Sorretine Sweet Times

Sorrento

As you wend your way out of the tortuous roads of the Sorrentine Peninsula there will be questions asked: - Can this famous Italian town really be worth hours of twisting turning roads with rocky mountains on one side and steep cliffs on the other, dropping away to those sparkling seas below? As narrow as these roads may be, the locals do not slow and the buses thunder past. Around one more blind corner and finally from nowhere you are plunged into the streets of beautiful Sorrento.

Sorrento is a sea of art and colour. The narrow streets and thin buildings are draped with zigzags of
pendants and buntings. Civic buildings are not afraid to use bright colours that highlight their ornate facades. In the little side streets and alleyways the cafe tables are wrapped in tablecloths of deep blues and reds. Window boxes splash their own seasonal shades to add to the visual frenzy. And all the while the warm Mediterranean sun shines down in a celebration of outdoor living.

In the heart of Sorrento small shops are inserted into any available nook or cranny. The streets open out into small piazzas where locals and tourists pass the time with their coffee or their wine. A deep ravine slices through the heart of the town and disappears beneath the pedestrian dominated streets and into the hillside.

From the cliff tops there are shafts of view down to harbours filled with small boats and to the beaches and coves below - sometimes available only to private hotel guests where a marina or man-made promontory reaches out into the bay.













The rich blue waters are crossed endlessly by small pleasure crafts and by majestic cruise liners on their way back or forwards from the great port of Naples. Many of those passengers will make the day trip to Sorrento by bus. This most picturesque of towns may attract tourists by the hundreds during the day but in the evenings as the crowds depart, the locals remain and the true magic of Sorrento emerges.

Sorrento is not only for the rich and famous. A friendly camping ground in easy walking distance from the centre of town makes this mecca both affordable and accessible to anyone prepared to brave the hair-raising clifftop drive.

Also Pip McCurdy's New Zealand posts:

On Blogspot, Pip McCurdy on the Road

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