Amalfi (Italy) - The Arrival - Our Wedding - Part 1

AMALFI (Italy)
28 June - 29 June 2017

From all the planning, to all the administrative duties, to all the logistical work, every small detail that needed to be put in place to have our Amalfi wedding work just the way we wanted it to, was now in place. To use standard sporting parlance, now it was all about the execution. There wasn't much more that we could do in our current state that just have it all play out.

Planning for the event, whilst not excessive in terms of time, was intense for the period of time that we invested in it. Everything we needed to do we'd condensed into a 3-4 month period after returning from Central America. We were fortunate in the sense that we had the time available to be able to focus on the event, but geez, we had to commit to daily chores to get us across the line. Tasks each day, with the back and forth of emails was part and parcel of organising a wedding outside of our known locations. Now however we were at the point where the fun and enjoyment was to take over, the true celebrations was in sight, assuming of course that we had put everything in place correctly.

Inga, myself and Aiva (Inga's aunt), flew out of Riga late in the afternoon on the 28th, bound for Rome initially and then to Amalfi with a few hours drive after that.

On the way to our wedding in Amalfi!

On the tarmac - Riga Airport - Riga - Latvia

Above the town of Atrani - Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy

Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy

Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy

This is where the anticipation really started to build for us. No other person in either of our families had been to Amalfi before and such was the impression that it made on us back in April when we came to scout the location that we knew for certain the type of impact that it was going to have on our guests. Driving over the mountains and just seeing them give way to the sea, cascading dramatically out of sight. Simply the perfect backdrop.

Arriving late evening in Amalfi we set Inga's aunt up for one night in a hotel in the town itself and then headed off to our accommodation for several nights (but not the wedding night), in the town of Atrani, literally located around the headland from Amalfi.

Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy

Amalfi town centre - Italy

Amalfi town centre - Italy

Amalfi town centre - Italy

Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy

Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy

Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy

We had selected a place called Residence Villa Rosa in Ravello (although the map seems to make me think its Atrani). This place was magnificent in terms of views and locations. Set on a particularly steeply terraced slope above the village of Atrani and magnificently positioned to take in the Tyrrhenian Sea and additionally overlooking the Lattari mountains, it had an abundance of riches and was the perfect place for us to transition into wedding mode. As they say in the classics, this place was next level.

Residence Villa Rosa had breathtaking landscapes characterised by terraced gardens of lemon, myrtle and geranium. All our senses felt inundated, from the smells, to the sights and sounds of our surroundings. It was total immersion in what the Amalfi coastline had to offer. Coupled with the fact that the weather was practically perfect, sunny with clear skies and a steady 27 degrees, all we needed now was for everyone to arrive the next day as expected, have the weather hold up for us and we'd be set for our picture perfect wedding day.

Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy

Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy

Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy

Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy

Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy

Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy

Residence Villa Rosa - Ravello - Italy

To my own  great surprise, the 29th of June flowed perfectly, without so much as a slight headache. I had my own private concerns that logistically, with both families arriving that day,there would be some hiccup along the line that either forced a delay or that some piece of information would be missed or misinterpreted, etc ... to my amazement everything went so smoothly that it seemed we had almost deliberately planned it to be so:)

Inga's family arrived during the day and we set them up quite quickly in the Relais Convento apartments in the centre of town. We even had a bit of time for sightseeing in Amalfi town with them before Inga had to head back to Residence Villa Rosa for her hair and make-up trial, which was set to take a few hours. 

Now, at this point I take credit for pushing on Inga to have the trial. Initially she had decided not to have her hair and make-up done at all, as the date drew closer she decided to have it done but without a trial. This I explained was fraught with untold danger. Heading blind into an event of this magnitude could make things unravel quickly, in the end I believe her decision to have the trial was a blessing.

Atrani - Italy

Amalfi - Italy

Amalfi - Italy

Amalfi - Italy

Amalfi - Italy

My soon to be wife!!!!

