Sorrento, Sightseeing and Souvenir Shopping

After the trip to the top of Vesuvius we had two full days in Sorrento with nothing planned so in the mornings we wandered about and in the afternoons after lunch we relaxed by the pool. We were becoming much more adventurous by now and on our walks we would investigate little back streets and alleys away from the busy tourist areas and the noisy main roads.

In the residential areas there were big houses in leafy gardens behind ornate high metal gates and railings. I was glad of that because at one particular house that I looked at through the gates there was an enormous Alsatian guard dog that took an instant dislike to me in the way that dogs always do and barking wildly threw itself at the gates and scared the life out of me. I kept well away from gates after that!

Tuesday was market day in Sorrento and the place seemed even busier than we had become used to. The streets were full of stalls selling almost everything. There were lots of vegetables being sold by local people who had grown their own produce for sale, meat and fish and literally dozens of pitches selling leather goods. To be honest up till this point, being two men, we hadn’t shown a lot of interest in shopping but at these prices this seemed the perfect opportunity to pick up some souvenir bargains to take home as presents and we spent a whole fifteen minutes or so dedicated to browsing and purchasing but we were glad when it was over and we could get back to walking and sight seeing again.

I don’t like shops very much at all, but on the other hand I do like bars and we found some little out of the way pavement cafés away from the pestering waiters where each morning I could have a Pironi and dad could have a cappuchino which by now he had started to take a liking to. We had really acquired a taste for Italian food by now as well and every lunch time and evening we looked forward to a new pasta variation and after we went home I don’t think we ever asked for Heinz spaghetti ever again.

These were two good days together and although I went on holiday several more times with dad they were never like this, just the two of us together doing just the things that we both liked doing and I was really glad that the original arrangements had been changed. But after two days in and around Sorrento we were ready for another trip out so on Wednesday night after we had had dinner and watched the sunset over the Bay of Naples we had an early night because on the next day we were going to Rome and that involved a very early start.