Victoria Van Der Berg leaves Florence and takes the coastal train down into Cinque Terre, the five small villages strung along the Ligurian cliffs. A quiet first day in Vernazza.
travel diary
The Long Way Round – Tuscany Day 3
I woke before the alarm, although I suspect I would have even if I had forgotten to set one. There are some mornings when the light seems to wake you before the world has the chance. I dressed quietly in…
The House Above Florence
I came to Florence the slow way, as I always seem to, and I came to a house rather than a hotel. My aunt takes a villa in the hills above the city most summers, an old place with faded…
Naples – The City That Lets You Stay
I woke in Naples before I meant to. The shutters were still open from the night before. I had left them that way on purpose, too greedy for the city to close it out, and so the morning came in…
The Pink Beach Club
The beach clubs in Maiori are not all the same color. This was the first thing I noticed, arriving the evening before, watching the coastline settle into dusk from the window of a taxi that had taken longer than it…
Positively, Positano
The boats were already out when I got down to the water. Not fishing, not yet, just sitting there in the pink light with their ropes slack, Carpielene and Coilaboha and the others, names painted on hulls that had clearly…
Journey into the Valle Delle Ferriere
The room had a green tiled floor.
I remember that first. Not the view. Not the dress. The floor.
Green diamonds, faded by other summers, other bare feet, other women passing through rooms they would not own. It was the kind of floor that seemed to have been there before anyone…
With Love, From Ravello
The piazza was empty when I arrived. A café table stood in the centre of the square, two chairs pulled slightly apart as though someone had just left. The cathedral behind it was catching the first real light of the…
Capri Is For Lovers – A Private Boat Tour
Capri Is for Lovers The first time I came to Capri, I was small enough that my father carried me up the steps from the marina. He carried me until I asked him not to, and I remember the moment…
Atrani Beach Club, Amalfi Coast
A journal entry by Victoria Van Der Berg The pebbles are dark here. That is the first thing. On the other side of the headland, they are pale grey, almost white, the kind that photograph well and end up on…
What I Learned from The Last Days of Pompeii
I left the coast just after sunrise, the sea slowly disappearing behind me as the road climbed north through the mountains. The windows were down, the air still cool from the night before, and I wasn’t thinking about much at…
Lido Capo di Conca: The Best Cliff Lido on the Amalfi Coast
Conca dei Marini What is a cliff Lido? It is an outdoor swimming area or beach club built directly into, below, or along a seaside cliff. The road does not go all the way down. This is the first thing…
