“A wise European traveler trusts fallback plans, explicitly and often.” – Old Sean
A Series of Stalls
Despite my best laid plans, a series of railway strikes prevented me from going to my initially chosen destination. I originally wanted to rent a scooter and try exploring the Amalfi Coast, the legendary splendor of cliffs and small towns in Italy.
But it wasn’t to be. Due to the strikes, there were no trains heading in my intended direction, where I had my eye on a one-day scooter rental. With my plans cancelled, I needed to reorient. As a result, I ended up detouring to the seaside town of Sorrento, which overlooks the Bay of Naples.
Unlike my other destinations, I hadn’t researched Sorrento at all. It was merely the only major destination I could reach by train during the strikes hobbling other rail lines. Whatever I would find there would be the result of happenchance.
The Natale Plazas
Sorrento turned out to be a source of numerous, pleasant surprises. Upon arriving, the weather stayed cloudy, but no rain ever fell. I often considered renting a scooter and zooming out to the coast. However, the sky was still dicey and I decided to spend a relaxing afternoon closer to shelter.
The most delightful part of Sorrento, upon arrival, was the number of Christmas decorations set up. While Naples and Rome have their fair share of festivity features, these are spread over march larger cities. Sorrento has their festivities in a might denser area. Tall pine trees, walls of Christmas ornaments, standing nutcrackers, ropes of Christmas lights and jolly wreaths of green and red were apparent throughout the city.
Furthermore, Sorrento is full of narrow, quiet walking alleys. After listening to the endless bustle of Rome and Naples, I’d almost entirely forgotten what a truly peaceful street sounded like. I was able to walk quietly, browsing without crowds or urgency.
One of the unfortunate truths about traveling comes from the aesthetic effects of population density. The quality of a visit is often enhanced or curtailed by the present crowd.
Some places handle this admirably. Concerts, for example, tend to gradually increase in entertainment value the larger the audience is. The Roman Forums can endure absolute hoards stomping through, since the pathways branch in clever routes to disperse dense walls of people.
But other places tend to struggle with oversaturation. There are islands in Greece which are a slog to shuffle around. A few dozen tourist in a small Italian restaurant effectively mangles the ambiance.
Sorrento is one of those places that can handle a few small, quiet crowds but the serenity gets strained when large groups walk through. It would still be an enjoyable feature, but nowhere near as peaceful and quaint. Luckily for me, the narrow streets with its bright shops and soft lights was largely depopulated by tourists.
I walked well alone.
Chocolate Sought is Chocolate Earned
While walking among these shops, I spent some time browsing clothes and shoes. I always feel a little awkward window-shopping. It’s no fun getting a shopkeeper’s hopes up when a person has no intention to buy anything.
By the same token, I’m not a huge fan of being steered into shops and restaurants. Sometimes, the experience is awkward and extraction feels rude. There aren’t many people with the talent to steer people into a shop with a welcoming smile and absolutely no pressures of expectations.
One such occurrence came while I was passing a shop on Via S. Cesareo. I heard a voice ring out from an bright shop, just as I was wandering onwards.
“Hey buddy, come on in!” came a light, rapidly-speaking tone.
“I’m good,” I muttered back, halfway waving my hand as my feet carried me past.
“You sure?” the voice took on a coy note. “Free chocolate samples for you.”
I froze and backpaddled, smoothly entering the shop. It’s a miracle I made it to adulthood without being kidnapped.
But there were free chocolate samples. Heaps of them, along with numerous other candies, spices and local treats I’d never seen or heard of. Before long, I was on a standing-still culinary tour inside a candy shop known as Nino and Friends. Elegant jars decorated walls, the sample platter was bright and offered freely and a chocolate waterfall behind glass accented the entryway.
I defiantly was treated well beyond my station. I had alcoholic lemon drop candies, rounded nut-ball chocolates, cherry-accented balsamic vinegar samples on tiny wooden spoons and hauntingly good mixed spices.
I mean hauntingly quite literately here. In the subsequent nights, I’ve dreamed of the samples from that shop.
Naturally, after indulging so heavily and loving so deeply, I couldn’t leave without a proper accounting. I bought numerous treats, loaded them into my backpack and paid. Slightly hunchbacked under the weight of my hoarded prizes, I thanked the fast-talking, perfectly-polite staff and moved onwards.
