Our Weekend in Sorrento!

Friday, March 20^th – Sunday, March 22^nd

This weekend in Sorrento was possibly the best weekend so far! As soon as we got off the train in Sorrento, I knew I would be a place that I will have to return in the future. It was so relaxing and beautiful and almost made me sad because I wasn’t able to experience it all with the people I love. (All the more reason I just have to come back one day!)

On Friday morning, we got up and took the early train into Rome, much to everyone’s dismay who had stayed up late to finish their midterm papers! From Termini, we took a fast train to Naples and then got the local train from Naples to Sorrento. The train ride was beautiful, yet slightly depressing because the surrounding area is one of the lowest income areas in Italy. It seemed strange to be raveling through some of the most beautiful landscape I had ever seen filled with poverty-stricken homes and cities. There really were some amazing views however, mountains, Mount Vesuvius, the coast, and row after row of all natural lemon and orange trees!

Once we arrived in Sorrento, we checked into our hotel, the Ulissi Deluxe Hostel, and got right back on the train to head back to Pompeii for our guided tour of the ancient ruins. When we got there, we met up with our awesome tour guide, Johnny, who was both and architect and an author, as well as a hilarious guide for our adventure in Pompeii. I have always thought of Pompeii as one little area that had been preserved by ashes when Mount Vesuvius erupted thousands of years ago. But the truth is, the ancient city of Pompeii is massive! (170 acres of massive). We were there for almost two hours and barely scratched the surface of the city itself. During our time there however, we did get to see the amphitheater, which was probably my favorite area, along with the city center and the temple of Apollo. What I found to be truly incredible from everything that Johnny told us was that almost one-third of Pompeii is still being excavated! He said the information about Pompeii and the history of it is always changing due to the ever-changing evidence that is found from new excavation sites.

Friday night after our afternoon in Pompeii, we went to dinner together at a restaurant called Il Lione Rosso. And let me just say, one thing about Sorrento that was truly the best anywhere we have been so far, was the food! For dinner, I had bruschetta, mushroom ravioli, and some amazing veal with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes! I have to say that it was the best meal I have ever eaten! If that wasn’t enough, on our way back to the hotel Danilo showed us his favorite gelato place in Italy called Primavera! They literally had every flavor of gelato you could have imagined and again, it was really the best of the best!

On Saturday we were originally going to take a boat to the island of Capri, but due to the questionable weather, we decided to take a trip to Positano instead. And at first, I was a little disappointed because I had been really excited about going to visit Capri, but Positano was most definitely the best replacement for Capri we could have picked. After having a wonderful breakfast at the hotel, we went to the train station to take a bus to Positano. Little did we know, the bus ride was going to be an adventure in itself! The only way I can possibly describe the ride is this: Imagine a tiny, two-lane road, winding not only through the hairpin turns of enormous rocky cliffs, but right along the coast as well… then imagine making that trip in a massive tour bus! Sadly, sitting in the back of the bus may not have been my best decision ever, and after the 40-minute ride, I was definitely ready to get out in the fresh air!

Despite the thrilling (and slightly sickening) ride, Positano was amazing. I saw sights that were more beautiful than anything I have ever seen before. We enjoyed the beautiful day (it was 65 and sunny) first, by making our way down through the little beachy town to the shore. Naturally, I had my shoes off within about two minutes and had my feet in the ice cold water not long after. The beach itself was made from smooth black stones, which against the deep turquoise water, looked absolutely amazing. Mixed in with the stones were tons of pieces of sea glass; blues, greens, yellows, ambers, and white, and needless to say, my pockets were weighed down with it all. After an hour or so by the water, we went back up to a cute outdoor restaurant called Ristorante Le Tre Sorelle that was right along the beach. I got a margarita pizza with buffalo mozzarella, which was simple yet delicious!!! Hands down the best pizza I have ever eaten. We enjoyed our wonderful meal together and explored some shops on our way back up through town. Even though none of us wanted to leave, we had to catch a bus back to Sorrento, and luckily this time I got to sit in the very front. And while it was lucky because I didn’t get sick, it was almost worse, because I was terrified for all of the poor little Fiats that almost got annihilated by our tour bus.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in Sorrento, going into all of the little shops, eating gelato, and buying all sorts of lemon products! Sorrento is known for their lemons so practically every other store we passed was selling something made from lemons. Limoncello, lemon cream, lemon soap, lemon oil, lemon-covered almonds dark chocolate covered lemon peels, lemons, lemons, and more lemons! Sorrento is also known for terracotta pottery so we got to see some beautiful terracotta art as well. On Saturday night, we had another wonderful dinner together and afterwards, some of us went out to get a few drinks at the local bars. We stopped in a few, but ended up spending most of the night in this Irish Pub we found. Ironically enough, we were in Sorrento, in an Irish pub, and yet every person in the bar (other than the adorable Italian bar tenders Mario and Giovanni) was American! We met a very sweet couple from California, two older women who claimed they graduated high school with Tupac, and a group of about ten college guys from Nebraska. The guys from Nebraska turned on the March Madness games and as if the whole night had not been ironic enough, Ohio State was playing Nebraska… Needless to say, it turned into a pretty fun night!

After an amazing weekend in Sorrento, I had to say goodbye on Sunday as we returned to Rome. I must admit, it was the hardest place so far to have to leave, and even coming back to Rome Home was a little less exciting because I wasn’t ready for the weekend to be over! Sorrento is somewhere I know I must return sometime in my future, and hopefully sooner rather than later. You know it is an amazing place when you’re sad to return to Rome. I never thought I’d be saying that!! I must admit, I think I have officially been bitten by the travel bug...