A Week in Sorrento

After a long, tedious and mind-numbing month of exams, it was truly liberating to celebrate the end of my second university year by jetting off the the wonderful, beautiful and historic Italian City of Sorrento. Travelling is something that is extremely important to me, so I love to document my travels on my blog, so as to provide inspiration, ideas and just a (hopefully) fun read for you.

The story begins at approximately 6.30 on Monday 3rd June. My sister and I have the house to ourselves as our parents are already away, so we have been given pre-made dinner, as we apparently still aren't capable of cooking our own meals (after fending for myself at uni for the past two years, I can confirm this statement remains factually accurate). Our flight leaves at 10am the following day, so we tuck into our chicken korma dinner lovingly prepared by our devoted mother. We enjoy the rest of our evening.

I cannot get to sleep that night. I feel genuinely uncomfortable and I am tossing and turning like it's an olympic sport. Waves of nausea overcome me and I am forced to spend all night hanging my head over the loo, watching that chicken korma come right back up. I'll spare you the gory details. I arise the next morning, not having achieved a wink of sleep due to this sickness, only to feel even worse and have to manage packing the last of my things and heading to London Luton Airport. The verdict? Food poisoning.

After what constituted the most horrific plane journey of my life (I am NOT exaggerating), we arrive at Naples Airport and, after making my grand entrance by making a break for the ladies room, were shuttled to our hotel, Hotel Grand La Favorita, in Sorrento where our darling mother (and giver of the food poisoning) met us. I spent that evening in bed, recovering. Shout out to my sister who dealt with the situation admirably.

So, the holiday for me technically began the next day. We woke up, ate our breakfast (I was still slightly fragile) and ventured out into the town to have a look and book our day trips to come. We decided to buy boat tickets for the next day to Capri, where we would spend all day exploring different parts of the Island. We were mesmerised by the sheer enormity of the lemons in Sorrento and spent the afternoon pointing at the largest ones we could find. In the evening, we spent a stunning evening on our hotel's rooftop bar, witnessing the fiery sunset fade into a blue, hazy dusk.

The next day, we woke very early so as to catch our large boat to Capri. We enjoyed a breezy journey to the island, and when we arrived, we booked our next boat tickets to Positano, for that afternoon. A short, yet exhilarating taxi journey later, we were up in Capri town, able to look out on beautiful views of the landscape. We meandered in and out the old streets, popping into the Chanel (classic me) so we could yearn for everything in there. We then took a bus to Anacapri (after waiting for what seemed an eternity, just for half-sized buses to come very intermittently) and headed to the Gardens of Augustus, in which we enjoyed yet more stunning views, foliage and architecture.


The highlight of this day was going to the Villa san Michele, which was built by Axel Munthe. Learning of the history of himself and his motivations for building this grand villa was extremely insightful and the villa itself had many old artefacts, dating from centuries ago. It all felt very Caecilius to me (big up year 8 latin). The best part were the idyllic gardens, providing an oasis of beauty and history, with stunning views and flowers that would make botanists very jealous indeed. Mum was impressing us with her extensive knowledge of flower names as we inspected each one.


We then took our boat to Positano, at around 3pm. All in all, Positano was lovely but there felt like there was something missing. It wasn't the picturesque town we were expecting. Although it was fundamentally beautiful, the buildings actually looked slightly worn and shabby, which slightly tarred the landscape. Nevertheless, we walked up the hills to have a better view of the interesting architecture. The bus back to Sorrento was an absolute nightmare. First we couldn't find the stop, then we found out we couldn't buy tickets on the bus so had to descend back down the hill back to the tourist office. Then a bus didn't come for another hour and a half, by which point the sky had darkened as had the mood. Yet, the relief when the bus turned the corner was joyous, and we had a rather positive journey back home, particularly as we had got chatting to fellow holidaymakers.


The next few days were spend lounging around the rooftop pool, roasting nicely in the blazing sun. I felt truly relaxed, which was a total relief after the very stressful month I had just endured. The best dinner we had was at Soul and Fish, situated at the Marina Grande. The most attentive service was followed by the tastiest seafood, paired with a cold bottle of prosecco and sea views, that evening was an absolute bobby dazzler.


Our last day was half spent catching our final rays of sun and having one last wander around Sorrento town. We were so pleased to be staying there, especially after having spend time in Positano and making comparisons. A scoopful of gelato and a pizza later, we returned to our hotel for one last sunset-watching night. The sunset was barred by clouds that evening, nevertheless we enjoyed delicious cocktails and soothing music.


Travelling home was much less eventful than the outward journey, and I was so glad to be able to have the airport Starbucks (anyone else only associate starbucks with airports?) I had craved from the beginning. We had a truly dreamy time away and I will always be partial to a girly holiday away with the two most important ladies in my life, my mum and my sister.

Ciao, bellas.

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