Minori from above

Minori on the Amalfi Coast in Italy was our favorite stop on the summer Beyond Vacation trip. We spent a week in an apartment 87 stairs up from the street. This gave our little terrace a wonderful view of the town from above. As I have done a few “from above” posts lately (Nice and Rome), Minori seemed like a good addition. So here are views of the town from on high.

Our First View

This was the first view we saw from our terrace. Noontime and the beach is in full swing. The pier is under construction, so while there are apparently normally ferries which run fairly regularly, I only saw one or two the entire week.

The climb to our perch and a bit of orientation.

Ali counted one day. 87 steps from our door to the street far below. The path under the arches and various stairs wound through the buildings past a hotel, several private homes and finally a restaurant on the way down. Coming up I felt fine until the very last set. They are pretty steep, but you are almost home so it is worth it.

From this perch high above Minori is where I took the rest of these pictures. We looked east across the water and beach. On the far side of the mountain is Maori. Behind us would be toward Amalfi.

So we climbed down…

.. and up…

..and down….

quite a few times in our week, but it was worth it.

Evening

Siesta is a Spanish word, but a Mediterranean concept. Shops closed from just after noon until 4pm. The sun beating on our terracotta terrace all afternoon made it too hot to step on until nearly dark. Evening though is when things pick up again. The cool sea breeze makes a nice counterpoint to the hot days. We also ventured from our shady spots to drink beer and hang out on the patio and watch the town below us.

Sitting on the dock

The dock was roped off as being under construction on our week in Minori. This didn’t stop people from getting on the smooth new concrete to hang out and go diving. Our stretch of water was pretty quiet, but small boats came back and forth. As night fell just watching the water was fun.

Playing Cards

This is a common sight in Italy. Old men hanging out in a group in the evening. Whether it is arguing on a streetcorner or playing the nightly game of cards, like these guys, it seems a ritual. They were out every night.

Seaside Cafes

The promenade in Minori is separated from the beach along most of its length by cafes which. Each also has a plot of sand planted with rows of umbrellas that they protect and rent out. The cafe’s look to be a summer only thing though. The sides are clear plastic tied down and I imagine unpleasant in a blustery winter.

We went to the same cafe a quite a few days during our week. The food was tasty and reasonably priced especially given the setting. In fact, the one day we decided to have lunch elsewhere deeper in town we paid double for a pile of pasta.

Morning

Morning comes early in the summer and the town is quiet for a few hours before it starts to get hot again. The umbrellas are like flowers that only bloom during the day, but close up at night.

The Sea

A simple blue sea is never so simple. As a child you color in with the blue crayon, but in reality there are so many different colors. And they change throughout the day too.

Neighbor’s Mosaic

We were near the top of the hills. Only a few floors of hotel rooms stretched above us to the road as it sped off toward Amalfi around the bend. So we were able to look down on the chaos of buildings and apartments below us.

Every surface is used and roofs easily become terraces for sitting and for laundry. This is a mosaic in tiles on a nearby roof.

Hills toward Maori

The next town to the east is Maori. “Major” to Minori’s “minor.” The map says it is a 15 minute walk along that windy road. I definitely saw people do it, but I was not that brave. I had contemplated renting a boat to row around the head into the bigger town, but again the draw of the shade kept hold of me.

Towers

Details are what I try to concentrate on with this site. A zoom lens comes in handy with this. A close up of the conical towers shows grapes growing on the steep hills. The architecture doesn’t quite match the surroundings, but I bet the view is awesome.

Craggy Rocks

I like the word “craggy,” and these rocks definitely are that. They are up on the furthest mountain in the above picture. This picture is from a couple of days later when dark clouds ring the rocks. We didn’t see any rain, but it definitely looked threatening a few times.

Postcard

I don’t do a lot of extreme photo manipulation, but I liked this one. Somehow this place suits to black and white shots.

– – –

This was such a neat little town. I didn’t like the tourist atmosphere of Amalfi or Positano, but Minori was great. This is definitely a area I would come back to. I might try Maori next door next time though, for a little change of pace.

If you want to see more of Minori, check out Morning Views of a Quiet Retreat for shots from down on the ground.