When Life Gives You Lemons - Loll: Of our days in Praiano, Italy - Lemon Groves and Locanda Costa Diva

Night falls on the lemon grove

We arrived in Praiano a week ago and here we have stayed, nestled amongst lemon groves in our most adorable hotel,  La Locanda Costa Diva.  It is in fact, a restored farmhouse and the rooms seem to be built around the lemon, olive and other fruit trees which grace this cliffside retreat; the entire property boasting spectacular views of the sea and other local scenery.

Praiano is a small, quiet village along the Amalfi Coast - an easy distance (along narrow, harrowing roads) from its more boisterous neighbors, Positano and Amalfi.  At first I wasn’t sure how Izzy and I would fare here, as there is little more to do than go to the beach and figure out our next meal.

For our first 4 days we befriended a traveling mother and her teenaged daughter from Calgary, also at the hotel.  It was nice to exchange tales of our daily adventures with them, breakfast time or dinner each day.  Once they left I wondered if we would find some other travelers to entertain us, as many of the other rooms here are occupied by honeymooner types. In fact one evening, we heard some loudish music emanating from a room below ours and Izzy went to peek out over the balcony only to discover a couple in their private jacuzzi (not as private as they thought!).

We settled into a routine and each day we have come to appreciate our surroundings all the more.  Each morning, we sleep until 8 (or Izzy later if I don’t awaken him accidentally).  We make our way to breakfast at around 9 where a copious spread awaits us in the dining room.  There is plenty to fuel us for the day - yogurt, blood orange juice, croissants, rolls with jam and butter, fresh fruit cocktail, assorted farm fruits - plums, cherries, etc, cereals, cappuccino, tea and specially for me, rice milk.
After gorging on these delights we usually spend some time in dining room while I use the WiFi hotspot - as there is no free internet in the rooms (something that distressed me at first but is probably for the best as I am forced to limit my time at the computer).

After breakfast we usually meander back to our room and either take a bus on an excursion or go to the beach.  Each day there is some small discovery to be made.  Often, Izzy wanders along the paths created in and amongst the lemon groves, and takes great pleasure in snitching lemons (which we use in our endless bottles of fizzy water) and other fruits.

Lizards flit along the paths, surprising us at every turn and the hotel dog, “Billy” is our constant companion whenever we approach the dining room.  I think he must appreciate our truffle scent  (I packed truffle salt in our luggage as gifts and all of our clothing carries the aroma).

"Billy" rolls over for a scratch

The more we learn of this charming locale, the more we have come to love it. We have gotten to know our surroundings and the super-friendly and accomodating staff and we will certainly be sorry to leave here on Sunday.