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Naples, Italy
So our initial plan for Naples was to take a private tour for the four of us and go to Ravello and then back to Sorrento for lunch and the "this time you have to get it" lemon tree. Unfortunately with David and Lynn cancelling out of the trip we needed to change our plan. So we decided to check out the tours available by the ship and found one called "Sorrento and Mozzarella Tasting". It was a 6 hour tour and included time in Sorrento shopping! Little did we know we would enjoy the first part of tour so well.
We were up early, grabbed breakfast in La Terraza and were off the ship by 8:30 a.m. The group was fairly small as many passengers were heading to Pompeii, which we've already explored.
After about an hour we reached Sorrento and then the bus turned away from the coast and headed up the mountain. The "farm" was on top of the mountain overlooking the Bay of Naples. Le Colline di Sorrento. It is actually a cooperative where they have cows and pigs, grow lemons, oranges, and olives. They also press their own olive oil and make mozzarella! As this was a winter's dreary, rainy day there were not many fruits and olives on the trees, but you could see that the farm would be incredibly vibrant in the spring and summer.
First off we were provided a demonstration of how they make mozzarella. Then we got to eat it!
Here is a video of the lady making the mozzarella. Be patient as it is a large video and may take a little time to load, but well worth watching! Now you will see I turned the camera at the end for a few to get the full view of the mozzarella. I'm not an expert video editor so I don't know how to change those frames. :-)
After we enjoyed the mozzarella and some other antipasti, we took a walk up into the farm. The guide showed us the olive presses and explained how they made olive oil, in the old days with donkeys, then men turning the wheels, and finally the mechanical approach. It was a great tour!
We then road back down into town and the guide took us to Cuomo's Lucky Store. Seems that this is the store that Silversea is linked with as we had been here before. (As I looked up their website for more information I read that they have been there since 1856!) In fact Randy bought my music box there 3 years ago. We were rather focused on getting into town and to the store with the lemon tree, but they had set up a demonstration on how the inlaid wood furniture is made, so we politely attended. It was actually very interesting and I kept noticing a jewelry box behind the man doing the demonstration. If you get a chance to see how they make the designs and then create the inlays, it is very interesting. Of course the work is beautiful and meticulous. So much so, the jewelry box I saw there, now sits on my dresser as a gift from Randy! (Yes, I'm a lucky lady!)
So off to the center of town and the ceramic store. Well, funny thing...we could not see the lemon tree in the displays or the windows, so we asked the store owner. He had sold the last one the day before!! Our 4th visit to Sorrento, I had passed on buying it 3 other times! And we missed by one day. So funny. Well he did give us his card and the information and I can email him in April and he will ship one from his new inventory. So, we'd made all the plans to get the lemon tree, but I got a jewelry box!
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Le Colline di Sorrento entrance |
Making Mozzarella |
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Randy getting ready to enjoy fresh mozzarella! |
Olive Press |
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Photo of when Donkeys were the energy! |
And when Men provided the energy! |
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Mechanical press |
Olive Oil Filters |
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Inlaid wood demonstration |
Inlaid wood demonstration |
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Inlaid wood demonstration |
Jewelry Box |
So without a lemon tree tucked under the arm, but a few other treasures including a picture of old Sorrento given to us by the Cuomo store owner, we boarded the bus, somewhat drenched from the rain, and headed back to the ship. This was our first formal night on the ship. We enjoyed a lovely meal in the Stars Supper Club, one of our favorite venues on this ship. Unfortunately we learned they had served lobster in the Restaurant (Main Dining Room). Missed that, but had some lobster later in the trip!
Now we have two days sailing across the Mediterranean to Alexandria, Egypt!
Pre-cruise Post
Our first port of call on the cruise is Naples, Italy. Naples is the "gateway" to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast when you are traveling south from Rome. We visited Pompeii on a previous trip, and also we have driven the Amalfi Coast, visited Sorrento, Positano, and Ravello. We looked at the ship tours and decided to reach out to our Italian tour company, AP Tours, and put together a simple day trip. First to Ravello for ceramics, and then back through Sorrento for lunch, limoncello, and the ceramic lemon tree I've passed on purchasing on the two previous visits to Sorrento!!
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Sorrento, Italy |
Photos above from various websites
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