Boy were we happy to get out of Naples! We both felt like we should earn 'I survived Naples' t-shirts after successfully living through one day and night in such a polluted, thief ridden, chaotic city. We decided to take a ferry from Naples harbour to Sorrento, so got the 'pleasure' of another Naples cab ride in order to get to the harbour. The water at the Naples harbour said it all….thick, sludgy and chock full of garbage…lovely!

The ferry ride across the Gulf of Naples was about 40 minutes, which we were hoping would be our opportunity to get breathtaking views of Mt. Vesuvius from the water. Unfortunately, the smog generated by Naples sticks like a thick blanket to the entire coastline and we could barely make out the dark shape of the volcano. We made it into Sorrento's harbour and were happy to be able to see our hotel at the harbour just next to where we docked. The trouble was, how were we going to get to it. I had directions, but no map. The terrain was pretty much a steep hill up from the harbour and with our hot bags we were pretty eager to find any alternative. We checked with a taxi driver to see how much he would charge to get to our hotel….20 Euros!! (outrageous for what would be a maximum 10 minute drive!) We decided to brave it and walk…in the heat….with our heavy bags….not really knowing where we were going. Yep, it was not pretty. Matt was just about reaching spaz state when a man on the street told us the hotel was just a bit further. Our hotel clerk must have had a chuckle when we came trudging in looking like we'd traveled over a long desert, red cheeked and dripping with sweat! We were quite pleased to see that the hotel had given us a sea view room, with a great little balcony. Even better was the bottle of complimentary champagne. I wish I had video of Matt shouting "It's free!", then quickly popping the cork and pouring a glass. Champagne never tasted so good.

We were quite happy to be in Sorrento after having such a long stretch of city travel. Sorrento is on a beautiful stretch of coastline and seems to cater to a huge population of British tourists who flock here for there getaways.It's not quite as picturesque or quaint as our village in the Cinque Terre, but it is a slower pace, beachy kind of place, with cute little shops selling ceramics, limoncello, and jewelry. Our hotel was in Marina Grande, which is a fishing harbour that is a bit separate from the touristy bustle of Sorrento. There were lots of locals out on the streets, children playing, and the classic Italian scenes of baskets being lowered from high balconies to be filled by groceries bought by the children at the market.Our hotel, while nice, was a bit tacky and really catered to the 'trashy' British population. The food was 'Britified' (bland) and they played cheesy canned music in the evenings for happy hour. We spent our first day just lazing by the pool and wondering Sorrento. We really needed this! Our only real agenda seemed to be eating at all of the restaurants, pizzerias, and gelato joints that were recommended in our guide book!