We have been back from our trip for a little over two weeks now but it feels like forever. I miss Italy. If I could live anywhere in the world I think I would choose Italy. In fact, I hope to live there someday, even if just for a few years. All the people we met were super nice, the climate is much better than Chicago, it is beautiful, and obviously the food! While we were there I felt like we were eating soooo much food. Pizza and pasta everyday! But it was ok because 1) we were on vacation and 2) we were walking and climbing about a million stairs every day. Every night I would look to see what the locals were eating. One night the people next to us had a basket of bread on their table when we arrived, they were sharing this pizza type thing, then they each got a large plate with meats and some fish thing, then they each got a full portion of pasta. And they ate it all! And to top if off they shared a piece of cake. We each ordered a pasta dish and it was more than enough for us. I don’t know how they do it, but I’d like to learn. And they were skinny too! What the heck?
Anyway, on our first day in Sorrento we just explored the area. We went down to the marina, did a little shopping, got some gelato, and enjoyed the great weather! Last year Cliff and I went to Rome and even though we LOVED Rome, we both decided we needed a more low-key vacation this year. So we did not over schedule ourselves or book any tours. We just did whatever we felt like doing that day.
The villa we stayed in had oranges, lemons, limes, pomegranates, and kiwi
This is the path to the villa. At night it was lit up with Christmas lights.
Lots of stands with fresh produce
Don’t these peppers look like a bouquet of flowers?
Marina Grande. That is Mt. Vesuvius on the left.
Another picture of the marina
Sorrento all decorated for Christmas
Christmas tree in Piazza Tasso
There were lots of stray dogs. They followed us all over!
We did a little shopping
Lots of stores for us to shop at!
That evening we asked our villa owners for a restaurant recommendation. They made us a reservation at a place called Da Filippo’s. They even sent a car to come pick us up. Fancy! It was the funniest car ride. All three of us smashed into this little Fiat and off we went. The roads were so narrow that the driver had to fold in his side mirrors so that he could get through. We laughed the whole way! Here, we would call that a “sidewalk.” Anyway, we had a great meal. We started off with wine, potato croquettes, and a plate of grilled cheeses. Kelly ordered spaghetti with clam sauce, Cliff got a steak, and I had risotto. Everything was perfect! As we finished our meal, around 11 o’clock the place was starting to fill up with locals. We got in the car to go back and the driver took even narrower streets on the way back to our villa.
Here is Kelly’s spaghetti with clam sauce
And this was one of my favorite dishes. It is penne alla arrabiata. It was pretty spicy!
Cliff doing some climbing
The next morning we got up early and took the ferry from Sorrento, where we were staying, to Capri. Capri is a favorite place of Giada De Laurentiis. Once we got to the island we had to take a funiculare to the town. A funiculare is a little trolley that goes up the side of the mountain. Once we got there we sat at a little café and enjoyed our coffee and hot chocolate. I am sad to report that the Sorrento area did not have the nice thick hot chocolate that I grew accustomed to in Rome. Sad. We walked past all the posh stores. Luckily, they were closed for the season so we decided to hike towards the arco natural. It was a tough uphill hike. Kelly and I are clearly very out of shape. Cliff didn’t seem to mind too much. But the hike was worth it. It was beautiful. And because we visited in the off-season we felt like the only ones around and could really enjoy it.
After our hike we took the bus to Ana Capri. That was quite the bus ride. Switchbacks all the way up. Once we got to Ana Capri we walked around, did some more shopping and had lunch. Then Cliff and I took the chair lift to the very top while Kelly took a nap! I’ll be honest here; the chairlift was a little scary for me! It was kind of rickety. But the views were worth it. I am really glad we did it. Then it was back to Capri, where we did another quick hike and then we took the funiculare back to the marina where we caught the ferry back to Sorrento
That night we had another excellent meal. I had pizza, which was good, but not the best pizza I had on the trip. Kelly had papparadelle with a Bolognese sauce and Cliff had penne with broccoli and sausage. I think it was one of our best meals! We liked this restaurant so much we ate there 2 more times during our trip. Excellent food at reasonable prices, what more could you ask for?
Check back next week for part 2!
