On Sunday, March 28 we set off for Sorrento by train. This involved taking a train from the main station in Rome, Stazione Termini, to Napoli Centrale. From there we took the local train called the Circumvesuviana to Sorrento. From Rome to Naples we had five seats in a six seat compartment. The poor Italian man who sat with us had to put up with a lot of hilarity, including Cherie pulling up her pant legs to show how badly she needed to shave. He was a good sport and when we reached Naples he helped us get out suitcases down from the overhead racks. Maybe he was just eager to see us go.
The Circumvesuviana is a local train that stopped at every station along the route and took over an hour to reach Sorrento. The rest of the girls were fascinated by the groups of "gypsies" that were on the train. They looked to me like family groups out for the day but I did such a good job of warning the rest of the group against them that they clutched their bags and kept a wary eye on the gypsies until they got off about halfway to Sorrento.
Sorrento is a lovely town that makes a good base for exploring the Amalfi Coast, Capri and Pompeii. Its pedestrian friendly medieval core is full of shops selling all sorts of things but the two main specialties of the area are lemons (and all associated products including Limoncello) and sandals.
Our hotel was a small guesthouse located right in the historic center. The Palazzo Marziale was a great find. The rooms were nice as was the location--only a short walk from the train station. The breakfast was also good. Being very small it had no front desk and we rarely saw any staff while we were there. We also never saw any other guests. Every morning we were the only ones at breakfast and we heard very little in the way of noise from other people. On the last day we had to ask the breakfast staff what we had to do about paying for our rooms. It turned out one of took care of it.
While not right on the seaside bluff, the hotel is separated from the water view only by a park. Our rooms were at the back of the hotel but the streetside rooms probably have lovely vistas of the water.
After getting settled in our rooms we went to the nearby park and took lots of pictures. Then we headed off for a little exploration of the Sorrento streets.
After exploring for an hour or so we sat down for a little snack at a cafe on Piazza Tasso, the main square in Sorrento. It was cappucinos and a little food all around except I had a glass of Prosecco. We had been breaking for "elevenses" most mornings so Kate christened our late afternoon stop "fiveses."
The next morning we headed back to the train station and found the bus to Amalfi. This is the main town along the Amalfi Coast. The bus ride is a must for any tourist to this area. The road is cut right into the side of the cliffs that line the coast and in some places the rock drops thirty or forty stories to the water and even further to the tops of the mountains above. Both coming and going from Amalfi we snagged the five seats along the back of the bus. On our way there this turned out not to be the idea spot. About three rows in front of us several small children had bad cases of motion sickness and upchucked in the aisle. Where I was sitting I could not really see the evidence so when I saw that Kate was turning green I made her climb over me and sit next to the window. Cherie and Emily spent much of the rest of the bus ride with kleenex over their mouths and noses. It wasn't bad when the bus was moving but when it stopped the odor was pretty bad.
One of Amalfi's claims to fame is a nice sandy beach. It was also one of the great Italian maritime republics of the Renaissance (along with Pisa, Genoa and Venice.) Its great wealth is evident in the beautiful church in the middle of town and other lovely buildings.
As you can see from the pictures we were incredibly lucky in the weather. The day was spectacular and warm enough that we were soon in shirtsleeves.
The church has a number of lovely features including the broad stairs leading up from the main piazza, a secluded cloister, the old church that is now a museum and the new church with its beautiful facade.
In the Rick Steves guidebook we read of a trail (lane) that leads from the middle of Amalfi to the next small town on the coast, Atrani. The latter was advertised as charming and lacking in tourists. As it was only a fifteen minute walk we decided to stroll over and have lunch. The route led up some stairs and a series of narrow paths between houses and rock. It was a lovely encounter with back street Amalfi.
As we came out of the narrow lanes the view opened up and we could see down into Atrani and further along the coast. With weather like this it is easy to understand why sunglasses were much discussed as an essential fashion item.
Charming as Atrani is, there is not much in the way of tourist services. We opted to get sandwiches at a local
alimentari (grocery). The woman who made our sandwiches was charming and just buying the food turned into quite the experience. We made our way down to the water's edge and settled down onto the rocks for our picnic. It was not the most comfy of seats but the view was spectacular and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Afterwards we made our way along the sandy beach and back towards the path back to Amalfi. At a gelateria we spotted earlier we bought dessert. The gentleman who served us was quite good looking and took a lot of pleasure in having his picture taken with several of us. He was nicknamed "Arms" and was talked about off and on for the rest of the trip!
I should have taken a picture of the water view but for some reason the view up into the hills behind us fascinated me. In particular, in the middle of the left side of this photo can be seen a white building--a church. It must have been a monastary but all I could think of was what a trek it must have been to get anything up there, including all the building materials.
Back in Amalfi we saw a number of spots where someone has built tiny versions of Amalfitani towns into various nooks and crannies. We also saw more of this along the road on the way back to Sorrento. The why of this is a mystery although someone suggested they might be some sort of ghost villages to divert the evil spirits from invading the real houses.
I could not help taking this picture at an alimentari in Amalfi. Who new spicy peppers had such properties?!?!
Coming soon: Capri and Pompeii.
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