Churches of Sorrento

Today was a day of relaxation, which was sorely needed after yesterday's craziness. We didn't set an alarm, slept in a little (I still woke up before 7 yelping in pain when I inadvertently rolled over in my sleep and put my hand between my knees).

After breakfast, my step-father, John, offered to keep an eye on the kids while my mother, my sister Jayne, Lori, and I walked around town a bit. We wandered in and out of shops, and went into some of the churches in town. Each one had its own special beauty.

We started by going into the Cathedral. The inlayed woodwork in there was incredible, the paintings on the walls and ceiling were beautiful, and there was a hand carved scene of town life in the back. Everywhere we looked was something else impressive.


















We then went down a few narrow cobblestone streets and into a few shops. At the town's main square, Piazza Tasso, we stopped for iced cappuccino at an outdoor cafe.















After people watching for a bit, we wandered back through town, not-so-reluctantly accepting tasting samples of different limoncellos. One place had a meloncello -cantaloupe flavored- that was pretty tasty. We came to an old church, Chiesa San Paolo, that my sister identified as having Templar markings in the stone. It's always handy to travel with an archaeologist when in Europe.











We continued on past the museum of inlayed wood that we did not go in, and found another beautiful church that was almost as impressive as the Cathedral and apparently dates back to 1439.












On our walk back to the villa we passed the hospital, so I took a few pictures that I missed yesterday.









We got a chuckle that there's a bar in the hospital next to the entrance to the Emergency Room. On the walk, I stopped in a pharmacy to pick up plastic gloves and tape to keep my hand dry while showering.

When we got back we picked up pizza from a corner pizzeria, ate it by the pool and spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool.



For dinner, we ended our trip where it began, at da Gigino Pizzaria Trattoria. I had homemade pasta with seafood in a white wine sauce that was great.



After dinner we joined in the passiagetta along the Corso Italia, which is pedestrian only after 7:30.



After walking off dinner, and Abby buying a charm for the bracelet my sisters bought for her, we went for gelato. I bucked tradition and ordered tiramisu. It was good, but nothing that made my knees buckle.

Along the walk back every night we had passed a section of the old Roman city wall that you could walk on top of via a set of stairs. We figured that we'd climb it on the way to the villa tonight.



As we climbed the stairs we heard music getting louder. It turns out that there was a free concert tonight of an Italian singer. We didn't know what he was singing, but it was beautiful, and we stayed for a few songs before returning to the villa to pack.



Tomorrow we check out of the wonderful Villa Adriana, and take two trains to Rome, where new adventures await!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Via Sant'Antonio,,Italy