Lazy day in Sorrento
Trip Start
May 18, 2007
1
37
62
Trip End
Jul 18, 2007
Sorrento,
Italy
Friday, June 22, 2007
We had another relaxing day today as we did not want to over due it to day after our recent illnesses. We were feeling pretty much back to "normal" but wanted to make sure.
We wandered around the streets of Sorrento for awhile before the heat got to us. The weather here is unusually humid right now and all the locals are complaining about it, including us!
The downtown area of Sorrento with no breeze and hot cobblestones make it unbearable so we, along with the Sorrento locals, head to the beaches! It appeared that everyone took the afternoon off to get away from the hot shops and planted themselves on rocks, mats, and cement, just to get close to the water
Colorful boats in Sorrento fishing village
. We could not believe how many people were virtually laying on top of concrete or on a bumpy rock just to feel the sea breeze, which was very slight!!We enjoyed the local fishing village and stopped to watch some seasoned fishermen untangling, repairing and sewing their fishing nets in preparation for the next day of fishing.
Ryan found these men first, and quickly ducked down the stairs to try to sneak these great photos of these men. Laurie kept walking and certain to Ryan's delight as Laurie did not see where he had dissappeared to. Oh, Laurie has her ways and she found Ryan, trying to hog all these great pictures of these guys - especially this one older man, Gabriele. Laurie asked the men some questions and quickly realized these men spoke no English so they started calling for Andrea
Andrea for translation but found Luisa to help out with the English.
We found out that these men work on these nets every night. When we asked why Gabriele was the only one working on the huge pile of net he explained in Italian "because the young boys are not hearty enough to do this job and tire too easily to do this job" - we all got a good laugh out of that. Then the younger guys said that they are all too lazy to untangle the nets to they let Gabriele do the nasty job! Quite funny!
We had a great time photographing Gabriele and the surrounding peaceful fishing village where there were no tourists and watching local life happen was wonderful
Fishing boats along the shore
!We read the menu board and decided to eat right where these guys had been working so hard. It was a wonderful choice! Right when we walked in there was a huge board with pictures of Rick Steve's posted - an obvious top choice of Rick's!
We sat at the water's edge and had amazing ravioli, made fresh in the kitchen by Luisa's husband, Antonio! We got to know the family during our extra long meal - Luisa, Antonio, Roberto and Andrea, and of course Gabriele cruised the restaurant with his cute little captains hat on and a huge grin! He was adorable and Ryan jumped up during dinner to capture a few more shots, which we have posted here for you.
This was a great meal at Ristorante Delphin and run by a very friendly family who went out of their way to add humor and personal service to us. We highly recommend it to anyone traveling in Sorrento. It is off the beaten track but well worth the jaunt down the long staircase to the ocean. Remember, you have to walk back up but it is nothing after a delicious meal!
Tomorrow we plan on touring Capri.
Today's walk: 4 miles
Total for the journey (189 miles, 34 days)
Love,
Ryan and Laurie
Comments
Stunning!
I love the boats and buildings, the coast, everything. We have been to the Cinque Terra and it looks very much like it, so you guys are not missing anything but the crowds! Good choice! I'm glad you are feeling better!!! Sammy
Fishing boats
Glad you're up and about a bit!!! Those pictures are fantastic!!!
Wow! The lifestyle these fishermen have is so vastly different from that of the men behind the gigayachts...
I love all the colors!!
xo,
Gail and Pete