And we’re off! The ferries run often to Capri, Sorrento, Positano, and Amalfi and the port area is busy. Fortunately at least the ferries are separate from the cruise terminal. You can see a huge white block in the middle of this picture below that is the Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas, not the one with the black hull, or the other white ship you can halfway see.
The Symphony of the Seas can carry over 6,000 passengers and takes 2,200 crew. I don’t know about the other ships but you can just imagine what it’s like in the winding lanes of a small city’s ancient old town with so very many extra people. Venice and Florence = same.
The whole top deck is clamoring for a shot of..
..Vesuvius.
Arriving in Sorrento, the town is built into the hills, and unlike the even more steep Positano, Sorrento has an elevator to take you from sea level up to the top of the cliff.
A view from the edge of the town’s cliff. Even with the inset you can’t see very well. These jetty-breakwater constructions hold rows of deck chairs full of people basking in the sun and having a dip in the sea.
Right at the exit/entrance of the elevator.
Friends, look at the scene below. It’s official for me. September is no longer a viable travel month to visit popular places. It’s hot and too TOO crowded. Even though kids are back in school it’s just too much with the crowds. For example omg cruise ships. They disgorge thousands and thousands who roam the streets in battalions. Now I don’t want to go anywhere if cruise ships are going to be there too.
And the buses, yikes, not here but in Pisa for example, you’d think it was a Disneyland parking lot full of buses. I’m not sorry we went but just a reminder to manage expectations.
We came across a door that led to a room offering to take us on a ‘tour through the history of Sorrento’ so, ok, let’s do that. It was a series of videos, displayed on the wall as you walked down a hall. This was fun, Sofia Loren, and that scene is a recognizable long-ago Sorrento.
The Cathedral Bell Tower. Unfortunately it was closed while we were there.
It was hot, as it has been and will be, and I wanted a break so we decided to find a place to sit in the shade. We thought, why not find a rooftop bar and indeed there was one in easy reach. Windy tried the most well-know beverage around these parts, the Lemoncello Spritz. Her report: now I know. I don’t think she’ll be ordering a Lemoncello Spritz again. The spot was great though, it totally did the trick and we left feeling comfortable and refreshed.
The bar was on top of a hotel. The pool in the first picture belongs to the hotel and is ‘around the corner’ from the bar.
And look who came to join us at the Sky Bar!
On the way back to the pier we passed the bridge to the jetty for the bathers in the sun and sea, who will be enjoying their spot until dark.
Now we’re off to catch the ferry back to Naples and then a nice walk home.
I meant to write something about the Lemons and Inlaid Wood products made here, they are specialties and stores that carry lemon this and that, decorated clothing, lemoncello, fragrances, etc etc etc, and boxes and trays and tables and etc etc etc of elaborate inlaid wood fill the streets. I regret not getting to this elemental feature of Sorrento with some pictures!