Holiday Feeling in Sorrento

Crowded streets, children in fancy dress and sunshine made for a holiday atmosphere in Sorrento yesterday. Very small children dressed as Minnie Mouse and dinosaurs, oblivious to the the fact they were presenting an entirely different persona, were wheeled in push-chairs, while older children, in Spider-Man, Cinderella and other gender-specific outfits, dropped handfuls of confetti on the cobbled streets. I would love to take pictures of the children, but it doesn’t seem right, even with their parents’ permission. It would be a different thing if they were taking part in a procession, but so far we’ve not caught one.

Sorrento is a town in two halves – the upper half, with its hotels, restaurants and shops, is smart and genteel, whereas the bottom half, on the shore, feels authenticity local, where you see work being done and has no illusions of grandeur.

We forgot that it was the first Sunday in the month, a day when museums all over Italy let everyone in free. The Circumetnea train we took from Naples, and which passes both Pompeii and Herculaneum, was absolutely packed, largely with Italians.

We must remember this money-saving tip, particularly next month as we shall be in much-more-expensive Florence, and will need to watch our pennies, or better still, cents.