La Terrazza delle Sirene a Sorrento

When you look for foto motives for a blog or book, on the Amalfi and Sorrento coasts there is an astonishing variety of them. I love taking pictures of the details that surround daily life here, and that one gets used to so quickly. Photography helps me to remind myself to consciously take in all the beauties here in the South. And it may help anyone who cannot come here so often to take in a few characteristics of all the treasures that embellish life on the coast.

Agave sentinel housed in an artistic ceramic pot placed on the walls of a terrace, looking out for Vesuvius, with the calm early afternoon sea as glorious backdrop

A few weeks ago I spent a heavenly half hour in the early afternoon on my favorite terrace in Sorrento, a calm spot with a 180 degrees view of the Gulf below and Sorrento's harbor Marina Piccola just ahead. From Hotel Royal's terrace "Terrazza delle Sirene", I just love watching the comings and goings of boats, from Volaviamare to Snav and Caremar ... shipping companies that link Sorrento to Naples, Capri and to the Amalfi coast and Ischia in the high season.

What you get to see below: The harbor of Marina Piccola is just below this terrace - you could stay here all day long and watch out for boats, ferries, yachts, sailing boats ...

It was a balmy windstill day with the sun being reflected on the colorful terracotta tiles. And it is a rather interesting pattern of tiles - grey and brownish (color mattone = brick colored, as we would call it here). Cane furniture and deckchairs ready for anyone that wants to sit down and enjoy a cup of tea or even lunch. You do get your Afternoon Tea here, complete with cookies, and it is open for everyone, not just house guests. It is one of my favorite spots in Sorrento and ideal for taking the sun, especially in spring and in the fall season. 

An impressive glicine = wisteria - a natural curtain separating the terrace with its exceptional floor pattern from the gardens. Imagine the cascades of purple flowers in April.

Plants of light orange hibiscus - the same shade as the floor tiles, livened up by the dark brown cane furniture

So many blossoms ...

Huge sun screens provide relief if the sun scorches too much