Sorrento, Italy

Nigel has planned another one of his great trips for us, this time with a toddler! We are staying in Sorrento, Italy, and travelling around from there. The small red dot on the Tyrrhenian Sea marks our destination.

We are shuttled from a great little B&B in the hills overlooking Sorrento called Villa Monica. As we walk to the main square we peer over the ridge to the gulley below. Our host tells us the building down below used to be a ceramics factory.

We can look back at it as we walk on. It has been bought by people wanting to turn it into a pasta factory. There will have to be some sort of lift/elevator installed. It is dizzying looking down.

The town has all the charming little streets of Italy without a lot of the tourist hubbub now that we are off season.

Sorrento is in the lovely position of being a coastal town.

Travelling with a toddler has been very fun. Italians love children, from the people on the street to the people serving us in restaurants. We eat most nights at Il Leone Rosso Ristorante and Pizzeria. Every night we are seated beside the wood oven and our little munchkin is fascinated with watching the pizzas being made. Of course they love him and bring us plates of tester pizza as we wait. I think this is the best value place to eat in Sorrento. Excellent pizza and fresh pasta. They even brought us a free dessert on our last day.

Sorrento is lovely and the streets are lined with orange trees. I would guess this is our munchkin's favourite fruit at the moment and so he was fascinated to see them hanging all over the trees.

We wander around and explore the churches. Above is the courtyard of Chiesa di San Francesco.

Even the broken old brick path is full of nuances.

From the waterfront edge of town we look down from the cliffs to the Marina Piccolo (small marina) below.

One of the routes down to the marina is via a switch back road deep in the gorge that cuts into the town itself.

We check out the cafes in Piazza Lauro.

Our guide book leads us to a small lemon tree grove on the outskirts of town with amazing views. Unfortunately it looks abandoned and locked up.

The water is a beautiful aqua colour.

The views are still great.

More orange trees that we are told are not the best for eating. The shops are filled with oranges that we buy and eat everyday. They are huge, sweet, and juicy blood oranges.