Eat, drink, walk...

September 25^th.  Sorrento.

It is Friday and we are spending the day around Sorrento today.

We start the day with a 3 hour Food Walking Tour from 11:00 to 2:00, wandering through the downtown area stopping at 8 local restaurants and eateries to sample local dishes and specialties.

Our first stop is Hopera, a little family owned pasticceria or bakery where we begin with sfogliatelle, a flaky pastry, somewhat like a croissant but filled with ricotta and topped with custard and berries. Mouthwatering.

 We continue down Via Corsa to Bar Rita, a little deli where we sample arancini, a local specialty that is sort of like a rice ball that is coated and cooked, along with a refreshing orange flavored mineral water. I can already tell this is going to be a very filling lunch!

We visit a very popular pizzeria with a giant oven where they slip in rows of pizzas and paninis on a long wooden plank and bake them for only a few minutes at 800 degrees. The thin crust is crispy but moist and so delicious and the local mozzarella cheese is gooey and thick. The specialty is Saltimbocca, ham with mozza in a panini. Buffalo mozzarella is one of the special foods native to this area. I swear this is the best pizza or panini I have ever tasted!

Saltimbocca, local specialty Panini.

We tour a lemon orchard. It is a haven right in the centre of town, 3 acres of lemon grove where the lemons hang young and green. They harvest lemons 3 times a year and have just finished so the trees hold only green fruit now, the next harvest is December.

 

At the production area an elderly gentleman  peels lemons, the zest is used for their famous Lemoncello. The fruit is used for many other things like marmalade, soap, perfume. We sample Lemoncello, a walnut (another local special produce) liquor, lemon marmalade and a host of other lemon goodies.
They say the lemons in Sorrento lead a hard life.

Lemoncello

We head down the alley that borders the old wall of the ancient city. It is a market lined with shop after shop of local items.  We stop at a vendor who brings us a tray of dried meats and cheeses. The provolone di monaca and mortadella are fabulous! Tourists pass by, trying to sneak portions off our tray. We have permission to slug them if they do!

Next we pop into a lemon store, every manner of lemon candy and treats. Like almonds coated with chocolate and lemon… yummmm.

We stop for lunch of Caprese Salad and fresh gnocchi with a Sorrentine (tomato) sauce and Crema de Christi wine, a light white wine made from a local grape. The Roma tomatoes grown here are so fresh and full of flavour I could eat them at every meal.

We finish up with Coconut gelato, stuffed and satisfied. Excellent food, an excellent guide (Tamara from San Diego) and a good walk through the town.

 Tamara shows us the way to Marina Grande. We bid good-bye to the group and head off to discover the ancient fishing village that sits far below Sorrento on the seashore. We see it from above but want to go down. We wind through the town to a steeply sloping path that winds downward to the sea. It is quaint, charming, still a fishing village. Local fishermen are cleaning their catch by the shore. I pass a little beachfront café owned by a group of fishermen. They are having a lively singsong with the patrons. 

Here it is removed from the hustle bustle above, here we savour the quiet without cars and horns and hordes of people. We sit at a little bistro table and enjoy a cold drink in the hot sun of the afternoon. We meander along the shoreline, poking in a few small shops and stopping to pick up beach glass.

We make our way to a bar on the pier for a cold beer overlooking the brilliant blue of the ea, the sun warm on our faces.  Around us people doze on lounge chairs in the sun.

 

Finally we make our way back up the hill. We stop at the Excelsior Grand Hotel, advertising live jazz on Friday evenings. Sounds like a plan….  We watch the sunset, sipping a cold glass of wine and listening to good music.  What could be better! 

 

 

Ciao……