We made it to Sorrento!

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  Sorrento, Campania, Italy
Thursday, May 14, 2009

May 12
We ended up having dinner on our last night in the Cinque Terre at a restaurant that was written up in the Rick Steeves Travel Guide, and it was also recommended by Andrea at our hotel.  The thing that made it unique was that it was located right under the train tracks in the old town, so every time a train went by the building shuddered and shook and conversation stopped for a few seconds.  The first time it happened, I wasn't expecting it and thought it was an earthquake!    We chatted with a mother and son travelling together from South Carolina (never did get around to asking them their names).  The son had just graduated from Charleston with his BA and his mom brought him on this trip as a reward.  They were really nice, and it was interesting hearing their views on Obama. 
 
Jim and I shared a "Cabrese salad" (sliced tomatoes alongside sliced buffalo mozzarella, drizzled in olive oil) and I had swordfish while Jim had a huge slab of steak.  We've learned that you need to order your vegetables separately, as my swordfish came on a plate with nothing else on it, as did Jim's beef.  Still, the average price of a meal - including wine & dessert - is between 45-55 Euros.  Wine is cheap - 3 Euros for ¼ litre, 5 Euros for ½ litre.  I had the house wine (white) but actually preferred Jim's house red. 
 
Over dinner, Jim told me that he had checked his e-mail and there was one from Linda Ghous, letting us know that her husband passed away suddenly last Wednesday at the age of 49.  I've met Mark three times - once when they came to Canada for a visit about 5-6 years ago, again 3 years ago when Jim and I went to London for the first time, and finally in 2007 when Jackie and I stayed with them for a few days.  Mark was a London cabbie and a great cook, and I just can't believe he's gone.  My mind kept going back to how Linda and their son Mark Jr. must be coping, and I just can't stop thinking about them.
 
It was 10:30 by the time we got back to our hotel - our latest night yet!  We quickly packed and got ready for bed, and Julia (the evening desk clerk) put together a picnic lunch for us to take tomorrow while I sent Linda a quick e-mail.
 
Jim had trouble sleeping again, which meant so did I.  There's not a lot you can do in a hotel room in the middle of the night by yourself without disturbing your partner!
 
We were so worried about sleeping in that we set 3 alarm clocks - my iPhone, Jim's watch and a little alarm clock loaned to us by the hotel.  However, as always seems to be the case with me, I woke up every half hour to check the time and ended up getting out of bed at 6:00 a.m. anyway.  By then Jim was finally sleeping and it seemed a shame to wake him up, but we had places to go, people to meet and things to do!
 
We caught the 7:12 train from Monterosso to La Spezia (a 17 minute ride), and then the 7:59 train from La Spezia to Naples - where I now sit while typing.  We're going to be on this train for six and a half hours!  Had we booked it on-line from Canada, it would have cost $256 CAD for the two of us.  By booking it at the train station instead, it only cost us 95.20 Euros (including a 20% discount for booking 2 days in advance of travel), so we saved over $100 CAD!  That was a fluke...(more money for gelato!!!)
 
The train car is air conditioned with wide seats and large windows.  The view varies from rambling farmer's fields to water treatment plants to industrial car lots to greenhouses, and goes from station to station through suburban landscapes.  Why is it that the railway system goes through the grottiest, most unkempt, litter-filled, depressing-looking parts of cities?  However, I did see a bunny hopping through a field - that was cute!  As we passed through Pisa we looked for the leaning tower, but couldn't see it.  And as we pulled into Rome Termini station, we tried to catch a glimpse of the Colosseum but again, no luck. I asked Jim if he wished we were stopping in Rome (I've been there twice but he's never been), but he said no - he didn't feel like having a "city holiday".  I tend to agree.
 
