Our next travel destination was the beautiful, beautiful Sorrento! Which was heavenly!
Sorrento has been described that it has a California feel. I can't attest to that because I have not yet travelled to California. However, Sorrento does have a serene feeling walking down the sidewalks that are lined with artful shopping along the way of this quaint town. A much welcomed atmosphere after visiting other busy area's of Italy!
Featured image above is with some of our family and a dear friend from the States; who planned his trip to coincide with our family trip. Thank you Joe, It was great meeting your family and a special time for us all to spend some time together even if it was brief.
We chose Sorrento as the meeting place, because that was a near and dear spot for our daughter, Jen and her husband Zach. They expressed they were happy to revisit that special place to meet the entire family. This trip was a celebration of family, anniversaries, and a birthday. Our daughter Lisa and her husband Dave were celebrating their 10 year wedding anniversary that year and Lisa's 44th birthday, on October 10th! Another big celebration was for my husband and I as we were celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary from that prior June. It was a wonderful reason to plan a trip where our kids and their families could meet us on that October date or anytime before or after if their plans allowed!
Let's start with some of the images we took along the way in Sorrento, our special vacation spot with our family.
In the image, is our family friend Joe, and his son; along with myself with our three children, Anthony, Lisa and Jenny!
We all gathered at a rooftop bar / restaurant in the Plaza Sorrento Hotel to visit and celebrate with friends and family.
We walked down the street passing lovely hotels, and shops with windows smartly displayed with artful merchandise. A relaxed feeling was welcoming in this peaceful yet intriguing beach town.
If you haven't visited Sorrento, you can access the beach by foot, but that is about 500 ft below by steps. What we discovered once we reached the beach level on foot, was that you could use an elevator?! Now, you know, what we didn't realize at the time. Cheers!
On one day we planned a trip with our entire family going on a boat ride to the grotto area in Sorrento. We swam, and just enjoyed the sunny weather and warm water of that cove. We also, travelled to the Isle of Capri and experienced outdoor shopping areas near the port.
Next time we visit we definitely will head to the Amalfi coast area.....we hear it's lovely. We would have liked to do just that but had limited time. We look forward to visiting Positano, next time we venture across the pond to Europe.
We celebrated on the boat of course but we also made reservations 10 months beforehand for a special dinner at a fine dining restaurant named iL Buco . Il Buco was in the center square area of Sorrento. See following images~
Above three photos are a glimpse of our evening at Il Buco. The last image was of a delicious dessert prepared for us. Grazi!
On one of the last evenings spent in Sorrento, we visited another restaurant (see video at top of page) specializing in pizza and other casual fare. We enjoyed our meal of course but more importantly we felt welcomed by the excellent and warm service we all received!
We were entertained by a saxophone player that was pure enjoyment for all of us. He wowed us with his musicial serenade with a flawless rendition of Careless Whisper.
A BIG thank you to the restaurant and staff at zi Ntonio Ristorante Pizzeria on Via Luigi de Maio- Sorrento!
Grazi!
In closing, in this final story we would like to share the 45 minute cab ride from the central square of Sorrento to the Naples train station that led to Rome; to catch our flight back to the States.
Our cab driver showed up in a beautiful, clean well maintained black Mercedes van. Our cab drivers name was Luigi. We exchanged names and began a wonderful, insightful, conversation regarding our heritage.
He would ask where our ancestors were from. My grandparents were from Sicily and Naples. My husbands Mother, Victoria, was from Calabria. With that his comment was what my husband had heard on the entire trip when asked by a native Italian....."Oh testadouda?" meaning stubborn or hard head. We laughed because he experienced that description from so many. Then, my husband inquired if it were true.....honestly I replied "No, not at all". Well, with that I would ask Italian language phrases I would hear in my youth and how I tried to find the meaning. He replied courteously, and warmly with his explanations of their meaning(s). We got to know each other with our constant warm conversations for the entire trip.
We felt, so in touch with this kind man. What a wonderful experience, near the end of our visit in this lovely, country Italia! We made a friend; as he even, invited us on our next visit to call him when in Italy, while giving us his cell telephone number. He mentioned he would pick us up at the airport for a visit to meet his wife and family for the day at no charge. His wife would show me her recipes and how to make certain delicacies like fried artichokes. We all enjoyed each others rememerances and conversation more than I can possibly express.
Thank you Luigi for this precious memory and our new friendship!
