S’Agnello di Sorrento and the Almafi Coast: December 1st – 2nd

We enjoyed a half-day in Napoli before taking the Circumvesuviana train to S’Agnello, a small town of Sorrento, our home base for the Almafi Coast. We spent the morning walking around the harbor and the port of Napoli before having lunch at the city’s famous pizzeria, Gino Sorbillo. Gino’s Pizzeria claims that they were the inventors of the classic pizza calzone. Fortunately for us, we were able to grab a table right when the doors opened at noon, because 10 minutes after opening all two stories of the restaurant were full. Ben ordered the Ripieno classic calzone – salami, ricotta and mozzarella cheese, and basil. Liya had the Paguele pizza – toppings included prosciutto, special mushrooms, basil, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Tasty, tasty!

After lunch, we set off for Sorrento. We stayed at Mami Camilla B&B/Hostel, a lovely place out by the sea. Surrounding the villa were clementine, orange, and lemon trees. On the roof terrace, we enjoyed the views of the surrounding hills till it was time for dinner. For dinner, we ate at a family restaurant in our town and boy was it AMAZING (and cheap might we add)! Ben had the house special, Gnocchi di Sorrentina (fresh gnocchi, sauce: tomatoes, garlic, awesome parma. cheese) and Liya had the Spaghetti con Vongole (fresh clams with white wine sauce). Both were delicious and fresh-tasting. Outside the restaurant was a large rotisserie of chickens so we had to try a half of a chicken, a great decision! The chicken was seasoned perfectly and the meat was extremely moist – the best rotisserie chicken we’ve had!

FYI – The B&B’s breakfast was amazing! Both mornings, we enjoyed a breakfast of warm croissants and rolls with homemade marmalade and kiwi jam, prosciutto and cheese, assorted sweet pastries, clementines, granola and yogurt, and a nice hot cup of cappuccino made by the mother. After breakfast on Sunday, we set off for the Almafi Coast.

We bought a couple of SITA bus tickets and enjoyed the 1.5-hour ride from the town of S’Agnello to the last town along the Almafi Coast, Almafi. It was raining for half of the ride and the weather was overcast, but we still loved the coastal views from our warm seat. We enjoyed seeing all the villas and homes perched on cliff sides and up in the mountains, the grape vines, the orange and lemon trees, and the different blues of the Sea. The drive along the coast was also like a rollercoaster ride –our heart rate was higher than usual, most of the turns were extremely sharp, the space between our bus and the cars/buses passing us on the other side of the lane was just inches, and when we looked outside our windows, the roaring sea and the jagged rocks were right below us. We had to shut our eyes for a few seconds here and there!

We walked around the town of Almafi for a couple of hours window-shopping and partaking in some free limoncello tastings. At one shop, we tried all sorts of liquors such as basil, chocolate-chili, straight-up chili pepper, crema di limoncello, crema di melon, and of course, the original limoncello made with Almafi’s young lemons. Next, we hopped on the bus and headed to Postiano, the 2nd largest town along the coast. The sunset there was beautiful and the city had beautiful ceramics and mosaics everywhere. After the sun set, we headed back into S’Agnello and held our breath for parts of our ride back (as it was dark out and there were no lights on the road!).

Back in S’Agnello, we decided to have dinner at the family restaurant we ate the night before because A) it was damn good and B) it was the only restaurant open on Sunday, lucky us! Ben ordered a margherita pizza with chips (French fries on top, a local thing to do apparently) and Liya had farfalle with salmon. We shared a half of a rotisserie chicken again – delicious once again! The pizza was alright but the salmon dish was beautiful. The sauce was amazing and the salmon had a great smoky flavor to it.

Overall, it was a pleasant trip to the Almafi Coast. Next stop, Ischia Island.