Sorrento

Sorrento is at the southern end of the Circumvesuviana railway line which passes through Pompeii to Naples. First inhabited by the Greeks in 600 BC, it’s a historic city, though there isn’t much left in the way of ancient remains. It was a popular destination on the ‘Grand Tour’ circuit in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and was visited by the likes of Byron and Keats. It’s also the home of the limoncello aperitif,

We’d heard that the Christmas lights in Sorrento were worth seeing, so we decided to set off late morning and stay there until after dark to see the lights. It’s a lovely old town and we spent much of the day just mooching around. We found a great restaurant and had a lovely three course lunch with a bottle of wine.

Later in the afternoon it started to rain, so we took shelter in a bar and treated ourselves to a delicious limoncello (it would have been rude not to!).

Once darkness fell, we went for a walk around the town again to admire the Christmas lights, and they really did look great. Despite the lights, it really was very noticeable that Christmas here is much less commercial than in the UK – the shops aren’t all festooned with decorations and we didn’t hear any Christmas songs blaring out.

Tomorrow we’re having a day off, and will probably just pop into Pompeii new town.

Mike