Thursday Susan, Tim, Tracey and I left Rome and traveled to Sorrento. Susan and I had found a place to leave our two big suitcases, and it was a good thing we had done our homework because we would not have found our spot easily otherwise in the rain. I had ordered a taxi via the “Freenow” app which was great (owned by Lyft). I ordered and XL taxi and it was just big enough for all our luggage.
Once we had checked our two big bags our luggage was more manageable. We didn’t need all our tennis gear anymore and are returning to Rome later. Once we boarded our first train Susan really understood why I thought it was a good idea to travel lighter (there is knowing and then there is knowing). There was not much luggage storage on the second train and we still had one big bag.
We went from Rome to Naples to Sorrento, changing to a local train at Naples. I had booked an apartment which was about a 15 minute walk along heavily cobblestoned sidewalks, but it was pretty flat and the apartment turned out to be great…the owner’s son met us (he was a fluent English speaker) and the owner was very nice too.
After dropping off our stuff we went for lunch down the street (pizza for all of course) and then to the obligatory grocery store, both recommended by our host.
After returning and a break, we walked first towards the sea then to the old town where it was fun to wander the pedestrian streets, see the sea, and note how the town is built on cliffs overlooking the Bay of Naples, which is part of the Tyrrhenian Sea, a part of the Mediterranean Sea. Sorrento is part of the City of Naples in the Campania region of Italy.
Sorrento lemons (Limone di Sorrento) are a big thing here.They are large, thick-skinned and very fragrant, protected by PGI status, and grown in volcanic soil (the famous Mt Vesuvius is not far away after all). They are used for authentic Limoncello, a lemon flavored alcoholic drink, and also used for pasta, infused olive oils and more.
It’s still offseason here but there are plenty of tourists nonetheless, but it’s not too packed yet.