two drifters: Summertime in Italy

Our Italian summer holiday was instigated by my attendance to a design conference in Torino called Changing the Change, where I also presented a paper on my PhD research. The conference spanned 3 days, drew an international design crowd. For a write-up on the conference, please see my research blog called Letters to Australia.

Beginning in Torino

On the last day of the conference, Geoff flew into Torino. We had almost a day to spend in Torino so we wondered along the River Po and within the Old Town. From Torino we traveled to Sorrento in southern Italy.

Sweet Sorrento

Neither of us had been to southern Italy before. We were excited to visit having seen the rom-com Only You a few times and been in awe of the backdrop of the Almalfi coast as Robert Downey Jr chases Marissa Tomei all over this beautiful part of the world.

Sorrento is a small beach town and while quite difficult to access (the closest airport is Naples and you either take a 1 hour train local train or pay a small fortune for a taxi), it is absolutely buzzing with tourists and tiny streets of shops, bars and restaurants.

On the fringes of the town, you can also find stunning views to the Bay of Naples and an ominous Mt Vesuvius, which always appears as a silhouette.

We arrived late in the evening and the streets of the town centre were packed with people. We stayed in a great hotel, the Sorrento City Hotel, which was in the thick of the town's activity, and a stone’s throw away from the main Piazza Tasso. The hotel had great personal service and compact but modern rooms. Our room had a balcony overlooking the main street, a great people watching point!

Our first night in Sorrento, we were exhausted from walking around Torino (earlier that day), taking a flight, and then a steaming hot train ride to our beach side destination. We found a quiet table at Syrenuse Bar and Restaurant in Piazza Tasso for dinner. Our table was on a narrow balcony over a cliff drop to the street below. An early night beckoned and plans were made to visit Capri the next day.

Dazzling Capri

We had the option of taking a tour to Capri, but as we arrived too late to book through the tour office so we took a boat ride out to Capri ourselves. We learnt the following day that this was probably the better option, as a couple we met briefly the next day had not enjoyed being on tour to Capri.

Capri is a ritzy, resort island about a half hour boat ride from Sorrento.

As we stepped off the large boat, smaller boar tours were leaving the main port to tour the island's many grottos and unique land formations. The boats can only hold about a dozen people and there is a lot of sea spray from choppy waters as the boat exits the main port of Capri.

Away from the port is a beautifully serene experience. Out on the water, under the sun, with the sea breeze in our faces and the towering rocky mountains that meet the sea, we couldn’t have asked for more for 13 Euros each. This was by far the best thing we could do on a day visit to Capri.

The rest of our time there was spent lunching and then a tram ride to the top of one of the mountain to the La Piazzetta.

La Piazetta had stunning views and shop after shop of haute couture fashion such as Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and Salvatore Ferragamo (just to name some of the Italian houses). We stopped for a coffee on the terrace to enjoy a break and a view after some browsing.

Back in Sorrento, we couldn’t resist visiting the beach for a quick dip. We went to St Peter’s beach a private beach that required a fee to enter and use the sun lounges and umbrella, but the short dip in the warm Mediterranean ocean was worth it!

Ancient Pompeii

We had an 8am start the next day on our Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius tour. It was a searing hot day and there is not much shade among the ruins of Pompeii. It was fascinating nonetheless to see what once was a bustling city, with numerous streets, residences, amphitheatres, markets and shops, now only marked by by the ruins that remain after the infamous 79 AD Vesuvius explosion, so powerful it took only 5 minutes to reach Pompeii and wiped out the whole city. Pompeii was surely a monumental excavation job, and an amazing attraction to envision what life was like in 79 AD.

After a quick lunch at a nearby restaurant (we dodged the tourist crowd at the other restaurant) it was on the coach again to Mt Vesuvius.

Monumental Vesuvius

Our tour guide said on the coach she would not be accompanying us up to the top of Mt Vesuvius. After the half hour, dusty walk up the mountain in blistering heat, it wasn’t hard to understand why she’d choose to remain in the air-conditioned comfort of the coach!

But the views over the Bay of Naples were amazing from the top.

The crater looked quite harmless and empty, making it hard to believe it could wipe out a whole city in just one day. Vesuvius is still considered an active volcano.

Lucky for us there was no fireworks on this particular day!

After a long, hot and dusty day out, we arrived in Sorrento sun-stroked and drowsy and were thankful that dinner at the Terrazza Bosquet was booked for us late.

Terrazza Bosquent was nothing short of amazing. Located in the exclusive and historic Excelsior Vittoria Hotel perched on the cliff face.

The hotel is on the main street of Sorrento but set far back among pretty gardens. The hotel is so exclusive and private it has a security guard out the front only allowing hotel guests and diners through.

Our hotel booked us dinner and had requested a very special table, one of the few right on the terrace balustrade with uninterrupted views to Mt Vesuvius and the glittering lights of Naples. The evening temperature was perfect and there was only a very slight breeze. The service was impeccable and the food and wine were all delicious. This had to be one of the best dining experiences ever.

Breathtaking Amalfi

Our last full day in Sorrento was spent on the Amalfi Coast. Again we went on tour. We had an expert driver, who managed the get the coach effortlessly around hairpin bends and tiny roads that hug the mountainsides.

We could only pass by Positano as the streets are so narrow, coaches can’t actually fit down them. But it was stunning just to see the hundreds of villas build into the mountain slope down to the water. Apparently Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington had been holidaying in Positano just the week before.

We passed through numerous other towns along the Amalfi coast and eventually stopped at Amalfi, a lively town with many shops and a big-ish port.

We took a boat ride, similar to the one in Capri, along the coast to check out Amalfi’s surrounds. We spied the hotel Bill Gates is currently building, Sophia Loren’s villa and the honeymoon villa of John and Jacqueline Kennedy.

On land, Geoff and I visited the first paper mill in Europe. It was set quite far back from the port, so it was very quiet there and we got a personal tour of the mill. Geoff also got to make paper. Unfortunately it takes 2-3 days for each sheet to dry so we couldn’t take his one home.

Lunch time approached and we were taken to a spot, high up on the mountain with stunning views across to Ravello, down the valley and toward the ocean. It was lovely being up there enjoying views over hand made pasta for lunch.