aIl places have narratives: a back catalog of plot. On the Amalfi Coast, one of the most quintessentially Italian places in Italy, there are stories of the visiting Greeks and the temples they built and filled with lithe sculptures; the Arabs and their colored tile work; the Normans, nervously building watchtowers in case the Saracens turned up; the medieval fleets of Amalfi itself, commanding the Mediterranean and sailing home with cargoes of silver and lemon-tree saplings. There is the myth of Odysseus, ghosting past the sirens, and the tales of celebrities coming south from Rome in the 1950s and 1960s: people such as Franco Zeffirelli, John Steinbeck, and Jackie Kennedy, astonished by the sheer gorgeousness of the area and how blissfully separate it was from any place or any life they knew.
A narrow, acrobatic road hugs the cliffs, disorienting people unaccustomed to driving within a couple of inches of someone else's side-view mirror. At each bend, there's another sharp intake of breath, another panoramic view, another story waiting to be told. Amalfi's renowned beauty can seem unreal: a barely credible conjunction of sea, sky, and mountains. Beneath the cliffs, the land swoons down through a tumult of rock, blossoms, pine trees, and villas to a shore indented with bays. Seen from above, the sea is always the most extraordinary blue, its surface patterned with winds and cloud shadows, the wakes of pleasure boats scrolling behind like vapor trails.
Denne historien er fra July - August 2023-utgaven av Condé Nast Traveler US.
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Denne historien er fra July - August 2023-utgaven av Condé Nast Traveler US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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The Brando
THE STORY GOES that actor Marlon Brando first arrived on the 18-isle atoll of Tetiaroa by water-as in, he swam ashore.
Jumeirah Burj AI Arab
IF EVER THERE WAS a hotel that could achieve landmark status, it is Dubai's Jumeirah Burj AI Arab, which stands alone on its own purpose-built island just off Jumeirah Beach.
Blackberry Farm
BLACKBERRY FARM LOOMS in the consciousness of many travelers as an almost mythical Southern sanctuary in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, a place whose storybook perfection has to be experienced to be believed.
Fogo Island Inn
THIS 29-ROOM MODERN CLASSIC in Newfoundland is a model for place-specific hospitality, dreamed up by founder Zita Cobb and built by Shorefast, a nonprofit that supports economic and cultural resilience on the hotel's namesake island and runs artist residencies in four isolated, incredibly photogenic studios.
ALAN CUMMING on CROSSING THE ATLANTIC
I went on Cunard's Queen Mary 2 for the first time in 2011.
high life
Italy's unfussy Dolomites are a place of cheerful communities, where simple chalets and good food can almost outshine the skiing
the possibility of an island
Cuba may be facing tough times, but the country's hoteliers, creators, and artists are forging a hopeful and beautiful way forward
in full bloom
Over the past three years, hotelier Fabrizio Ruspoli has turned an old olive farm south of Marrakech into the High Atlas's most intoxicating garden retreat
ALLIN
Fun has never been hard to come by in Las Vegas, but the arrival of pro sports, the Sphere, and lavish new hotels has upped the ante.
Forward March
Across Kenya, community initiatives are protecting the country's wildlife and environment. By Mary Holland