Sew~Blessed: Rick Steves and cheap wine in Paradise

July 13, 2014
Sunday morning we woke up early to catch the short-bus to town for Mass. Although the novelty of attending an Italian Mass was enticing, I really wanted to be able to understand what was going on, so we headed to St. Francis, who offered one English-speaking Mass a weekend.

Cloisters at St. Francis in Sorrento

After Mass we decided to take the steep ramp down to the beach and see what the coastline had to offer. I was dying to get my feet in the Mediterranean Sea!

Ramp from top to bottom is on the far left.

The air was chilly and the water was even colder, so my feet were all that got wet that day.

We walked along the boardwalk/beach, and found a bench near the water to just sit and enjoy the breeze, the view, and each other.

This was one of my favorite moments of our trip. No plans made, nowhere to be, the calm of the sea, and my love next to me.

We decided from here to follow a self-guided tour, laid out by Rick Steves in his tour book. (love me some Rick Steves on PBS!) We enjoyed seeing the hidden treasures of the city, and found ourselves in this canyon that was a road back up to the city.

It was really beautiful....until we made it to the end. All those steps!! Aaron's fitbit counted 8 flights of stairs but it felt like so much more on my knees.

Um, where's the elevator?

Once my knees and lungs recovered from the climb, we did a bit of shopping amid the local shops, each one having an overwhelming smell of lemons to them. We also found a shop where they sold products from a local farm, including wine. YUM. They claimed to provide most of the house wines the restaurants offered in Sorrento. Of course I purchased some for myself and a few of my fellow vino lovers back home.

No shortage of lemon products here!

Lemon tree for sale at the farm stand shop.

Because of awesome Rick Steves, we happened upon an off-the-main-strip restaurant that was dirt cheap and delicious! Grill tuna and salad for me, and a pasta dish for Aaron. Wine was the cheapest I'd seen in all of Italy so far and I was not going to pass it up!

Simple yet sooooo good.


The huge "slice" of lemon on my salad plate.

We visited another church in the city, and found where St. Anthony was buried. Not the St. Anthony, patron saint of lost things, but at the time, I had no idea. Again....Italian-English barrier. He's a pretty big deal to Sorrento, being their patron saint, and on February 14th, the people of Sorrento celebrate his feast day, not giving much thought to St. Valentine.