, into the sea.
When I raised a glass of wine made where we were staying, I couldn’t help but make a toast, declaring that— There, we would return again.
Lemons, my favorite. I can’t help but eat all those things that make me pucker up.
Kiss, kiss, from mamma rosa herself.
