Next up, we were heading to Naples! I admit at this stage of the trip, I no longer can keep up with where we’re going, what it’s known for, or what our excursion is. I just discover it that day. It’s kind of nice to be shocked all the time. Imagine my surprise when I learned I’d be driving by the ruins of Pompeii, wine tasting at the base of Mt. Vesuvius, and strolling through the streets of Sorrento.
Our guide was a cool dude - he pointed out all the things on our drive over to the Sorrento area. Of most interest to us were the gazillions of olive trees. They use a very clever system where they have nets tied between trees. When it’s time to harvest, they just open the nets, shake the trees, and collect the olives that plop down into the nets. During the off season, it just looks like millions of hammocks all over the place!
I was also in awe of all the lemon trees. Lemons everywhere! In Sorrento, we came across a Limoncello place- aha! It’s starting to make sense. We got to taste some. Oh my word. Every Limoncello I’ve ever tasted before is complete crap compared to this glorious, yellow nectar of heaven. We enjoyed chatting with the shop owner there. He let us taste some meloncello, too. Good grief! It was delicious!
We mostly wandered down the beautiful, quiet streets. All the shops were opening up- thrilled to see us. The first cruise ship since COVID. The excitement was palpable! We decided to grab a “take away” cappuccino from (oddly) a British bar. The lady who made our coffee was so excited and fun. She gave us this incredible lemon cookie to enjoy with our coffee, for free. We wandered outside to eat and drink and people watch. The town is just stupid cute. Flowers, gardens, palm trees, apartments above the shops with window boxes bursting with even more flowers. Beautiful wrought iron balconies.
We continued walking around just taking it all in. We’d only been there about 3 minutes when we both agreed that a) we wanted to come back and stay in this town and b) it was our favorite. Bam.
The shop owners were lovely, vivacious, and polite. They stand outside and invite you in. If you say no, they say, “ok thank you. Maybe next time.” We wished whe had been able to go inside each one. Spend a little money. Help them all out. Hopefully, we’re not the last ship. Hopefully, more will come.
Eventually, we’d wound around quite a bit and we were suddenly right in front of a cute little wine shop! I was walking right past it when Jason noticed it. We popped in to look around. A very nice older gentleman, who was all dressed up in his finest clothes, came to chat. He explained how the store was arranged. Whites here. Reds there. By regional area. We talked with him awhile and really enjoyed his little shop and his knowledge of Italian wines. One such really caught our interest as he described it so we bought a bottle to try later on the ship. This was interesting because it is a 100% anglianico but because it spent 2 years in oak, they now call it a completely different name. Fascinating! We might order some more Italian wine from him. He’s got really great shipping rates to the US. One thing we do know for sure is the stuff that gets imported to the states that shows up in our grocery stores is NOT the good stuff. They smartly keep that for themselves. But now we have this cute old man in Sorrento who can hook us up. WOOHOO!
Afterward, we did a little shopping- I found a beautiful glass Christmas ornament! And then, it was time to head to Mt. Vesuvius for the wine tasting. We were hoping for some olive oil, too. But before we could leave, we all sat on the bus waiting because somehow 4 of us had gotten lost. Sigh. Our poor guide had to walk back to town and walk around trying to find them all. It can be hard when you are in a crowd to keep sight of your guide and the sign or umbrella they are holding up in the air- but really, that’s your job. Follow the guide. Later, one of the men who got lost complained to me that he heard our guide complaining about him. I didn’t say it to him but in my head I thought, “Well, duh, dude.”
The drive was gorgeous - a coastal drive with all the olives and lemons. But also- tunnels! 3-4 long tunnels. I have mild tunnel phobia since the terrifying ones in Iceland that my brother and I drove through years ago. Terrifying because they are very, very long and two way traffic. But only one lane. WHY WOULD ANYONE DO THAT? I thought I would die multiple times during one of those. But here I am. Tunneling again in Sorrento, Italy.
The wine tasting was good. The wines were interesting- all that volcanic soil creates a different flavor profile. We liked them - except the sweet wine- but didn’t love them. Unexpectedly, we also were given a full lunch. It was delicious! We got bread and olive oil, as well, which we really enjoyed.
We headed back to the boat. We really wanted to explore the Naples area some more and eat more food but it was getting late and we were stuffed from our winery lunch! Sorrento was so dang great! I look forward to going again one day. And maybe soon- we get another stop in Naples on our way back to Barcelona in a couple weeks.
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