SORRENTO
Wed August 24 arrival and departure Saturday August 27
We arrived at our apartment around 9:30 p.m. for our third visit to Sorrento since 2011 though Cham had visited there is 1970 with the VES Latin Club. We were both so exhausted we put our things down and went two doors down to a great restaurant. We were both so tired we enjoyed the meal, but not as much as we probably should have been. They had an excellent keyboardist/singer who was playing cocktail music so that was fun.
Thursday, Aug. 25 - The next morning we could really appreciate where we were. We had stayed outside of the city in the past at a lovely hotel with incredible views, but we wanted to be closer in this time. What a fabulous apartment. This one was definitely the best. It had air conditioning, a huge kitchen with a great stove, a huge bedroom and best of all, you walked out of the front door into a large courtyard. There were 5 tables set up for guests. As we do when we’re on Linden in the summer, we lived on the terrace. I’m sure everyone wondered if we ever left because we ate our breakfasts and dinners outside. And the location was outstanding. It was close to the major hub of the city, but just down the street, close to the elevator/park that takes you to the beaches and ferry.
Sorrento is a beautiful city. It sits on top of a cliff and looks towards Mt. Vesuvius. It was loved by the Romans who then found Capri and loved that even more. While we had stayed nights in Sorrento before, we had always done day trips outside of town so we really did not know too much about the town. We decided to take the town tourist train so we could get a better idea about the town. The town has had many artists – writers, painters, musicians, etc. visit for inspiration. As is happening more frequently, the cruise lines have started making stops in Sorrento so the town was absolutely packed until around 4:00. They were having terrific summer sales so we bought Cham some new shirts and a pair of shorts. We also went to the grocery store where I bought rabbit to cook for dinner. Can you imagine going to Kroger and buying rabbit? It was marinated in olive oil, olives and cherry tomatoes. I was told to fry it with salt and chili flakes. I couldn’t wait to try it. We put the groceries away and then went to lunch. We found an outstanding seafood restaurant where I had some of the best sea bass I’ve ever had. Cham got his favorite, fried sardines as a starter and then a fried seafood platter. Our waiter mentioned something about sardines being blue fish. I had never thought about them like that, but he was right. The meal was fantastic, but we were so stuffed that we decided cheese, crackers and peaches would be fine for dinner.
Also staying in the hotel were a wonderful couple from outside of Australia. They, too, had just retired and were doing what we were doing. Andrew was terribly disappointed in the beaches because he’s a surfer and used to miles of sandy beach and waves. That’s just not how it is on the Amalfi coast. We also had a great laugh on the lack of directions and signage in the countries. I’m glad they brought it up first! I had decided to go to the “beach” for the day, but changed my mind that evening. Cham and I took our nightly stroll and I knew I had too many stores to visit to spend the entire day at the beach.
Friday, Aug. 26 The next morning, we got up, had a leisurely breakfast and went on a walk and last minute shopping. We also got our ferry tickets for Saturday to Capri because we weren’t going to be in a sold-out situation again! When we got back to the hotel, I decided to go to the public beach, which is free, for a swim. Not all their beaches are free like ours in the U.S. You find your beach and rent any number of items. It can easily cost up to $50.00 per person for the entire day. As I was just going for a couple of hours max, I decided to try the public one, which was on dark sand. I know it’s not dirty, but it just looks like way. Antonio was not pleased and insisted I go to a private beach because I could have everything stolen. I told him I wasn’t taking anything but a towel so there was really nothing to steal. I made my way to the beach, laid my stuff down, got in the water and didn’t get out until it was time to go. The water is so salty you can basically stand up and barely need to tread water. It was so funny because an English couple was having a pretty big fight in the water. They’d swim out fighting, swim back fighting, come back again, etc. I’m just treading water thinking, I can understand everything you’re saying, but decided it was more interesting to eavesdrop than alert them . ... .
I told Antonio everything had been stolen and I had to walk back barefooted when I got back to the apartment, but he didn’t believe me.
I fixed the rabbit that night with a modified raitoulle and bread. It was an incredible dinner. We had a fabulous time in Sorrento.
Saturday, Aug. 27 – This was the travel day from Sorrento to Capri. We had so much rabbit left over for dinner we left it for Linda and Andrew who were staying in Capri for another three days. I also left them my Airbnb supply bag. The earlier one had been taken I think by mistake by the group of teenagers who were camping in France. It was bittersweet to leave them my bag – it had salt, olive oil, toilet paper, different kinds of coffee depending on the machine, some recently purchased butter and mozzarella. It had all the essentials, and I knew Linda and Andrew could use it and probably pass it along as well. They were both charismatic Christians. We couldn’t have met more wonderful people.
Antonio made arrangements for a taxi to pick us up, checked with the Hotel Weber in Capri about getting to their hotel and most important, had made arrangements for a driver to pick us up at the Naples port to take us to the airport for a flight to Thessaloniki, Greece when we left Capri on Tuesday August 30. Truly, Antonio was a lifesaver and I am more than happy to pass along his rental information. We got on the ferry and headed for our three night stay in Capri.
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