A young man came through the car with a trolley containing snacks and drinks, so we figured we'd better get something.  We bought 2 ham and cheese sandwiches, 2 juice boxes and some Pringles for Jim, for 11.40.  The sandwiches were sooooo dry and tasteless - a thin slab of ham, two itsy bitsy pieces of cheese, on dry foccacia bread.  No butter, no mayo, no lettuce, no tomato.  As Jim said, "Oh well, it will fill the gap".  True.....especially since the picnic lunch provided by Julia at the last hotel included things that one would only eat if starving - Melba toast, warm yogurt, packets of jam, and two bananas that would be better served being made into banana bread!
 
We spent the 6½ hour train ride alternating between sleeping, staring out the window, chatting, reading and playing cards.  The time went relatively quickly, and we arrived in Naples just shy of 3:00.  We had planned to take a ferry across the Bay of Naples to Sorrento, but changed our minds when we realized we could catch the metro from the train station - and there was one leaving in 15 minutes!  It cost 3.30E each instead of the 9 it would have cost to take the ferry.  So we hopped onto the most ancient-looking and sounding commuter train imaginable, and stood for the next 20-25 minutes for the 30 km trip to Sorrento.  A young girl noticed the Canadian Flag on my suitcase and got all excited to meet fellow Canadians.  We spent the majority of the trip talking to her teacher, a history professor from Saskatchewan, who had brought 31 of his students on a trip to Rome and Naples.  And as we got off the metro, we briefly chatted with a young woman travelling on her own from Whistler!
 
Then began the search for our hotel.  It was supposed to be 100 metres from the train station, but we kind of ended up walking in circles.  However, we found the hotel and WOW, is it ever nice!   Our room is in kind of an L-shape, with the bathroom being at the top of the L and the bedroom at the bottom.  There's a balcony with two chairs and a table (where I'm sitting right now) overlooking the swimming pool which is surrounded by orange and lemon trees.  The bathroom is beautifully tiled (if you like that look) and there's even a bell to push in case of emergency in the bathtub!  There's a bidet, a clothesline, crisp linen sheets, a flat screen TV, Wi-Fi, cool tile floors, air conditioning.......ahhhh, park me here and leave me be!
 
As we were so hot from our walk, we quickly changed into our bathing suits and went for a dip. Can you say "re-fresh-ing"?  We had the pool to ourselves.  The pool area was immersed in shade by this point, so we went up to the 6th floor where there's another pool on the roof, overlooking the Bay of Naples.  We relaxed in a lounge chair and read up on the area and made plans for our five days here.
 
After showering and dressing for dinner, we went back to the roof and watched the sun set.  Nobody else was up there!
 
We walked into the city square and had dinner at the first restaurant we came across - Ristorante Syrenuse.  I had lasagna and Jim had spaghetti bolognese; Jim had a glass of wine and I had a "Sorrento Sunset" which is a concoction of lemon juice, orange juice, strawberry syrup, almond flavoring and Sprite.  It was icky sweet.  We shared dessert - a pie with vanilla and chocolate custard in the middle, and our bill came to 31E - our cheapest meal yet!
 
After dinner we wandered through the old part of town, through narrow cobblestone, pedestrian-only streets, admiring the little stores selling souvenirs, jewellery, leather belts, cashmere and silk scarves, soaps, etc.  We passed lots of little bars and restaurants, and each had a staff member standing outside trying to coerce passersby into dining at their establishment.  We got back to our hotel about 11:15 and were asleep by 11:30.....heaven.....
 
May 13
We both had incredibly good sleeps last night - didn't hear a peep.  We dragged ourselves out of bed at about 8:30 this morning and went down to the restaurant for the included breakfast.  We were met by about six wait-staff wearing white tuxedos, black pants and bow-ties.  I felt under-dressed!  It wasn't just any old continental breakfast - you could have eggs, bacon, roast potatoes, a huge variety of fruit and pastries, all kinds of cereals, yogurt...it was endless.  There were even prunes, for those blocked up travelers in need of some help (ha ha).
 
Our morning was spent collecting information from the Tourist Information Centre (they weren't very helpful) and the Pier.  Remember the 400 steps that we avoided hiking up in Corniglia a few days ago?  Well, it was payback time - we had to walk down 400 steps to the pier, and of course that meant going back up afterwards.  Sorrento was built on a cliff; there are terraces and fancy restaurants lining the entire edge of the cliff.  At the pier we shared a lemon ice made with the vendor's own lemons, sugar and ice - delicious, and refreshing on yet another hot day.  We're being spoiled with this great weather!
 
