05/03/2022: On to Sorrento

After our walk on the Lungomare promenade yesterday, I’m glad today is not going to involve too much walking. I was leg weary as we were really strolling and not walking, with lots of stops and starts. We had a relatively leisurely early morning, had breakfast in the hotel, and got ready for our ferry ride across Naples Bay to Sorrento. Here’s the alleyway where our hotel is.

In the dark and not knowing where you’re going, it was a little scary. And those scaffolds were not there when we arrived. They were erected while we were out at Lungomare.

The hotel got us a taxi to take us to the ferry terminal. I am so glad I’m not driving in Naples. Holy smokes! It’s pure chaos especially with the motorcycles and scooters weaving in and out between cars and buses. Intersections are a free-for-all. And the whole time, our driver was trying to talk us into hiring him to drive us to Sorrento for 100 Euros. It was kind of hair-raising. But we arrived at the ferry, talked our way onto an earlier ferry so we didn’t have to wait so long for our scheduled ferry.

It’s only about 45 minutes to Sorrento by ferry. It was a comfortable ride. Leaving the terminal we saw a giant cruise ship docked. The 3-masted sailing vessel nearby was dwarfed. There was also another castle at the harbor, Castel Nuovo, another medieval fortress. Upon leaving the harbor there was a little lighthouse and a religious statue.

Mt. Vesuvius was almost totally obstructed by clouds, but I did notice what appeared to be a fire of some sort on the lower mountain.

We arrived at Marina Piccola in Sorrento at about 11:45. Our Airbnb check-in wasn’t until 3:00, so we had some time to just sit at the ferry landing and take in beautiful Sorrento. The place is amazing high up the shear rock face. Strung along the top of the cliffs are beautiful, elegant grand hotels. Each place we’ve been has been stunning and Sorrento is one of those mouth-open vistas.

We enjoyed spending time around the harbor area and then decided to take a chance on an early check-in. Crazy me, I had originally planned that we would walk to our Airbnb. We’re staying at a little harbor called Marina Grande which is some distance from Marina Piccola. When I saw the cliffs, that walking plan changed to a taxi. Our taxi driver was a total speed demon racing up the switch-backed, hair-pin turn, road, the only road from the top to the harbor. I think we squealed tires going around some of the curves. I thought, too, that she was taking us on a wild goose chase, because it seemed as though we drove a lot further than what it takes to get from Marina Piccola to Marina Grande. Again, traffic is crazy going up and down the narrow windy roads. She got us to Grande Marina alive and charged 25 Euros, which I thought was an awful lot.

We rolled our suitcase across large cobblestones down the street along the shoreline and came to our Airbnb. Our host’s directions were pretty accurate and the woman we were supposed to get the key from was in the apartment finishing up cleaning. She let us leave our luggage in the apartment and told us, via an interpreter she yelled to up the street to come and translate, that she needed more time to finish and to come back in 30 minutes. We went and had lunch at Emilia’s, the restaurant right below our apartment. We sat out on the deck and had a tasty caprese and mixed salad.

Marina Grande is like another world from Sorrento. It’s history goes way back. It developed outside the fortress walls of the city of Sorrento and Sorrentines think less of the inhabitants of Marina Grande. They were more susceptible to rape, pillage and plunder living outside the protective walls. Marina Grande dwellers are thought to be of Saracen (Turkish pirate) stock. It remains a small fishing village, but tourism is the main trade and there are numerous restaurants along the waterfront. It is a lovely, picturesque village.

Just below our Airbnb is a restaurant and bar that has outside seating along the seawall. Christine had her Aperol spritz, I had a lemon soda. We had a light dinner that was delicious. Christine had an eggplant parmigiana dish and I had calamari and shrimp.

Nighttime is especially beautiful as all the lights from the big hotels up above shine and the restaurants along the waterfront illuminate their dining areas.

We are really happy with our Airbnb choice. It is a very charming place in a nice location. We can open our shutters and look right out onto the water. I really like it because I can stand at the window and watch all the comings and going. We’re just one floor above the street and Marina Grande is a happening place. Did I mention that it is really beautiful at night??!!