Majesty and Gravity
Decidedly full, walked down all the other streets I was interested in. I made it to Piazza della Vittoria, which is a tiny park with commanding views over the sea. Dark waves traced with sugar-white rose and faded below while a pair of seagulls flapped noisily overhead. Wind pressed back, nearly snatching my cap from my head. The park itself was filled with seasonal decorations and several more traditional metal-and-stone statues.
While I was gazing over the waters, admiring the sheer cliffs Sorrento is built upon, there was a rising clamor behind me. A large class of high schoolers was let out from classes and began walking home.
I ended up spending another ten or fifteen minutes resting in the park, letting the streets clear out before moving on.
Give Me Bread or Strike Me Dead
After my brief rest overlooking the scenery, my stomach pointedly reminded me that heaps of sugar, while fulfilling, wasn’t necessarily filling. I turned back into town to look for a more substantial early dinner.
I didn’t have to walk for long. Ristorante Donna Sofia, an upscale, refined pasta restaurant had fire-heaters blazing cheerfully inside. I was quickly ushered inside out of the mild cold and given a toasty seat in the corner.
As always, the food in Italy threatened to topple all other tourist endeavors out of my mind. I was granted a heaping metal plate of lasagna with a delicate spread of parmesan. My table was likewise heaped with fortifying sourdough and a bowl of light-hued scarpetta.
Travel constantly reveals blind spots in my culture and education. No matter how far I go, there is ever-less I know.
Fare la scarpetta is a sauce of sorts. The diner places the sauce flat on a plate where bread is used to soak up the delicacy. The technique is supposed to be used to finish up pasta sauce after a pasta meal, but there are actual dishes which only consist of the scarpetta.
The flavor is beyond delicious. Rich, savory, lingering and fortifying are the words which come to mind, though they’re wholly insufficient.
Giving my shirt’s stomach-buttons a workout, I finished my entire meal, carefully soaking up scarpetta from every corner of my plate.
By a Seabird’s Eye
Feeling noticably rounder, I decided to spend the rest of my daylight hours hiking. I made a fair go of it, walking to Parco di Villa Fiorentino and the Sorento City Center. There are impressive, green valleys throughout the town with sharp cliffs and impressively dense walls of ivy. All of these give way to the cliffs and beaches below, which are accented by black-and-grey sands.
I decided to make a real hike of it by walking up the steep roads leading to the cliff overlooks to the west. I spotted walls of trees, sheer stone and narrow waterfalls carving old paths towards the sea.
The views were spectacular. As the sun continued to sink, each step brought a newer, more impressive view.
Waiting On The Light
Finally, darkness began to fall. I was fairly excited for this eventuality. As I mentioned earlier, Sorrento was no slouch when it came to urban Christmas decor. I was excited to see the city awash in colors and pinpricks of lights. I lounged around the central portion of the city, soaking up time by sampling gelato and playing with puppies.
Finally, enough darkness fell for lights to begin glowing past twilight.
For the next hour, i appreciated rows of red, Christmas flowers, towering Santas, spindly trees laced with violet lights, arching Christmas depictions of a mermaid-tailed Poseidon, immense, white-light Christmas trees and rows of netted walls.
I enjoyed this very much. Italy had been good to me, from beginning to end. But I found myself tired once more. In a single day, I had explored Pompeii and a fair chunk of Sorrento. I had a little energy, but I knew better than to press myself.
Returning to a train station, I chugged back to Portici.
A Nook in Portici
Once back in my base city, I dropped off my sweet-tooth prizes at my apartment and wandered to a cozy bar nearby known as Fonderie.
The previous evening, I had promised myself that I would settle down with a book and drink. It’s one of the last traditions I always try to enjoy when nearing the end of a journey.
The Fonderie pub, with its wooden interior, array of bottles, excellent mixed drinks and soothing Scottish brews, put me into a perfect state of deep comfort.
It’s nice how much a new restaurant, properly attuned, can provide a comfort which rivals home.
Farewell to Southern
This technically concludes my entire vacation. I only had a week off from my work in Saudi Arabia and I was due to begin returning. My flight home, due to an extended layover in Budapest, would take about a day-and-a-half.
As such, it was time to reverse course. That night, I packed what I could before succumbing to sleep.
I only have one day left in Italy and the majority of that time will be spent either getting to Rome or straining to enjoy the last few stops I can before my 11 PM flight.
So until then,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written December 1st, 2023
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