Amalfi - Italy

Post hair/make-up trial we walked down through Atrani and into Amalfi  where we met my family had organised a quick dinner, again surprisingly, without so much as a hint of a hassle, other than Janelle explaining to me that my family were the biggest bunch of panic stricken humans on this earth! Which is true of course. On my mother's side of the family the Prelesnik females appear to ramp up in the anxiety stakes very quickly. In terms of Tanja, Julie & Vladimir, it appears to me that they tend to feed off each other in some type of group hysteria that often elevates the smallest concern into something insurmountable. If it wasn't such a hassle to deal with them it would be hilarious, and in that sense I think to Janelle it was amusing because this was an isolated event for her. I think the quote she provided me kind of typifies the nature of the relationship between Vladimir, Tanja and my mum - 'Well, that's what happens when three old women travel together'.

Amalfi - Italy

Amalfi - Italy

Amalfi - Italy

Atrani - Italy

Later in the evening Inga and I walked around Amalfi, soaking in the late afternoon sunset and realising that the the falling sun was bringing with it a new day, one of celebration and happiness for us all and one that would mark an exact point in time when it all changed. Thinking back on our timeline, meeting randomly in a Riga bar 7 years earlier and then only vaguely following each others movements for a few years after that, we had certainly come a long way since that first date in Paris 3 years earlier. 

There are times in your life when your realise that just about everything at a particular moment is as close to perfect as you would want it to be. During these few days in Amalfi I have to say that I felt exactly that. It felt like everything in the few years prior had fallen into place at the correct time and in the way that was needed in order to get us here, and that was a hell of a good feeling to have.

Amalfi (Italy) - How dare we?

AMALFI (ITALY)
08 April - 11 April 2017

The Lattari Mountains Regional Park (Parco Regionale Dei Monti Lattari), occupies a great part of the Sorrentine Peninsula in the Campania Region. It's about a 4.5 hr drive south of Rome but the real challenge of arriving is when you make it to the frontier of the National park. The distance from one side to the other, via the shortest route available, only takes 38.5kms ,but, it takes over 1hr to complete the drive. Doing a quick calculation, what this means is that 13.7% of the distance takes 25% of the total drive time duration...and there's no secret as to why that is the case.

Climbing up, over and then down the Lattari mountains is a challenge. The roads in these parts are narrow, the drivers commonly insane for Italians, and then, on the other side of the equation there was me, driving on the side of the road that was still uncommon to me. Turn after turn, with a heightened level of alertness, we inched over the range until we broke out on the coastal side and plunged head first into the Tyrrhenian Sea. But my, what a spectacular scene. The sun beating down on the blue azure water as the road zig-zagged down the mountainside, seemingly beneath our feet, and then, when you finally hit the coastline and take to the main road you can easily discern why this area is considered to by many to be Europe's my beautiful and dramatic stretches of coastline.

Amalfi coastline - Italy

Amalfi coastline - Italy

The corniche road winding around towering cliffs that appear to slip directly into the sea whilst also punching through quaint villages takes in the terrain that includes terraced vineyards, orchards and pastures. It feels like another world entirely, almost like the inhabitants here decided to dream up their own version of paradise and come up with a mighty satisfactory result.

Slowly winding down the coastline, with the blessed sun-kissed water below, the clusters of small towns morphing into the natural rugged beauty of the cliffs. I was already forming the opinion that our choice for a wedding in these parts was going to be an absolute winner.

We stayed in Tovere on our first night, a short 8km drive from the town of Amalfi. The next day we had an appointment at the Town Hall in Amalfi where we needed to take the Atto Notorio and Nulla Osta  and also lodge our declaration of intent to marry. Now, as per my last entry,  it says the Declaration of Intent to Marry, which in this case was to be lodged at the Town Hall in Amalfi, would be followed by a Civil Ceremony. Now when we were at the Town Hall we had an offician 'read out' all our marriage obligations in a rather terse proper manner  and then had two witnesses sign the Intent documents, plus some other administrative documents. At the end of the hoopla the the official said to us, Congratulations, now you are married... and then when Inga and I looked at each other, feeling kind of odd and somewhat duped, they laughed and simply said in a somewhat disconcerting fashion, 'No, no, no....we are only kidding'....but really, were you??? I don't even know anymore. So it could very well be that we had a covert, clandestine wedding in a somewhat stuffy office of an official in Amalfi village on 08 April 2017. How's that for dreamy and romantic!?

