Bumming Around Sorrento

When I finished lunch in Sorrento today, my last full day here, I still hadn’t figured out what to do this afternoon. I didn’t have a clue.

I became increasingly despondent over my utter inability to formulate even a tenuous, tentative plan. Then I had an epiphany. At least I think it was an epiphany. But I’ve never had one before, so I don’t know what epiphanies feel like. It might have been a psychotic episode.

Whatever it was, I suddenly knew exactly what I was going to do this afternoon.

I decided I’d find a quiet park bench somewhere, sit down, pull out my iPhone, and begin composing the novel for the ages. Not, you should note, “a” novel for the ages, but “the” novel for the ages.

It will be a sweeping saga, rich with colour and narrative. The story arc will be broad and deep, with intertwined, complex, but eminently followable plot lines. The characters will be complex, yet relatable. It will delve into the depths of human experience and examine the very essence of being. It will explore love and loss, joy and sorrow, and all the rest of the full spectrum of human emotion.

The message it will deliver will lead to a pivotal moment in civilization that will rapidly create a far better world, with peace, wisdom, joy, and prosperity for all.

Readers will stand in awe. Or they’ll sit in awe if that’s their preference. I’m not going to be hard-nosed about reading positions.

They’ll laugh. They’ll cry. Sometimes they’ll do both simultaneously, possibly resulting in an acute case of cognitive dissonance. Make sure medics are standing by.

Then I thought, Nah. Typing on a phone is a bitch for long passages. And I don’t want to use dictation mode. I’ll be in a public park. Someone might surreptitiously record me, steal my work, and rush to publish ahead of me.

Besides, it’s a perfect day. The sky is almost a uniform azure colour except for that bright yellow ball sitting in it. The temperature is maybe a degree or two below normal room temperature.

Instead of writing an epic novel, I decided, I’d do some strolling. However, I definitely will make ample use of that park bench, or multiple park benches in different locations, if I find it or them. But I’ll use it or them just for sitting and doing my best to think about nothing whatsoever but the nature of my breath and why breathing is a good thing.

Strolling Sorrento

I strolled in one direction along the wide, pedestrianized shopping street of Sorrento and then along the other direction of Sorrento’s parallel narrow pedestrianized lane.

I walked along both of those streets on my first day here. But that was Easter Sunday and Sorrento was jammed with people, a veritable urban sardine tin.

Today, the wide shopping street had people on it, but not nearly enough to qualify as crowded. And unlike Easter Monday, today I could saunter through the lane at any pace I chose rather than having to speed up or stall on it at the whim of the impassible, impossible mob.

Needless to say, today was much more enjoyable.

During my stroll, I passed a small church with a sign announcing, in Italian and English, a free art exhibit. Inside, on one side of the church was an exhibit of black-and-white photographs. I think the photographer was the same one who exhibited in a room off the cloister of the Chiesa e Chiostro di San Francesco when I visited it on Easter Monday.

The other side of the church displayed a collection of absolutely amazing inlaid wood art. A probably post-middle-age man sitting by the exhibit told me they were all the work of his father.

There was another display in the small church, but I don’t think it was part of the temporary art exhibit. I’m pretty sure it’s part of the church. It was another elaborate nativity scene. It isn’t as big as the one I saw this morning at the Sorrento Cathedral, and certainly nowhere as big as the one I saw in Naples at the San Martino museum. But it is still over the top.

Sorrento Terrace

I walked over to the public terrace overlooking the sea that I was also at on Easter Monday. Then, the terrace was jammed. Most of the good picture-taking spots were taken, and not opening up quickly. Then, I got a shot of Sorrento’s port from an unpopular corner of the terrace.

Today, it was much less crowded and it was easy to get a good view and picture of the terrace’s main attraction, a full-on view of Mount Vesuvius across the bay. And, although there were a few clouds by Vesuvius, today was much cleaner than Monday. So the view was better. I posted that picture here.