After dropping the brochures we collected off at our room, we went on a search for lunch.  We went back to the old part of town and paused at one restaurant that had a tank full of fish on display.  We were immediately approached by a man wearing formal dinner wear who convinced us to dine there.  He told us that the fish were dropped off by the local fisherman "about 15 minutes ago" and we wouldn't find a better place to eat in all of Sorrento.  It was about 2:00 by this time and we were hungry, so we decided to give it a try.  Besides, the lobster was still moving so we figured the fish was fresh.  Well, we weren't disappointed.  We shared a whole fish - sea bass - that was pulled from the tank, filleted and de-boned, poached and served with a "Sorrento sauce" made of lemons, oranges, butter and olive oil.  The presentation itself was picture-worthy, and the taste was melt-in-your-mouth perfection.  We shared a mixed salad, too, but decided against dessert because we wanted to savour the flavour!
 
After lunch we wandered down the cobblestone streets, stopping to admire different artisans' work-in-progress shops.  There were several shoemakers, all promising a pair of custom-made leather sandals in less than 15 minutes.  Our favourite was a little shop that made inlaid wood music boxes of all shapes and sizes.  We reached the end of "Artisan's Way" and Jim wanted to check out the next block (which turned out to be just a parking area), so I stood on a corner and waited for him while reading a sign about the area on a wall.  As I was standing there, a young Italian man pulled up to me on his scooter, took off his helmet, looked me up and down appraisingly, and said "Are you from Britain, or Canada?"  I replied "Canada".  He said "Are you here with a group?" and I said "No, I'm here with my husband."  His face visibly dropped, he gave an audible sigh, and said "Oh, well, you are beeee-autiful, and I hope you enjoy my city."  With that, he put his helmet back on, looked me up and down once more, gave me a wink, and off he went!  Ahhh, I knew I loved Italy.....
 
Jim returned a few minutes later and we walked to the main square where we hopped aboard the "Sorrento Fun Bus" for a 65-minute tour of the city and an agriturismo villa just outside of town (7.50 Euros each).  The villa was spectacular, with acres and acres of olive groves and lemon orchards.  We learned that the olive trees have nets underneath them so that during harvest time (October to December) the nets are unrolled and the olives just drop into them, making collection so much easier than hand-picking.  All the lemon trees are covered with nets to protect them from the sun and the rain.  We stopped at a viewpoint looking towards the Isles of Capri and Ischia, and then went into a little shop at the villa and sampled limoncello (wow, does it pack a punch!) and orange marmalade.  There was an area with about 30 salamis hanging down, and we were told that they're aged for a year before consumption.  So, really, salami is just rotten meat....ewwww.....
 
After the tour, we finished our wander through the streets of old Sorrento.  We came across a gelateria that was quite different from all the rest - for one thing, there were about 100 flavours to choose from.  Secondly, it was obviously THE place to get gelato as all the walls were covered with pictures of the owner with various celebrities - most notably, Sophia Loren (who was born in Naples) and the Pope.  There were pictures of people bathing in gelato, having gelato fights, smearing each other in gelato, and lots of pictures of custom-made gelato cakes - even a life-size one of a sports car!  Jim was looking at all the pictures and newspaper clippings, so I decided I'd better try the gelato to see if it was any good. I had a small cone of Ferrero Rocher - but the calories don't count, 'cuz I was eating it for Elaine (ha ha).
 
On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at the Royal Grand Hotel which is part of the same hotel group as ours.  We are allowed to use their private beach, so wanted to check it out.  The Royal Grand Hotel is perched right on the edge of the cliff, and you have to walk all the way down to get to the "beach", which is just a man-made pier with loungers and sun umbrellas on it!  There is no beach to speak of.
 
Jim has a craving for pesto, so off we go in search of it.....

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