We had dinner last night at the small restaurant on the beach front, and after a great night's sleep, awoke this morning to the most amazing sunrise which made all the buildings around Atrani look pink. After a slow start, we decided to make the most of the sunny warm day to go on a long walk. We clambered up the steps behind our apartment to go the steep way to Ravello, 1,000 feet up from Atrani. I lost count after counting 800 steps, and we weren't even half way! Some of the steps are so deep it's hard for me to get up them (doesn't pay to be short!). The paths go straight up rock faces, with terraces carved out on even the steepest parts, full of lemon trees and grape vines. Goodness knows how anyone gets into them to pick the fruit!

Ravello has been the home of a number of famous people in the past, including Richard Wagner, D . H. Lawrence and Gore Vidal. The town was just as beautiful as I remembered, albeit choc-a-bloc full of tourists. This trip we have heard a lot of American voices (that is Rick Steve's fault, given he gave the Amalfi coast such a good rap in his travel books written particularly for the Yanks), but there have also been loads of Russian tour groups, as well as the usual pommie accents everywhere. We had lunch in the restaurant of the Villa Amore hotel, on the terrace looking down on the coastal towns of Maiori and Minori. The views from Ravello are just stunning - every direction is fabulous, with steep rock faces, houses clinging to the cliffs, staircases weaving between the houses, and occasionally a winding road just visible between the hills. There are large and small churches peaking above the houses in a variety of shapes and colours. There are also some amazing villas jutting over the cliffs, some (like Gore Vidal's previous residence) several storeys high with the most beautiful gardens.

There are a lot of little shops selling touristy things, including bottles of limoncello, Morano glass jewellery and vases, and porcelain plates in every colour under the sun. We spent some time in a ceramic studio and came away quite a lot poorer. We have ordered 12 porcelain tiles with a picture of Ravello on it, for the wall next to our deck at home. I will now be able to sit on the deck, prossecco in hand gazing at the picture, dreaming about Italy!