Sorrento & Capri

Beach-side selfie

Sorrento and Capri (alternate title: OMG - why did I drive here!?!)

I’m sitting in the camper writing this post after leaving Sorrento behind. Usually I start with the writing, then add pictures to the google photo album and then go back and forth between the two parts until I’m happy enough to post. This time I started with the pictures because, well, it's just gorgeous and I needed to be reminded of that before writing. I can look back at the pictures and appreciate it now only because we survived driving there and out again. I’m serious. It's sort of like childbirth. The lovely baby puts the pain in perspective - if you live through it. 

Check out the pictures here. Seriously, I'll wait.

The drive from Rome to Sorrento was going well until we somehow got side-tracked and had to drive through the small coastal town of Castellammare di Stabia. Living at the foot of a volcano that has wiped out entire towns and could do so again at any time must have an extreme effect on the people here. The mayhem I described in the last post as experienced by a pedestrian was now ramped up a notch as I was driving a six meter van through it. Cars and scooters were parked on two lane roads so you had to wait for a break in on-coming traffic to go around them. Cars and scooters would blow past the stop sign into the main road from a side street if there wasn’t a vehicle going fast enough in that lane at that very moment to avoid hitting them. It was like they were holding the place. Forced to stop or run them over, I then had to wait until there was a break in traffic to allow them to complete their LEFT turn! Each time I thought I had witnessed the highest level of insane driving, I was surprised by the next.  

Eventually we cleared that area, but now we started up the zig-zag road that clung to the side of the cliff and overlooked the beautiful sea. I was glad Dermot was getting the chance to enjoy the view because I wasn’t sure we were going to make it. I’ve traveled in this area before as the passenger on a bus and I was constantly thankful I wasn’t driving. Now facing those same self-assured drivers as they swung their busses far into my lane to negotiate a curve, I was petrified. There was horn honking. Some came from the drivers ahead to let you know they were about to plow around this bend and obliterate you, and some came from those behind because you are obviously going FAR too slowly. This drive is hard enough in a car but did I mention that I’m driving a CAMPERVAN?! It turns out Dermot wasn’t enjoying the experience either. He was trying to be helpful by warning me of just how close I was coming to things on his side both verbally and with spastic body movements. As a self-soothing measure, I reminded myself that thousands of people survive this drive everyday and was immediately shocked back into fatalism by the next driver! Days later were riding a bus on the island of Capri and the bus driver was negotiating the streets which made me both happy and nauseous at the same time.  All along the way he was blessing himself as he drove. Amen brother!

When we drove into the campground I was so relieved.  I allowed myself a brief happy dance before remembering that there was no easy way out again. I would have to drive back the same way.  It cast a pall over the days we would spend there.

The campground was huge and it took us multiple walks around to get our bearings because maps are usually of relatively flat ground but this place was a set of terraces of olive trees carved into the side of a cliff so you had more neighbors above and below you than on your little strip of ground. There were some lovely views and a long walk very far down to the "beach." No sand, just rocks but with great views. This late in the season we had it nearly to ourselves. As we arrived, a Japanese couple in wedding clothes were just leaving. We have no idea how far down it is but when I checked my step counter that night it said we had climbed 23 floors!

Italian market haul for rainy days!

I had hoped to go to Capri Island and visit the famed blue grotto but rain and lightning was in the weather forecast and the grotto was closed due to rough conditions. Instead, I wrote the Rome post and we visited the lovely town of Sorrento and caught up on necessities.  Unimpressed with the restaurant we found in Sorrento the first night, we shopped and cooked meals in the campervan. You can eat very well from the semi-prepared foods in the markets here! 

Limoncello is the norm but we found Viagroncello!

When the weather cleared, we arranged a day trip to Capri Island.  We took a boat from Sorrento to Capri's Marina Grande which is tourist-packed even now. We were glad we had a few days of R&R so we were better able to handle it. No, we didn't see any celebrities but we saw enough high-end shopping establishments to keep them coming. The blue grotto was open part of the day but our time was limited so we decided to ride the chair lift up Monte Solaro and the views were stunning. 

That meant Dermot faced both seasickness and his fear of heights in one day.  What a trouper! At the end of the day we reboarded the boat to have a tour around the island of Capri and headed back to Sorrento just as the sun was setting.  Ahhhhhh!