Wandering Through the Streets of Sorrento

---

Geo: 40.6263, 14.3757

We had no activities scheduled today and spent the day exploring Sorrento. We slept through breakfast in the hotel. By the time we were ready to eat, it was almost noon so we waited in the bar for them to start serving lunch and ordered the club sandwich to split. We ate so much yesterday, that we want to go a little easier today.

Philip and I walked into town for a day on our own in Sorrento. We wanted to see the museums starting with the Museo Correale di Terranova, farthest from our starting point. It is a wonderful, but small, museum in a grand old home showcasing mostly historical items from the local area. Although the building is a bit shabby with peeling walls and mildewed corners, the artifacts are ones that they can be proud of. Many of the statues are as nice as ones I have seen in much grander museums.

We then went to the museum of inlaid woodworking, the Museo-Bottega della Tarsia Lignea As we walked, we peeked in a few of the shops, but we haven't decided what or if we want to take any gifts back to our co-workers who are still there while we play tourists. Everything indeed seems to have something to do with lemons. The limoncello shops are everywhere—also lemon candy, lemons painted on pottery and kitchen gadgets, lemons embroidered on linens and clothing….. Lemons, lemons, lemons!

We snacked on gelato while we were browsing—lemon, of course, but also coconut for me and something else that I don't remember for Philip. There is no shortage of gelato shops, but the one that we wanted to try, since Rick Steves recommended it, was closed. For dinner, we went up to the Hilton Executive Club for drinks and oer d'oeuvres and ended up splitting another sandwich since we could order from a limited menu there.

We have had good service at the hotel, the Hilton Sorrento Palace. The room is just okay, but has a nice balcony with a view of Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples. When we first opened the door of the room, we were shocked by how plain the room is and how simple the furniture is. It is a good size for a standard European hotel room. However, they have cut corners on the furnishings. The one side chair and the headboard appear to be straight, square pieces of wood covered with only a thin padding and upholstery fabric. The arms of the chair are about one inch thick and not at all comfortable to sit in. The bed sleeps well enough, but is clearly two twins pushed together rather than a true kingsize bed. We had turndown service the first night. Last night we were in the room when the maid stopped by, so she asked how many towels we needed and we told her that and that we did not need service.

---

Photos

Sunny View from the Hotel Room Balcony
That's Vesuvius in the distance on the other side of the Bay of Naples.