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Published: July 14th 2014
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Sorrento is another world from Sicily. I spent some time in Sicily brainstorming with Len ways to buff up the tourist industry in Sciacca, but now I take it all back. Sorrento is a BEAUTIFUL city. But it is completely dominated by and caters to its tourists, which to me takes away from its charm. Every interaction I have feels more like a transaction of some kind, not an exchange. That being said, it's gorgeous and has everything a person who dreams of Italy dreams of. I'm so glad I'm here. Although I prefer to think of myself as a traveler rather than a tourist, once you accept a place like Sorrento for what it is, you can enjoy the ride more. Like, don't go to Disneyland if you hate children and standing in line. However, I will still take some satisfaction in little victories like renting my cute little studio apartment where I can do my own laundry (in the sink!) and cook meals myself (on a single hot plate...I never did this in college but I'm getting the hang of it) or realizing that picking up the free guide to Pompeii enabled me to take myself on my own
Pompeii
Vesuvius looms large... little tour of the ruins without having to pay for (and be confined to, IMHO) a guided tour ($ saved in both cases, ha!).
Anyway, in between leisurely wandering about town, reading books on my iPad, drinking Cappuchino and my lifetime supply of gelato, in my more "touristic" endeavors, I found my way to Pompeii on Friday, where I first took a very bumpy ride up Mt. Vesuvius as far as cars can go, about 1000 meters up. I opted not to make the steep hike up to the very top, as due to cloud cover, any views of the volcano and surrounding area would be obscured anyway. After staying for a bit, I travelled back down in the jeep and took myself on my aforementioned tour of Pompeii. The ruins are in a beautiful setting, over looking the sea in one direction and the ominous volcano looming from the other. It is awe inspiring and horrifying to imagine what happened in this place when the volcano erupted. I think what really gets you is the carbonized people, stuck forever in time in whatever terrified position they were in when they died. Those figures create a very human connection to
this ancient place, making you remember that history is not just events that happened on certain dates, but peoples' lives and choices and experiences (see, Mom, I get history, ok?). On Saturday, I decided to take a sightseeing bus along the infamous Amalfi Coast road from Sorrento through Positano and stopping finally in Amalfi. Wow! First of all, that road is NOT made for busses! It's so narrow with some of the sharpest hairpin turns you will ever see. However, I'm glad these crazy Italians decided to make it work, because Oh. My. God. The views are insane! The pictures do not do it justice, but I tried. I stayed in the town of Amalfi for a little over an hour and treated myself to lunch of gnocchi al pesto and artichoke hearts with an olive oil and balsamic dressing. Yum! Back in Sorrento, the evening is finished up taking in the Sorrento Musical, about a day in the life of old Sorrento and featuring an array of opera classics like O Sole Mio and Finniculi, Finnicula. The man in charge of assigning seats at the door I guess took pity on my alone-ness and sat me in the front
Dinner!
Chicken cutlets & pasta with a sauce of cherry tomatoes, onion, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil...it's really all you need in life! row! I've never seen an opera live before and this was clearly a little low budget but super cute nonetheless. I was slightly relieved when one of the actors DIDN'T choose me to dance up on stage...sometimes being by yourself makes moments like that more awkward. I mean, who would take my picture?
For my final excursion in Sorrento, and in attempt to be more social, I signed up for a "culinary experience" tour. I was picked up near my apartment and taken with a small group to Villa Angelina, an agriturismo site where I toured the orchards of lemon and olive trees and grape vineyards of the estate, tasted olive oils and wines, learned how to make limoncello (did you know it can only officially be called limoncello if it's make in Sorrento? Which is why the stuff I drank in Sicily was called limonCINO), and helped make the gnocchi we ate for lunch. The others in my group were a Swedish couple and a pair of French Canadian ladies who must have grown up together or something. We had some pleasant conversation, but they were honestly a bit boring, or too quiet, or something. The tour director, Rita,
announced at the beginning of the day that we were welcome to "get drunk," lol, but that definitely didn't happen. Alas, in my search for an authentic experience in Sorrento, this is about as close as I think I will get, but really, who can complain about all that?
Now, I'm sitting in the Bar Veneruso next to my apartment (better WiFi) and eating gelato...again. It just rained and it smells lovely. Tomorrow I will get on a train to Naples and from there another train to Florence and then another train on to my next destination of Pisa. I hear there's some kind of famous tower there or something.
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Kelly
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Those artichokes look amazing!