italy: sorrento

the first time i saw sorrento was in july, 2014...but that wasn't a proper visit, it was just a drive through...we drove through the city on the way to one of its ports, to rent boats and be out on the water all day...i knew back then that i wanted to see more of the city...
sorrento is basically the capital of the amalfi coast, a UNESCO listed area of italy...the coast is full of small, beautiful towns...sorrento is the starting point to get to many of them...sorrento isn't as well known as the rest of the coast, or as picturesque, but i still wanted to see what i could...

i took public transport all the way...it's an easy trip; pozzuoli to plaza garibaldi in naples, then plaza garibaldi to sorrento on the circumvesuviana line...(the circumvesuviana line also goes by pompei and herculaneum)...
i exited the train station and walked down to the closest street and turned right...immediately i noticed the city was still decorated for the holidays, even though it was already 8 january...(i wonder when it is all taken down)...a snowman, a couple bears, each made from strings of lights...lights at intervals across streets at traffic light height...

after less than a kilometer of walking down the street, i realized i was going the wrong way...there was nothing of interest (for me anywho)...so i turned around and walked back, on the other side of the street...
going the other way quickly brought me to a cute area of town...a plaza (i prefer the german word platz, but this is italy, so i suppose i should use plaza) with a couple churches, several cafes, and entrances to several smaller streets...i walked past a number of shops clearly aimed at visitors, as well as restaurants, etc...i've long been aware there are a lot of different types of pasta, but it's still interesting to see so many available in one place...

at this point i realized i'd gotten going a couple hours too late in the morning...i'd arrived just after noon, when just about everything was closing down for the afternoon siesta...i found a small cafe for a quick lunch, but not much else was open at that point...even the churches were closed for this siesta...how annoying!! italy has heaps of economic problems, and every time i visit i get frustrated by this afternoon siesta...i know it's part of the culture, but couldn't money, services, and just about everything else be generated during these 2-3 hours?
everything being closed meant i had to kill time...i wandered a couple streets, then heard a couple speaking english...i said hello, and meant to keep going, but ended up being drawn into an hour long conversation! they were traveling for a couple weeks, originally from minnesota...

we talked about all sorts of topics, from family, to travel plans, to thoughts about world economies, etc...i love these types of conversations :)
after ending that conversation i kept walking, this time out what i think is the south end of the city...the road goes up a hill, around a headland...from a whole bunch of points along this road, there are fantastic views up the coast...(when i was buying postcards later i was doubly glad i'd walked this road, as many of the postcards have this same view)

the reason i walked this way was to see a specific sight i'd found listed on tripadvisor (but not listed in lonely planet!!)...called bagni della regina giovanna...a beach of sorts...i found the path to get me there after a bit of searching, as the signs weren't terribly clear...as sorrento is on the coast, it's subject to the whims of the water...nature has taken it's course to make a beautiful spot of this 'beach'...
it's actually a hole that has been whittled out of the rock, all done through an archway in one side of the rock...(this probably doesn't make sense, but i can't figure out the right words to describe what i saw)...

there is a tiny little beach, which i didn't get to walk on because the tide was up...the water that comes in this 'lagoon' is blue and beautiful...since it was winter, there was no one swimming in the water...i'm curious how strong the currents are during summer, does anyone ever get sucked through the arch in the stone?
i first walked around the edges of the area, looking out over the water...awesome...then i found the path and stairs to get down into the 'lagoon'...the steps are steep, and very irregular, i liked them though i couldn't say why exactly...

as it had rained recently and the whole area was damp, the steps were quite slippery and i slipped more than once...thank goodness i didn't fall or i would've fallen the whole way down and ended up with big bruises...i made it down to the rocks on the beach, and climbed around those in search of a nice photo...(almost fell off those as well!)
after enjoying the incredible beauty of the bagni, i walked back into the city centre, in time for the churches to be open...they were pretty, but not stunning...still, i'm glad i saw them...
after the churches i headed back to the train station, and caught the next train back to naples...