We recently returned from a lovely week on the Amalfi Coast in Italy, somewhere I’d wanted to visit for years. It’s hard not to have it on the wish list of European holidays after no more than one Google image search – the rocky coastline is incredibly picturesque.
In terms of scenery, the Amalfi coast doesn’t disappoint.

Praiano
We stayed in a village between Amalfi and Positano called Praiano, which in retrospect was the perfect choice for us. The bigger towns we visited were pretty busy in July, and we were after a bit of relaxation. Praiano is about as calm as a town on the Amalfi Coast can get – the roads are a little bit, ahem, treacherous!
There was a lot about the holiday which would have been a disappointment had we not been somewhere so beautiful – the hotel was pretty naff, the parking was unbelievably bad, the driving was crazy, my knees gave out for a full 2 days of the holiday because of the hundreds and hundreds of stairs… but look at where I got to sit with my knee pain!

Praiano itself was great fun – we had plenty of restaurants to choose from, and a lovely little bar to end our evenings in, with a view of the village church and the cliffs.

The food was amazing – I never realised I had such strong feelings about tomatoes and mozzarella! Caprese salad inspired crochet patterns may be on the horizon.

The church in Praiano became a bit of an obsession for me because of one thing: its roof! I’m dying to make this into a crochet pattern.

There’s something about the crisp white teamed with the almost-navy blue and the mustard, and the geometric pattern which really speaks to me. I can see this becoming a pattern in the future… maybe a cushion cover? What do you think?

The church roof is made of the local ceramics. Ceramics are everywhere in the Amalfi coast – and they’re really gorgeous. We had this little basin on the walk down to our hotel which I was obsessed with.

Over the course of the week we managed to fit in a trip to Sorrento and one to Capri.
Sorrento
Sorrento was pretty busy, and the hairy bus ride getting there had us dealing with a bit of adrenaline come-down when we arrived. Nevertheless, it was really beautiful.


Capri
Our trip to Capri didn’t get off to the best start – taking my dodgy knee down 400 steps to the beach to catch the boat wasn’t fun!
The trip over was gorgeous though – the perspective change from the top of the cliffs to the bottom of the cliffs is astonishing. We had a distant view of the famous Faraglioni rocks from our terrace so it was crazy to be taken, er, through them (!) on the boat.

And then we got off the boat to some huge crowds and overpriced cafes… it was tough to keep my short fuse from burning out! But then when we got off the funicular to the main town, Capri was lovely.

We immediately took ourselves away from the bustling crowds in the main square. We had no idea where we were going, other than “away from all the people”. And we found a gorgeous little restaurant with a panoramic view of the sea – I swear, I could feel my blood pressure go down as we sat there.

After lunch we decided to keep away from the crowds and pound some back streets behind the church. The best part of these back streets for me were the sneaky peeks I had into people’s gardens through their gates. Front entrances are so neglected in the UK – often just where people keep their dustbins or park the cars, I think I prefer the Capri approach.



In true Elsie Pop form, I of course found some crochet on our back street walk! We stumbled upon a lovely little shop called Eco Capri.

Eco Capri, like most of the shops we found in Capri, is super high-end – it was SO nice to see crochet items in this kind of place.

The home accessories were all either single-colour or bold stripes. This is so my usual crochet style, I was really excited to see it all put together like this.

I loved the vases of crocheted flowers around the shop too – I’ve made bouquets before, but never thought to crochet the vase as well!


I left the shop – and Capri – feeling fully inspired! A lot of the items in Eco Capri used t-shirt yarn – something I have a lot of, but have never found the ideal project for. The clean lines and bold patterns of these items really gave me food for thought.
Pompeii
On our last day, we had a late (and delayed!) flight home, so we decided to stop at Pompeii for the day – something I had always wanted to do.
Pompeii didn’t disappoint at all. It’s absolutely incredible seeing how much they’ve restored of the original city. It was much more emotional than I expected – above all, Pompeii seems like a normal place. The Romans were spectacularly advanced, and there is so much modernity to the city, which makes the tragedy of the events there feel very close and very real.
It’s a tough place to photograph as – you guessed it – it was super busy! (Note to self: next time, don’t go to this part of Italy in July!)


Don’t worry – there is crochet inspiration there too! Look at this lovely pattern, found in the baths.

The theatre is incredibly well-preserved, and feels huge when you sit in it.

Upon leaving Pompeii, you’re greeted with a great view of the city which really helps convey its size. The sight of Vesuvius looming over the city struck me as really sad.

Oh, I’m all misty-eyed! This is the problem with writing a holiday blog post so long after the actual holiday (sorry!) – I just want to go back!
Until next time,
(A very wistful) Elsie Pop
xx
Oh, it all looks just beautiful! All the colours in those sunsets, the aperol spritz, those pretty front doors, the flowers, that spectacular theatre! It sounds like a lovely (if busy!) holiday – I love how you manage to find a yarn shop in the middle of Italy! You must have a radar!
It’s unfair isn’t it? Italy has too many incredibly beautiful places for one country! The front doors gave me major house envy – I just love the idea of the entrance of your house being so magical. And yarn shops are my speciality! I seem to find them everywhere! xx
It sounds like such a fantastic trip. I’ve always wanted to go to Sorrento and to visit Pompeii. I can imagine it’s very emotional to see Pompeii and realise it was a real tragedy so long ago. Your pictures are really lovely too. #sharingthebloglove
Thanks for visiting! It was a lovely trip – I wasn’t expecting Pompeii to be quite so sad, but it’s just so easy to picture how family life there was when the eruption happened. xx
Just stopping by again to say thanks so much for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove! I also thought of an idea for the crochet pattern turret – a tea cosy!
A tea cosy sounds much more achievable than my original blanket idea! I’ll look into it! xx
Gorgeous photos and stunning view. I’m sorry the hotel didn’t live up to much and your poor knee sounds painful. Italy is lovely country and I can’t wait to explore it more. Thank you for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove Laura X
Thanks Laura – it’s easy to look past a sore knee and a ropey hotel when you’re somewhere this beautiful! xx
I am super jealous, I would love to visit Pompeii maybe when the kids have grown and flown the nest! I really need a crochet chair in my life #sharingthebloglove
Thanks Charlotte, Pompeii was great. I’d like to visit again when it’s a bit cooler, and take in Herculaneum as well – I’ve heard it’s incredible. The crochet chair is firmly on my project list, isn’t it lovely? xx
Gorgeous photos. I love how you see everything in colour for crochet! #sharingthebloglove
Thanks Emma, it’s hard not to see crochet everywhere sometimes 🙂 xx
Gorgeous pictures. I went to a wedding many years ago on a small island just off the coast of Italy and had to fly in and out of Naples. The very short drive from the airport to the harbour (and the return) must have aged me 10 years, I have never known anything like it! I have always wanted to have an actual holiday in Italy but think I’ll need your advice and steer clear of July. I agree that church roof would definitely make a great crochet pattern, beautiful colours.
#SharingtheBlogLove
Thanks Alana – the driving was, er, incredible? Let’s go with incredible! It’s no surprise that all the cars we saw had dents and scrapes on them… Italy is fantastic, but if you’re going to a proper tourist spot like the Amalfi coast I think I’d go another time of year. We’ve been up towards Verona in July with no crowds though, so you could still manage it! xx
Wow what a beautiful place to visit. So many amazing views. I’d love to visit Pompeii too. Gorgeous photos capturing a beautiful country! #sharingthebloglove
Thanks Kat, it was really beautiful and Pompeii was a real highlight of the trip. xx