An Ode to Sorrento, of Sorts
Sorrento
Italy’s Campania region is chock-full of evocative names — Sorrento, Amalfi coast, Vesuvius, Pompeii, Capri. Even when you can’t quite place the name (“Sorrento,” more than one person has said, “why do I know that name, it’s so familiar.”), they have an exotic, intriguing ring. Thus, we decided to brave the threat of horrendous crowds (which was entirely born out) and spent five days exploring the Sorrento peninsula.
Happily, we got to meet up with my parents here. Though we’ve met new friends along the way, it’s wonderful to meet with people from our normal life (as we have with others since then).
Even its detractors won’t deny the area’s beauty. The way the houses cling to the cliffs and pepper the hills is a joy to behold.
We chose a hotel less than a mile from central Sorrento, and yet because the island is so hilly, each descent meant a vertical climb of at least 100 meters and a death defying walk along the no-sidewalk blind curve road!
Yes, that “crosswalk” goes from one no-sidewalk side of the road to the other; Italians have a great sense of humor.
However, Sorrento itself doesn’t offer that much beyond the views. The biggest issue is that over the past several decades, the town has become little more than a giant overrun mall. This means, first, that its central streets are stuffed with stores and occasional restaurants, but unlike Venice, there are no regions in the “center” left to the locals, who have apparently migrated up hill en masse. Thankfully, some of the shops are rather neat, from all things lemon (the area’s main export) to all things blue (my kinda store!)
Second, along with tourists, the streets are rife with mopeds , polluting the air with exhaust. Despite the center being largely car-free, the air is still choked with fumes.
The other downside of a Sorrento vacation is that while there are swimming spots, they are either tiny rocky beaches, or just platforms for swimming
On the other hand, you can buy mussels and oysters fresh off the boat
Finally, because of the overwhelming tourist presence, restaurants are generally subpar. We did find two though that we enjoyed and kept coming back to:
Fuoro51, right on the edge of town, had delicious, filling food and good wines
And Radici del Sud on Via Capo leading out of town — more upscale but still reasonably priced, delicious and with unbeatable views
Despite all these drawbacks, it offers much beauty, and not just on the cliffs
There was also a most endearing moment on the main drag when a fellow started playing accordion on a bench. Specifically, Gipsy Kings’ Volare.
Suddenly, a flash mob appears out of nowhere marching down the boulevard belting out the lyrics to it! We never found out how or why, because right after, he played Viennese waltz and of course we had to dance.
Pompeii
Sorrento’s real draw though is it’s proximity to other famous attractions, perhaps none more famous than this fellow
and it’s most infamous victim Pompeii. It is reachable by train from Sorrento (less than an hour for a few euro, but beware of weird Italian scheduling: on our way back we had to wait 20 minutes because the scheduled train randomly turned out to be an express for 5x the price in cash, which we didn’t have — classic Italy!).
No doubt this is an extremely popular site, but on our visit (around 4pm on a September weekday) it was totally fine. It doesn’t hurt that the ruins are HUGE. Having done little research ahead of time (bit of a theme for this blog, isn’t it?), the scale of the ruins completely blew us away.
The continuous process of excavation and restoration over the last several hundred years means that it’s often hard to tell what is original and what restored or added more recently. Here, for example the archway is restored with a mix of original columns, old and new brick.
But there are other interesting tidbits, like the brick insides of Corinthian columns (what?!),
The ruts worn into the stone streets (they knew how to build roads back then if they lasted long enough to develop ruts!),
And the pellmell construction approach they apparently used even in the original construction
We initially considered going to Herculaneum instead, afraid of throngs tourists and gratuitous exhibition of death. But neither materialized (only in one square did they have molds of the human remains (well imprints really) that had been found. The scale and detail far surpasses other major excavations like the Forum in Rome, and so is definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.
Stepping back, though, one can’t help but be shocked that despite the devastation that the volcano caused then and having had a major eruption just 80 years ago, the mountain is once again completely surrounded by settlements. Per the history channel, “Another eruption is expected in the near future, which could be devastating for the 700,000 people who live in the ‘death zones’ around Vesuvius.” I wonder what the insurance rates are like in death zones. But I guess this is just another example of ubiquitous human short term thinking.
Amalfi Coast
Appearing in many movies, such as The Talented Mr. Ripley, the Amalfi coast projects an aura of sunny splendor, awash in spritzes and glamour. It can of course be toured by bus, but it’s greatest attraction is the villa-dotted mountain sides, so a boat tour is the best way to explore it.
A day tour to the Amalfi coast (from Sorrento) is likely to stop at Amalfi itself, Positano, and a spot to swim near the shores. Keep in mind that the coast is quite long, and it can take as much as two hours to reach Amalfi. But (as long as weather is good) the journey is it’s own reward, as the coast is a mix of beautiful cliffs and steep hills peppered with pretty houses and spectacular hotels
Amalfi itself, though, while beautiful from the water,
is tiny and even more densely packed with tourists than Sorrento itself. Imagine Louvre, except instead of famous art pieces, people are swarming purse stores and dubious cafes. Unlike Venice, Amalfi seems to only have two zones — a packed main thoroughfare and empty residential back alleys
Positano, our second stop, is a larger town that creeps/extends to the tops of the hills among which it is nestled
which means — get ready to conquer some serious elevation. But, as a larger town, Positano does have more to explore, like art museums and luxurious arcades, all with great views
Like our tourist stops in the area, though, tourists are legion. In the end, like Pompeii, I think this area deserves a visit. However, be careful to pick the right boat company, as you might end up on a slow old fishing boat, in poor repair, that both vibrates and rolls on every tiny wave. In hindsight, the optimal way to enjoy the coast would be to hire a fast boat that comes to one of these towns in the morning, then allows you to chill on boat and swim until sunset — optimal time for coastal photos.
Capri
Trying to maximize our time, we got a boat tour of Capri the next day. Just a few miles off Sorrento coast, it was thankfully a much shorter ride to the stunning cliffs that define the island
Capri is known for celebrity sightings, eponymous pants, and beautiful grottos. Disappointingly, we got none of the former and only some of the latter, as it turned out the most famous (Blue?) grotto requires a special reservation. But I think we didn’t lose much, as the Green grotto was stunning in its own right, even if we weren’t allowed to swim in it
For its size, the mountains of Capri are unexpectedly tall, with Anacapri, the second town, resting near the top of the 600m mountain, and the road leading up to it along the cliff unnervingly exposed (see that horizontal dash on the mountain in the left picture?)
But as with other towns on this trip, the populated centers of the island — that is Capri and Anacapri — turned out to be just one narrow street after another lined with cafes and shops selling mostly the same tourist wares. That isn’t to say that one can’t find delicious food, like this spaghetti alla nerano
or swim in attractive beaches. In fact, if you’re dropped off on Capri for several hours, I strongly suggest ending your visit with a dip in these azure waters.
Looking back, Masha and I thought these towns are nowadays too polluted, crowded and tourist-centered to enjoy as a regular tourist. To visit them properly, you have to either go back in time, or be rich enough to have both a villa with a chef on the cliff and a yacht below it, so you can shuttle between them. Or, like Matt Damon’s Ripley, befriend someone in that orbit.