Amalfi Cathedral - Piazza Duomo - Amalfi - Italy

Main street - Amalfi - Italy

View of Amalfi from the Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi - Amalfi - Italy

Amalfi - Italy

The village of Amalfi itself is so damn charming and picturesque. The road into the town has two buildings that arch over the road,and then the town itself you enter via a type of gated entry that draws you into the main town square. Piazza Duomo is the heart of Amalfi with the Amalfi Cathedral overlooking the down, accessed by a grand staircase from the piazza.

Terraced pastel coloured buildings of differing heights surround the piazza and indeed the foreshore of the town. Entering into the town there is one main thoroughfare that moves up and back into the valley where the town lies. Buildings are terraced up both sides of the valley slopes with the rugged cliffs of the town standing imperiously above it, offering both protection and another scenic marvel. Beautiful, charming, stunning, all the superlatives you would want to identify with a place such as this are completely justified.

Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi - Amalfi - Italy

Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi - Amalfi - Italy

The Cloister - Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi - Amalfi - Italy

The Cloister - Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi - Amalfi - Italy

Understanding very quicjkly that Amalfi as a destination was going to be a complete hit for both us and our guests, what we needed to do now was test our venue and see if it passed our suitability threshold. 

The NH Collection Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi was located only a short distance up the road from the town itself. When driving into Amalfi, and also from the shoreline of the town, this hotel is obvious to anyone and has to be one of the most distinctive landmarks of the town, if not the entire coastline. 

A one time home to Capuchin monks, the former monastery dates back to the 13th Century and owns a piece of Amalfi real estate that has one of the most dramatic locations in the area. Situated on a cliff edge that overlooks the beautiful coastline and Amalfi town itself. there's no doubt of its regal status. Our excitement, even before getting to the venue itself was palpable just by seeing the presence that the building held. Once however we took the lift up from street level to the main reception area and headed out onto the terrace, well, our breath was simply taken away. The views were quintessentially Amalfi and quite simply the concept of breathtaking has to be understood in its most literal of forms.

Monks Walk - Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi - Amalfi - Italy

Monks Walk - Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi - Amalfi - Italy

Monks Walk - Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi - Amalfi - Italy

Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi - Amalfi - Italy

Monks Walk - Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi - Amalfi - Italy

As we were guided through the grounds we were shown the cloister, the area in the monastery around which the other buildings are built, and the area that would host our wedding ceremony on the day. Framed by cliffs on one side, large stone pillars and arches all the way around and the front drawing your eyes to a view to the sea, there is just no doubt that the venue would more than hold up to doing our big day justice. A stunning venue, plain and simple, the atmosphere encapsulated within this space was undeniable.

Our walk continued to where our reception was going to be held, a location on the other side of the monastery, an area bounded by lush terraced gardens and lemon trees. The Monks Walk, as it is termed, runs  from the monastery to where an infinity pool now resides against the face of a cliff. This area we were explained would be set up with tables for pre-dinner drinks, dinner and also post-dinner activities. Again, making our way down the walk and imagining the day and what it would feel like felt somewhat surreal. The backdrop of the sea, the fragrance from the lemon trees, the bougainvillea that would frame the arches of the walk, it all seemed like a fanciful dream. To say that we were impressed by the venue would have just been a monumental understatement. Picturing the day in our head and actually believing that it would become reality, again, felt like a flight of fancy.

The road to Positano - Amalfi - Italy

Positano - Amalfi - Italy

Positano - Amalfi - Italy

Positano - Amalfi - Italy

For now I think that's where I'll leave my description of both the hotel and Amalfi. Of course I have future entries that will discuss the days leading up to our wedding and the wedding itself. It's good however the look at the photos as they are here, as we saw it in April and then compare it to our wedding day in June when it ALL came together in the most wonderful way possible.

Positano - Amalfi - Italy

Positano - Amalfi - Italy

Positano - Amalfi - Italy

Positano - Amalfi - Italy

We did, as an aside from Amalfi, managed to make it to Positano for a late afternoon coffee. I write about Positano here as almost an afterthought but it shouldn't be, it's a stunningly beautiful town in its own right and in fact hosted Elisher drinks on the 1st of July - the first official event that Inga and I hosted together as a married couple.