Dear Sorrento…

Sorrento – A town I could write a love letter to every day I’m lucky enough to be there. In all honesty, it felt like home for the four nights we spent in this place full of citrus trees, cobblestones, narrow alleys, limoncello and football fans. Sorrento, you are perfecto.

One of the great things about starting in Sorrento is that it is not an intimdating town. It’s easily walkable, not too crowded, most people speak English (so helpful when you are just arriving to a country you’ve never been to), it’s super safe, and it’s a great base to get to surrounding areas. Sorrento is so easy to be in that, for a little bit of time, it was hard to believe that we were even in Italy.

After the flight and three trains, mom and I arrived at the Green House B&B where we were staying for the next few days. It’s a charming place to lay your head with a staff that only ever wears genuine smiles on their faces. So friendly, so helpful, and so good at making espresso in the morning. The B&B is in a great part of town, right next to the arch in the original city wall. This leads you to the main streets of town, filled with shops, restaurants, and gelateria.

So after settling in and freshening up, we went to explore our new locale. First and foremost, Sorrento smells GLORIOUS. The streets are lined with orange trees. Like, every street! All orange trees! It’s amazing. And it’s spring right now, so everything is in bloom and the trees are heavy with oranges. Need a snack? Go pick an orange. Forgot part of your lunch? Go pick an orange. They are everywhere and the smell is heavenly.

We walked through the old arch to the main street which was filling up with pedestrians taking walks and heading to dinner at the end of the day. It was lovely, but it didn’t quite feel like I thought Italy would feel. We stumbled upon a tour group that was in a courtyard outside of the big local church, Cattedrale di Sorrento. We figured we’d pop in. That was the moment that I fully arrived in Italy. High painted ceilings, tons of marble, gilded sculptures, and opera singers. We just happened upon a concert with a soprano and a tenor singing arias in a church. It was the most Italian thing that could have happened on our first night in country!

Sorrento is a wonderful jumping off point to easily hop on the ferry to Capri, the train to Naples, and the bus to Positano. We did all of these things and spent relaxing evenings back in our home base. Sorrento stays awake late, so there is always something to do. We ate loads of pizza and gelato and drank not enough limoncello. It was all obligatory. We had the most wonderful time.

My favorite pizza spot was Pizzaria da Franco. They were super friendly and make an amazing gluten free crust!! So good we went there twice. You can see into their kitchen. They hang hams from the ceiling. They finish your meal with a little limonchello and housemade chocolates. They ask you your name and they make it so you want to come back. And so we did. Thanks for the suggestion, Marie!!

One more thing to let us know that were really in Italy – the football. On one of our nights in Sorrento (just south of Naples), Naples had a match with Rome. There is a big north/south rivalry. Naples won the game and all of Sorrento went wild. I was waiting to see some wild kids climbing on light poles or flipping cars over, but no. There was singing and shouting and scooter riding around the main square. There is so much joy in this town and I am so glad I got to spend time in it. I love it here.