Daily Ireland
December 4, 2004

They say a picture tells a thousand words and these pictures certainly do, but a million words wouldn’t come near enough to explaining how beautiful the Italian town of Sorrento really is.

Comparing the costal town of Sorrento to Belfast would be like comparing chalk to cheese, and that’s not just because we were walking around in t-shirts on a November’s evening and sitting out until after midnight watching the calm sea while sampling some local wine.

Walk down any street in the Italian town and you’re literally hit with a citrus burst – many gardens boasting their own pineapple, orange, lemon and lime trees.

In fact, it’s lemons that the town is most renowned for, with a huge abundance of the fruit, evident in the fact that every sort of tourist-type gift has some sort of lemon twist to it.

>From lemon flavoured candies to the world-famous Lemoncello, a lemon drink made from the zest of lemons and distilled on premises in front of anyone interested in watching the process.

Plenty of variety is available and the most enjoyable of the lot is a Bailey’s type product that’s of a much thinner consistency with a hefty kick of lemon.

The shop we ventured into had pictures of many celebrities including Zinidine Zidane sampling the lemon delights.

Sorrento as a town isn’t a place for those looking a sun-drenched beach holiday – there are a few small beaches dotted along the costal town but they’re generally for use only by those who stay in the respective hotels.

Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi, where we stayed during our time in Sorrento had its own beach with a small restaurant. Getting to this little peace of heaven was either by lift or a fascinating walk down the side of the cliff.

Once we arrived at the balcony of our hotel to look out over the Gulf of Naples late at night, any distractions melted away with the shimmering lights in the distance.It is surely one of the most awesome sites from any hotel in the world.

Sorrento is a small town and you can reach most of the city by foot, although buses do run past at regular intervals.

Taxis in the city are rather expensive, for a walk that normally took us around 20 minutes, we paid nearly 20 Euros. But public transport is an excellent way to get around, and extremely cheap.

Walking is fine most of the time but to go to the harbour you’d have to walk down some long and windy roads – paying the small price on the bus to see the driver turn the bus around a corner I would’ve been unsure about in a Mini Metro is worth the Euro fee in itself.

>From the harbour boats go on a regular basis to Capri and Naples.
We journeyed over to Capri, which is about a 30-minute boat ride and gives an excellent view of the cliffs of Sorrento.

Capri was even more stunning than Sorrento and once you get to the top, the views are breathtaking.

Anyone who hasn’t trained to be an Olympic athlete should take note that getting the bus from the port in Capri is a much better option than walking up the near 90-degree steps to the top of the island.

Once at the top there are beautiful gardens where you can look out over a stunning island and the attractive blue ocean.

Sorrento itself is more a central base camp than a one-stop destination. And it’s where anyone looking to travel around the Amalfi Coast and take in some of the fascinating cities and places nearby is normally based.

Pompeii, Naples, Amalfi and Positano are all easily reached, as is the aforementioned island of Capri.

Getting to the ancient city of Pompeii is just a quick train ride from the centre of Sorrento and takes under 40 minutes.

The city was buried in AD 79 when the supposedly extinct volcano Vesuvius erupted covering the town and all who lived there in tons of volcanic ash.

But it wasn’t until 1748 that it was realised that the town wasn’t destroyed but ‘buried’. Although work has continued since then to uncover the ancient city, two thirds of Pompeii still lies underneath volcanic debris.

A day trip to Pompeii is a must for anyone interested in history with plenty of walking and many fascinating buildings including a massive arena where Gladiators once battled it out.

It’s an unusual piece of history as it’s easy to forget that every step you take, every piece of building you touch is a little bit of history in itself.

But back to Sorrento itself, the city is packed full of beautiful architecture and wonderful views over the Gulf of Naples.

The streets are packed with small bars and restaurants – the essential side of European culture where sitting outside sipping Expresso or vino rosso is a crucial part of socialising.

Even the local shops reflect the Italian laid back attitude to life – one woman who told us she had worked in the same shop for more than 30 years summed up their fantastic views on life.

Sorrento is a place I’ll never forget and I hope to one day, as Dean Martin eloquently put it in one of his classic love songs, Come Back to Sorrento.....

Sunlight dances on the sea
Tender thoughts occur to me
I have often seen your eyes
In the nighttime when I dream
When I pass a garden fair
And the scent is in the air
In my mind a dream awakes
And my heart begins to break
But you said goodbye to me
Now all I can do is grieve
Can it be that you forgot?
Darling forget me not!
Please don't say farewell
And leave this heart that's broken
Come back to Sorrento
So I can mend

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