Today we took a short boat ride (25 minutes) further down the Amalfi coast to a small town called Cetera. The boat service didn’t exist when we were here six years ago, and it’s wonderful: Minori to Maiori to Cetera to Salerno. Our friend Antonella grew up in Cetera and now lives in Belmont, but returns to her hometown with her family every summer.

Antonella’s sisters cooked us a delicious lunch of baby octopus with potatoes, local tuna and anchovies, fresh mozzarella, steamed mussels with fresh amalfi lemons, and another little squid dish with spaghetti in a red sauce. Lunch was capped off with limoncello and a ricotta and pear tart from Sal de Riso.

We met many members of Antonella’s family and friends – cousins, aunts, nieces, pets, family friends, and friends that the kids hang out with each summer. We saw where Antonella grew up, where she went to school, where she used to work, and many more places of importance from her childhood and present life. The town is so small and she knows everyone. There’s one road — literally one — and two beaches, so of course we swam in both.

It was such a wonderful opportunity to spend time in the place that means so much to her and now has a special meaning for us.

We took the last boat back from Cetera to Minori, Paul made us a delicious dinner of spaghetti carbonara and insalata caprese, and we took a short walk after dinner for gelato at Gambardella, one of the oldest pasticcerias in Minori.