By the way, my hotel is on the other side of central Sorrento from that terrace and at a somewhat higher elevation. The large breakfast room of my hotel has huge, floor-to-ceiling windows that provide the same view of Vesuvius. My hotel includes breakfast, so I eat it there.

If Vesuvius blows while I’m eating breakfast, I’ll have a good seat to watch the action. It might not be pleasant as the ash spreads, but it’s probably far enough away that it won’t kill me. So, that’s a plus.

Incredible Print Device

There’s a small open area just outside of the entrance to the park in front of the terrace. As I passed it, a guy was sitting on a stool with a small table in front of him. On the table was the most incredible device you’ve ever seen.

The mostly red apparatus had a full, seemingly spring-loaded, physical keyboard. There was a wide, rectangular opening on top of the device. Inside the opening was a roller.

When I walked by, he already had a piece of paper inserted into the opening, down one side of the roller and up the other.

As he banged on the keyboard, little appendages sprung up from inside the device and struck the paper, leaving a letter on the page in its wake. The appendage immediately dropped down after making its mark. The carriage inside the device moved slightly so the next time the appendage struck it would be beside the previously printed letter. This repeated rapidly as his fingers flew on the keyboard.

Every once in a while, he banged an arm on the device causing the paper to advance up and the carriage to return to its starting position.

It was amazing. He didn’t need a screen or printer. The letters, words, and paragraphs formed directly on the paper. What will they think of next?

He had a sign on the table that said in English and Italian, “Pick a subject, get a poem.” Who says poetry doesn’t pay?

More Strolling

I then did a little more strolling, including on the wide shopping street again. As I walked along, I passed a guy playing a surprisingly entertaining rendition of “That’s Amore” on an accordion in front of a restaurant with outdoor tables. It’s entirely possible that the only reason I found it surprisingly entertaining was that I’m in Italy and it perfectly suited the scene.

I walked a little further to a nice park and sat for a while on a bench there. It was then time to head back to my hotel.

The route took me back along the wide shopping street, past the accordion player. He was still playing the same rendition of “That’s Amore.” That may be the only song he knows.

During the afternoon I did indeed make generous use of benches, but what is there to say about that other than this sentence?

Sorrento Summary

I like Sorrento. It’s an attractive town and can be almost peaceful when it’s not overly crowded. Plus it’s a good place for day trips to the Amalfi Coast and Capri.

I did the Amalfi Coast—Positano and Amalfi in the morning and Ravello in the afternoon—by a road tour that I booked. But if you want to just go to one town in a day from Sorrento, you can do it by ferry. Coordinating two or more Amalfi Coast towns by ferry in a day, and spending some time in each, would be difficult at this time of year. However, it might be possible during the summer when the ferries run more frequently to all the major coastal towns and Capri.

While I like Sorrento, I could have done without today here. I ran out of named sights in town to see, and there weren’t any more day trips I was able to find and wanted to take. Again, that’s probably a function of the time of year. I think there are more day excursions available in the high season.

I probably should have spent one less day in Sorrento and carved out two nights, maybe by staying in Italy another day or by shortening my stay somewhere else by a day as well, and used those two nights to stay in Capri or maybe one of the Amalfi Coast towns in addition to Sorrento.

(I usually avoid staying only one night in a place I want to visit because it means you don’t have a full day there. You arrive the day before whenever the transportation gets you there and leave the next day whenever you have to leave to get transportation out to your next destination. You don’t get to experience much of the place.

I’m going to Salerno tomorrow and only staying one night, but my purpose for going to Salerno is primarily to catch the first in a series of three trains the following morning. Getting from here in Sorrento to Salerno to catch those trains all on the same day would have been impossible.)

All of that having been said, I’m not a young man anymore. A relaxing day in Sorrento as a break from my usually hectic tourism probably did me good. Or that might just be rationalization. I’m not sure.