The Spring Break Adventure - Chapter 5: Sunshiny Sorrento

Our train ride took us through the Italian countryside to Naples where we hopped on a local train down the Amalfi Coast to Sorrento. The view of the Bay of Naples was astounding, and Mount Vesuvius dominated the distant landscape. We met a nice older couple from England on the train, and they had spent their day exploring the ruins in Herculaneum, Pompeii's sister city. When we arrived in Sorrento we walked through one of the town's bustling squares and asked for directions to our hostel. We had to walk along the main street until we reached the hospital and then go down a hill. We found a hostel but couldn't believe it was ours. It was WAY too nice. This place was nicer than most hotels I've ever stayed in! It was amazing. Our room was enormous, had a working tv and its own (huge) bathroom. All for 25 euros a night? We were spoiled. After dropping off our things we asked the man at the front desk what to do and he suggested we walk around the tiny fishing village, Marina Grande, and get some supper from one of the family-run restaurants. So we did! Just down the hill from Sorrento on the water is a tiny village full of boats, ridiculous hotels, and restaurants. We walked in one restaurant but the lady told us they weren't open quite yet, so we continued exploring for a little while. It was a beautiful night! No wind, warm, and a wonderful sunset. Italy is amazing. After we explored a few neighborhoods, witnessed a proposal, admired the view, and found a few stray cats, we made our way back to the restaurant for food. The restaurant was run completely by a family. The mom cooked everything, and the kids/husband were the waiters and waitresses. We ordered the basics: spaghetti/ravioli with tomato sauce and some of the local wine, which they kept in a barrel right in the restaurant! Biting into my ravioli led to an explosion of the greatest flavors I've ever experienced. It tasted like a bite of tomato soup every time, and the wine was beautiful. It's almost beyond description. Once again, it was the best thing I had ever eaten. After a bit more walking around we made our way back to our super-hostel to crash for the night.To celebrate being in Sorrento we partook in the local resort culture and slept in until noon. It was another beautiful, warm day, so we walked through most of Sorrento. Away from the main street were tons of alleyways and small roads filled with shops, apartments, and restaurants. After navigating the roads and getting to a few views of the bay, we stopped at a pizzeria and ate lunch on the outdoor patio. We had some amazing pizza and people-watched for a while before heading back to our hostel to relax and watch a movie. I could get used to the resort lifestyle. After a short nap it was suppertime, so we headed back into town for a short walk and found an outdoor restaurant. I had Italian sausage and a salad. Molto bene! (Very good!) The Italian custom is to go for a walk before and after supper, so we took another walk through town, made our way back to the hostel, watched another movie, and called it a night.
Tuesday morning was rainy, so we postponed our day trip to Herculaneum. Instead, we had breakfast at the hostel and relaxed. I know it sounds like all we did was eat and lay around, but that's the beauty of Sorrento :) Around lunchtime we walked up the hill and found a little shop that made fresh Italian sandwiches. We picked up a few and ate them back at the hostel while watching another movie. Since our day trip was postponed we had to find something else to do for the afternoon, and that's when we found the spa. That's right, our hostel had a spa. It was located a few stories underground and was full of pools, baths, showers, saunas, various other awesome relaxation things, and the relaxation room, which was full of super-comfortable chairs, soothing music, and herbal tea. All you had to pay was twenty euros and you could spend the entire day in that haven of relaxation. After 4.5 hours of the most intensely relaxing experience of my life, I felt like a beautiful prune. We emerged around suppertime, so we found a tiny family-run pizzeria in town. We walked in and an elderly Italian lady greeted us with a huge smile. She was so happy to have us! Their sign said to ask about the house special, so I did. She got really excited and said that it was her homemade lasagna. I was sold, and the lasagna was a masterpiece. After yet another amazing meal we returned to the hostel, and I skyped with my parents for a few hours, trying to explain the amazing spring break experience.Wednesday we slept in, got sandwiches from our little sandwich shop, and hopped on the train to Herculaneum. On the ride we met a few nice families visiting from Australia. They were headed to Pompeii, and we had a good time swapping stories along the way. Herculaneum is another small town on the Amalfi coast, and it has preserved ruins similar to those in Pompeii. The couple from England that we met told us that Herculaneum was like a smaller, better preserved version of Pompeii. Although Pompeii was huge and had 'the atmosphere,' we decided to explore Herculaneum's ruins. It was really sweet seeing the preserved houses, roads, pottery, paintings, and statues throughout the town. Herculaneum was buried in much more ash than Pompeii; that's why it's better preserved. It was nice to explore because it wasn't so huge that you spent your entire day there. We saw everything we needed to in a couple of hours. After the train ride back to Sorrento we crashed back at the hostel. Cassandra borrowed my laptop, and I took a three hour nap, exhausted from the few hours of actual activity. When it was getting a bit later we decided to take another pre-dinner walk and find a restaurant for our last meal in Sorrento. I found a place called 'il Leone Rosso' (the Red Lion) online, and the place looked amazing. It definitely didn't disappoint. When our dishes arrived and we tried them out, we were both speechless. We didn't say a word for at least two full minutes. This food was definitely the best I'd ever had. After enjoying every bit of our final meal, we walked around a bit more of the town and ended up back at the hostel. Four days of relaxation and amazing food made Sorrento one of my favorite places in the entire world. I had an unbelievable time, and I can't wait to go back!
Little did we know that Mother Nature had quite the surprise waiting for us in the morning...
*for the conclusion to my Spring Break Adventure, see the post "Beginning with the End" from April 19