By Ann Abel

It was love at first sight when Bianca Sharma came across the shell of a 17th-century monastery, on the Conca dei Marini promontory midway between Positano and Almafi. On an Italian holiday in 2000, she was boating in the Gulf of Salerno when, she says, her eyes rested on “this majestic yet ruined monastery extending from but disappearing into the rock.”

She was immediately captivated, bought the property, moved to Italy and began the 12-year project of restoring the building to its former (or, rather, a new level of) glory … more>

Ann Abel has been a travel writer and editor for 14 years, including several as a senior editor at ForbesLife. She writes for Forbes, Departures, Conde Nast Traveller, Robb Report, Afar, National Geographic Traveler, Islands, Hemispheres, Brides, Modern Bride, , Well + Good NYC, and other print and online publications.”In the name of lifestyle journalism, I’ve gotten a tattoo in Bora Bora, been bitten by a massage therapist, and flown small aircraft above three continents.” She lives in Lisbon.