Question 1

Sorrento on Your Own

Accepted Answer

An independent day in Sorrento can stay in the old center above the port or reach farther by train or hydrofoil. A simple plan is Piazza Tasso and the old streets, the cloister of San Francesco and the Villa Comunale gardens, with a museum if time allows. Piazza Tasso and the gorge: The square was created in 1866 by filling part of a gorge, and from a railing on Viale Enrico Caruso you look down into the Vallone dei Mulini and the ruins of its old mill. The gorge was cut by streams after a violent eruption of the Campi Flegrei about 35,000 years ago. The old streets: Via San Cesareo is one of the oldest streets in town, and the Sedil Dominova, a 16th-century meeting place of the local nobility, keeps its original structure. San Francesco and the Villa Comunale: The Franciscans built the cloister in the 14th century on the remains of a 7th-century monastery, with arches of tufa in two different styles. The Villa Comunale gardens nearby look across the coast to Mount Vesuvius. Museums: The Museo Correale di Terranova, Via Correale 50, fills 24 rooms of an 18th-century villa with art from the 15th to the 19th centuries and Sorrento inlaid woodwork, and it is closed on Mondays and for part of the winter, so check before you go. The Museobottega della Tarsialignea at Via San Nicola 28 is devoted to the town's inlaid wood. Farther afield: The train from Sorrento reaches Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples, and hydrofoils from Marina Piccola go to Capri. Allow plenty of time for the return and for the tender queue back to the ship. Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own. Carry photo ID: Italian police can stop you at any time for an identity check, so carry photo ID at all times.

Question 2

Food and Drink

Accepted Answer

Lemons are Sorrento's signature: the local oval lemon, protected as Limone di Sorrento IGP, flavors limoncello and the town's lemon cake. Walnuts, oranges and the olive oil of the Sorrento peninsula are local products too. The Sorrento lemon is a Femminello variety, also called the Ovale di Sorrento, and is grown under pagliarelle, straw mats on wooden poles that protect the trees from cold and wind. Limoncello is made from the peel of these lemons with alcohol, water and sugar. The delizia al limone, a lemon cake, was created by the Sorrento pastry cook Carmine Marzuillo in 1978. Gnocchi alla sorrentina are potato gnocchi baked with tomato sauce and mozzarella. The olive oil of the peninsula carries the protected name DOP Penisola Sorrentina. Marina Grande, the small fishing harbor, has waterfront restaurants serving fish and seafood.

Question 3

Tipping in Italy

Accepted Answer

Tipping is not customary in Italy. Most restaurants charge a cover charge, the coperto, and waiters do not expect a tip, though they will not refuse one. If you want to leave something, a euro or two is plenty. Leaving the change for taxi drivers is quite common.

Question 4

Culture and Local Life

Accepted Answer

Sorrento has long drawn writers and composers from abroad, and it has inspired songs as well as books. Inlaid woodwork remains its traditional craft. Byron, Keats, Goethe, Dickens, Wagner, Ibsen and Nietzsche all visited Sorrento, and Ibsen worked on parts of Peer Gynt and Ghosts while staying at the Hotel Tramontano. The early 20th-century song Torna a Surriento, "Come Back to Sorrento", is about the town. Lucio Dalla wrote his song Caruso in Sorrento in the summer of 1985. Local craft centers on cabinetmaking and inlay in wood, though it no longer has the trade it once did.

Question 5

A Brief History

Accepted Answer

Sorrento grew from Oscan and Greek roots into Roman Surrentum, a retreat for the Roman elite, and later survived Lombard sieges and an Ottoman raid. In the 19th century it grew into a resort town. Oscans and Greeks: The oldest remains of Surrentum are Oscan, from about 600 BC, and the town was influenced by Greek culture. Its main temples were those of Athena and of the Sirens. Roman Surrentum: After the Social War of 90 to 89 BC the town became a Roman municipium, and in the age of Augustus the peninsula filled with seaside villas of the Roman aristocracy. The layout of the modern streets still follows the ancient town. Bishops and Lombards: Sorrento became an archbishopric around 420 AD, and later the Lombards besieged it in vain. The raid of 1558: On 13 June 1558 an Ottoman fleet attacked and sacked Sorrento and nearby Massa Lubrense, reportedly carrying off 2,000 captives and destroying church archives. Tasso and the Correale family: The poet Torquato Tasso was born in Sorrento in March 1544. In the 17th century Onofrio Correale built a harbor at the mouth of the gorge, where Marina Piccola is today. A resort town: A road to Castellammare di Stabia opened under Ferdinand II, Sorrento joined the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, and in 1866 Piazza Tasso was built over part of the gorge. A funicular from the port to the Hotel Vittoria ran only from 1893 to 1896. A museum for the town: The Correale brothers left their art collection to found a museum, and the foundation that runs it was set up in 1902. To learn more ashore: The Museo Correale di Terranova, Via Correale 50, covers archaeology and the history of Sorrento, and the Archaeological Museum of the Sorrentine Peninsula is at Via Ripa di Cassano 1.

Question 6

Sorrento with Children

Accepted Answer

Sorrento with children is a mix of swimming at the marinas, a gorge seen from above and, for older children, a train ride to Pompeii. Younger children: Marina Grande and Marina Piccola both have places to swim, and some sandy areas charge an entrance fee that includes a seat and an umbrella. School age: The ruined mill at the bottom of the Vallone dei Mulini can be seen from the railing above, and the Museo Correale's garden has a terrace over the gulf. Teenagers: The train to Pompeii or Herculaneum turns a port day into a visit to a Roman town, if your call is long enough to allow for the return.

Sorrento

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