Sunday, June 17, 2012

Answer: O Sole Mio

Question: What famous Italian song was written about Sorrento?

Unlike Alaska, Alex Trebec wasn't on this cruise, but Sorrento was apparently the inspiration for many other compositions and we can see why. Although I fell in love with Positano, Geri fell in love with Sorrento, possibly because Pizza Margherita was invented here and the mozzarella, the San Marzano tomatoes, the olive and orange trees ... the list is long.

Anchoring in the bay gave us a spectacular view of this cliffside city in the Bay of Naples. After tendering ashore, we first boarded coaches for a harrowing drive to Pompei - not harrowing for us as we weren't on mopeds. They're fearless, always driving into the oncoming lane on blind corners and pulling back into traffic inches from our bumper. Well, almost always ... we did see a failed attempt that led to some dented metal, but nothing more. Later, a Lancia turned left across the path of a moped. Both stopped in time and we watched, expecting a fiery Italian argument, but perhaps also in keeping with the country's style, they ended up shaking hands through the driver's window.

(more on pompei/pics to come) Back at Piazza Tasso, we picked Pizzaria Aurora because it was celebrating its 50th year at that location (and it had A/C). A pizza margherita, a caprese salad and more local wine - delicious! I did my best chatting up the owner in Italian. He was either impressed or pitied me because he gave us 2 glasses of his home-made Limoncello.

1 comment:

  1. Lovely - My parents loved Italy (in the '50's) and played an instrumental version of "Come Back to Sorrento" for years afterwards. (authentic to the area from about 1902, per Google)

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