My Future Honeymoon Destination???

Most amazing dinner of my life...
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This stop on our trip was somewhat similar to the Switzerland experience for me. I didn't have many expectations, but was blown away with what we came across. I didn't even really have a concept of where Sorrento was- I figured somewhere South because we would be leaving for Greece from this area, but I had no clue that it was on the Mediterranean and absolutely gorgeous.

Like Switzerland, Sorrento offered a very small town feel. The majority of people here actually lived here and were not tourists. Along the beaches there were fish markets and locally made wine shops. As we pulled up to the hotel we were a little bit disappointed, but at least there was so much to do and our room would only be used for sleeping. We through our bags down and put on our bathing suits and headed to the nearest free beach.

And that may have been the best choice of the entire trip...

Overlooking Sorrento...
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We left Rome so early that it was still quite early in the day, giving us an entire day to enjoy the beautiful scenary while laying on the local beach. We had to meander through the entire town from our hotel and down, down, down hills until we finally came to a pathway that would lead us to the beach that we could see from the cliffs above. Jessica had given me a book she recently finished, My Sister's Keeper, which was an amazing addition to the day. In the distance we could see the Island of Capri and all around there were people living their lives working at their businesses, and we were going to relax on the beach.

The beautiful Mediterranean waters...
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We made it out under the sun by noon- perfect day for getting some color. The reflection of the sun off the turquoise waters onto the little shore in which we were laying on meant this would be a day to remember forever- a day of heavenly relaxation. We all laid out and caught up in our travel journals or read books for the majority of the afternoon. When we got warm we would take a dip into the water, although it wasn't warm water just yet- but definitely did the job to cool us down. Colleen and I decided to look through the shells and stones that we were finding in the water. There were many pieces of beautiful sea glass- some you could tell used to be tiles, as in parts of buildings that had fallen off. Their beautiful designs were still intact just with a little bit of a natural sanding, I actually collected quite a few to bring home.

Ryan and Pip...
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At around 3pm the beach was overrun with local children! We figured the school system must have let out because they all flocked to the beach at once. The kids were paddling around in boats- had some sort of slide thing they drifted out to the middle of the water and were playing on, and really went all out crazy at the end of the school day. It was really entertaining to see the local children and local families and how they interact with their free time. They seemed much more laid back than families at home, but maybe it was just the beach life.

climbing the stairs back up the cliff to our hotel...
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As the sun started to head down past any potential tanning and the beach became more and more packed, we all realized we really hadn't eaten much that day and we should have a real meal. The restaurants didn't open until 6:30, so we were just walking around trying to pass the time trying to make up our mind. We decided to go to the one in which they would let us come sit down even though it was before opening time, and that may have been the best choice of the entire trip...

The owner of the restaurant sat us out on a dock that had tables. On one side you could see the beach we had been on all day long and on the other side you could see the Island of Capri out in the Mediterranean. I ordered the penne arrabiata and Erin ordered a five cheese ravioli, while everyone else we were there with got the seafood pasta. Erin and I split our meals- another great decision, because I have never tasted such an amazing cheese combination before in my life, and I love cheese! It has fresh basil and ricotta cheese, but extremely aged parmesan, tastes that made my tastebuds ridiculously happy. At the end of the meal the owner brought us traditional glasses of limoncello- we didn't realize you were supposed to sip it so most of us took it as shots- wow, was that strong!

With the owner of the most incredible restaurant (on a pier- Sorrento on one side, Capri in the distance), it doesn't get better than this...
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We took some pictures with the owner and decided that if any of us ever have the opportunity to return we would definitely be back here! The journey back to our room for the evenings was much more difficult than the journey down to the beach as it was all uphill. However, after the most amazing meal of my life I was on cloud nine and nothing bothered me. Tomorrow morning we would be going to Pompeii and from there GREECE!