After a relaxing afternoon, the fourth day of our honeymoon wrapped up with a stroll back through Sorrento and dinner at Bar Syrenuse, located in Piazza Tasso, the main square of Sorrento. It’s a great location for people-watching, because the city closes the plaza to vehicular traffic around 8pm. Ann Taylor and I both ordered risotto with asparagus and shrimp, and neither of us was disappointed. I had been interested in trying Italian espresso on the trip, too, so we stuck around after dinner and enjoyed a cup (Ann Taylor had tea) and more people-watching. Thursday was a particularly good time to observe the local population, as Italy was playing Croatia in the European Cup. While I certainly couldn’t care less about soccer, it’s fascinating to see how the bars and pubs fill with each country’s fans, and how, despite sitting in the middle of a lovely beach town, restaurant patrons are glued to the ubiquitous television sets. I can definitely appreciate having strong passion for a sports team, as I check the Yankees box score immediately after waking up each morning. So far, each morning was welcomed me with great news! With gelato in hand, we made our way back up to the hotel and called it a day before an early start on Friday.
The next day, we were out of bed by 6:30am to get ready and have a larger breakfast before taking the Circumvesuviana (essentially, the Metro North of Naples and the Amalfi Coast) up to Pompeii. The train station was very easy to navigate, and our 9:37am train arrived at the Pompei Scavi station exactly a half-hour later. We had decided to pass on a tour guide, which enabled us to stroll through the ruins at a more leisurely pace than the official two hour tours usually allow. Stocked with water, granola bars and a pretty handy map (provided by the ticket office), Ann Taylor and I set out to explore. While we may not have known exactly what we were looking at — I think that we personally identified eight different temples to Apollo — we appreciated a glimpse into life in ancient Italy. Using our guide book, posted information placards and eavesdropping on a few of those official tours, we learned that the grooves at the entrances of shop floors were used for sliding doors, and that “cave canem” means “beware of the dog” (as seen on a mosaic on the floor of the entrance to the House of the Tragic Poet. Our favorite sites were the amphitheater at the northeast corner of the city, and the main forum, which provided amazing views of Mount Vesuvius. Overall, we spent about three hours at Pompeii, and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.
A Coke Light, two gelatos and one half-hour ride later, we had made our way back to Sorrento. We found a small pizza restaurant near the train station and shared a Margherita pizza, the best that I have had on the trip (so far). With three hours of walking on dusty streets in the morning, we decided to cool off in the hotel pool before setting out for dinner. Making our way back through Sorrento, our first stop was Gelateria David, where we had enjoyed gelato earlier in the week. Our Lonely Planet guide book had highlighted that Mario, the shop’s owner, regularly leads demonstrations in making gelato, and with more than a dozen scoops consumed on the trip (so far), we were eager to learn more. The forty-five minute lesson was really interesting, and included a freshly made lemon sorbet that was amazingly creamy, despite having no milk or cream. We learned that this was due to the air whipped into the sorbet, one of the key distinctions between gelato and ice cream. At the end of the class, Ann Taylor and I were each able to try a new flavor, and we enjoyed Tiramisu- and mint-flavored geltato, respectively. So good! We also stopped at the Vodafone store, as I had run out of credit and could not translate the automated prompts when I called to add more minutes. Fortunately, the Vodafone owner knew more English than I knew Italian, and we were connected again shortly. Phew!
Finally ready for dinner, we shared a long walk down to Marina Grande, the westernmost marina in Sorrento (the other, Marina Piccola, is where we boarded the hydrofoil to Capri). Ristorante Bagni Delfino (“Dolphin”) was recommended by the driver from Rome to Sorrento, and the meal, and atmosphere did not disappoint. Sitting on a pier over Marina Grande, Ann Taylor and I enjoyed gnocchi with shrimp, and linguini with small octopus, freshly caught in the marina. We also shared a bottle of the best wine on the trip (so far): Villa Matilde Falanghina, a white that paired really well with the seafood. Having already enjoyed two servings of gelato at the earlier demonstration, we passed on dessert and made the trek from the marina back up to the hotel. We plan to enjoy one more relaxing day in Sorrento, with absolutely nothing planned except sleeping, eating and shopping, before we head up to Rome on Sunday. We have had such an amazing trip so far, and we are so excited to have another full week in Italy!
Take care,
– Dan