Thursday, May 23, 2013

Sun-Drenched Sorrento

I'm craving sunshine. It always happens this time of year, when spring hits Seattle with her grey clouds and wet days. A couple of years ago, May of 2011 to be exact, we fled soggy Seattle for sunny Italy. A precursor to a cruise up the Italian coast and into France, we flew into Naples and boarded a bus for an hour long ride along the curvy roads to Sorrento. Immediately we had our first look at Mt. Vesuvius, stunned at how close it was and how many homes we could see hugging its sides. Our first glimpse of Sorrento was much more serene. We could tell we were in for some serious beauty shots.
We stayed at the lovely Hotel Belair which was a short walk from the center of town. As the hotel was on a small hill, looking down onto Sorrento and its bay, we were overwhelmed with stunning views each and every day. The staff was quite nice also, serving us drinks while we waited for our room to be ready and always eager to help with directions, taxis, etc. 
That first day, after a short nap, we walked into town and were immediately struck by the scents of jasmine everywhere. We strolled along the main part of town, found the Bar Fauno and enjoyed great martinis and people watching.

Sorrento was to be our home base for the next 4 days while we explored the Almalfi Coast, Pompeii and Naples. We didn't actually do a lot in the town itself but we found it to be very central for the Circumvesuviana (train around Vesuvius), the buses, and the boats.

We never had a great meal in Sorrento. We had good meals and we had ok meals. The first evening we ate at l'Antica Trattoria which we found very expensive for kindof boring food. We ate at O'Parrucchiano which was inexpensive but still just ok food. Taverna Allegra was a cheesy place drawing lots of tourists but the food was actually good. And dinner at the Parco Ibsen was in a very interesting location, had good prices and good food but still not something I'd say "Wow!" about. 

But I'd stay in Sorrento again, and I'd stay at the Belair again. The pool, the view, the bar, and the breakfasts were all top notch. 

Now don't you feel warmer already? I do!
Sorrento photos



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