On day 4 we woke up to another beautiful morning!
The Marina Grande
The only reservations we have so far are to take a pizza cooking class in Sorrento so we started early and headed in on the bus. For the record you can buy your ticket on the bus but it is more spendy than if you buy your ticket ahead of time. It's only like a dollar fifty and you can get tickets at any tobacco store. Tabacchi is what you look for.
We wandered around by the beach to see if we could take the ferry to begin with but unfortunately we are here when they are doing construction on the port and the ferry is shut down for a couple days.That means every single water taxi is already booked, although they were willing to take us to Sorrento for €600. Gasp. I might as well rent us our own boat. If only I could park a boat. Dock a boat, whatever. Pfft. We decided to pay the €1.50 and get on the bus. This involves a trudge up the hill to meet the bus, but I am starting to prefer the inclines over the #@$! stairs.
It was a windy, curvy, beautiful goosebumpy sort of drive on the bus. Another experience you have to do yourself to understand what I'm talking about. I do not know how people sit on this road with the bus coming towards them in their cars but you can tell the locals from the tourists. The tourists sit determinedly (read arrogantly here) still on THEIR side of the WHITE line but the locals know that's not enough room and move over to nearly falling off the cliff. Even then I saw several reach out and pull their mirrors in. So often when we come across a tourist who did not move over, the bus slows down or stops, carefully negotiating around their car and a bit of a chicken game ensues. Tip: the bus is bigger, they don't care about your rental, move over. Even so, we heard at least one big screech where we did rub against something or someone.
After arriving in Sorrento we decided to wander down to the local market which was our other purpose. We were unable to find it and I am sure that someone who has been will laugh at us. So much for google maps as we did walk in circles and finally gave up and had lunch. We ate at the Foreigners Club also called circolo de forestieri at their restaurant called Terrazza delle Sirene and again, I won't bore you with all of the adjectives for this fantastic food and wine. We tried a few versions of seafood risotto and chicken salad. There seems to be a lack of vegetables at most of these meals.
The server was a little "funny sarcastic", a little sharp but laughing with us which was confusing. We finally realized that's because us stupid Americans walked right past all of the other patrons who were waiting and helped ourselves to a table with the assistance of a waiter. Our waiter, being the head waiter was not impressed with any of us. Live and Learn.
Oh by the way, when you come to Italy You can pay for almost all of your meals on your credit card, but you cannot pay your tips so you will need more Euros than you think you do. Also much of the transportation is paid for with Euros. Last but not least, even if they say they will take credit cards, several of the restaurants will act confused when you try to offer it and will try to get Euros instead. Lesson of the day.... bring more Euros than you think or be prepared to at least remember your debit card.
Having given up on the market we did wander down several side streets that look a lot like maybe Pike Street Market with lots of booths of food, leather goods, italian food items etc. Have you seen the size of the lemons!? I thought they were a melon of some sort at first. The shopping is much more affordable here than Positano, as we have discovered Positano is the most expensive city in Italy. You're welcome travel buddies.
Tena treated us to our first aperol spritz. It's very popular here in Italy but I don't think I will be making them in my courtyard back at home. We found an art show that we wandered through and Vicki and I bought a few black and white photo prints from the artist. Mine will remind me of this beautiful coastline, and of course make me want to come back. We wandered around the downtown core and looked at the Marina Grande. It's larger than a village but Sorrento is a nice place. Many recommend staying here as it's a bit more central to all of the transportation, but I think I like the quieter Positano vibe. Oh, and of course there are stairs here too. Lol.
By this time we have confirmed with our cooking class that we have arrived in Sorrento. During the discussion that Vicki had with the host, it became apparent that they did not think we would make it from the class on their farm in the mountains down to Sorrento in time to catch the last 9pm bus. That would be the last bus going to Positano for the night. Damn this transportation.
After much texting they encouraged us to come anyway and said they would take the four of us down directly to the bus stop in his fiat panther if we could fit. We were game, even AFTER looking up what the hell a fiat panther was. This is going to be fun! An adventure! Lol. I will tell you all about that experience and the cooking school in the next blog.
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