Sorrento set to celebrate the start of Christmas

Spectacular Christmas trees are a
feature in southern Italy

There will be special masses taking place in churches in Sorrento over the weekend as residents and visitors join together to celebrate the official beginning of the Christmas season.

Il giorno dell’immacolata concezione (the day of the immaculate conception) has been celebrated for centuries in Italy on 8 December.

It is an official festa (feast day) when the immaculate conception of Jesus is celebrated in the Christian calendar. It also marks the start of the Christmas season when the lights and trimmings go up.

Most of the shops in Sorrento will be open as usual and doing a brisk trade as many people will be out doing their Christmas shopping.

As in many other countries across the world, Christmas shopping actually begins earlier than 8 December in Italy, with Christmas trees, lights and decorations starting to go up during November.

But Sorrento’s Corso Italia and the popular shopping street Via San Cesareo will be thronged with activity from now until Christmas Eve.

Buona Festa!

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Enjoy Italy's new wine while in Sorrento

Light, fruity Vino Novello

During November you will see Vino Novello, Italy's new wine, on sale in the shops and being served in bars and restaurants in Sorrento.
The light, fruity, new red wine is enjoyable to drink and a bargain buy to take home with you.
Vino Novello is similar in taste, body and colour to the French Beaujolais Nouveau, which is exported to other countries after its release.
Like Beaujolais Nouveau, Italy's new wine should be drunk quickly after the bottle is opened. Unopened bottles should be keep for only a few months.
Italy's Vino Novello 2012 was launched on 6 November, ten days ahead of Beaujolais Nouveau and has gone on sale in many supermarkets, wine shops and bars.
A major area for production is the Veneto, with the merlot grape being the one most used by wine makers.
Make the most of the opportunity to taste an Italian Vino Novello while in Sorrento. Salute! 

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Take a trip to Pompeii

Vesuvius looms over Pompeii

The ancient city of Pompeii lies within easy reach of Sorrento, taking about 30 minutes by train.

One of the most popular tourist attractions in Italy, gli scavi, the excavated ruins of Pompeii, show us what daily life was like in a Roman city, even down to what was sold in the shops and how people decorated their homes.

A vast number of important artefacts have been dug up on the site over the last 250 years since excavations began in earnest.

There is so much to see that many people find it difficult to get round the entire site in a day.

On your first visit you could either walk round gathering general impressions or choose some of the famous sights to look at in more detail.

It can be hot during the summer months so take adequate sun protection and plenty of water. Many people pack a picnic and take a break to stop and eat it while they are going round.

But there is a self service bar and restaurant on the site near the Tempio di Giove.

There are plenty of excellent bars and restaurants in the modern town of Pompei (spelt with only one i), but these are some distance from the excavations.

How to get to Pompeii

There are trains to Naples from the Circumvesuviana railway station in Sorrento every half an hour that stop at Pompei Scavi station. The journey takes about 30 minutes.

From the station it is a short walk to the main entrance to the archaeological site in Piazza Porta Marina.

The ruins are open daily from 8.30 to 19.30 during the summer and 8.30 to 17.00 between November and April.

The last days of Pompeii

The ancient city of Pompeii dates back to at least the seventh century BC and came under Roman rule around 200 BC.

An earthquake damaged Pompeii a few years before the fatal eruption of Mount Vesuvius but it is believed that the final disaster happened in the August of AD 79.

When Vesuvius started rumbling and a sinister cloud began to form many people left the area immediately and it is estimated that only ten per cent of the 20,000 population stayed behind and perished.

It is believed many of them died from the effects of the heat and their bodies were buried under the stones and ash for hundreds of years.

The city was almost completely covered, but the upper floors of some of the buildings stuck out from the rubble. These were looted by local people over the centuries but eventually the city was forgotten.

Engineers rediscovered it while digging an acqueduct in the 17th century. The first organised excavations began in 1748 and the site soon became an attraction for wealthy Europeans on the Grand Tour.

Highlights among the excavations

House of the Faun

From the main entrance at Porta Marina walk along Via Marina to il Foro Civile (the forum) where you can see the place where orators addressed public meetings and the law courts.

If you go along Via del Mercurio you will see some interesting houses, including Casa dei Vettii where there are well preserved wall paintings and Casa del Fauno with its famous statue.

If you go from il Foro along Via dell’Abbondanza you will see the remains of shops, a tavern and a brothel. At the end of the street on the right you will find the main anfiteatro (ampitheatre).

If you have time, try to visit Villa dei Misteri outside the walls of the city, which has some colourful wall paintings depicting the myth of Dionysis and the initiation ritual into a cult that was forbidden at the time.

Modern Pompei

Pompei is a smart town with plenty of shops, bars and restaurants. It is also home to a magnificent church that has become a centre for pilgrims who come to pray to the Madonna.

Il Santuario della Beata Vergine del Rosario is in the centre of the town in Piazza Bartolo Longo.

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La Fenice serves up Sorrento dishes with style

La Fenice's cool interior

Fresh fish is brought in by boat to Sorrento every day for the dishes offered on the menu at La Fenice ristorante and pizzeria.

Diners can see the impressive variety of seafood available on display by the doorway of the restaurant before they are shown to a table in either the garden or air conditioned interior.

La Fenice has been offering an extensive repertoire of fish dishes and other Sorrentine specialities under the direction of Giuseppe Maresca and Nello Castellano since 1986.

The smart restaurant in Via degli Aranci in the centre of Sorrento is open every day during the summer season, consistently serving high quality food at reasonable prices both at lunch and dinner time.

Scaloppina alla Fenice

Among the primi piatti (first courses) are gnocchi alla sorrentina (potato dumplings with cheese and tomato), linguine alla bella napoli (with seafood) and risotto alla pescatora (risotto with seafood and tomato).

The local, fresh fish is served either cooked in lemon, white wine or fresh tomato sauce.

Other speciality dishes include scaloppina alla Fenice (veal escalope with ham and peas) and involtini alla sorrentina (veal rolls with ham and cheese.) The extensive pizza list includes calzone alla sorrentina (a folded pizza filled with tomato, mozzarella cheese and ham.)

La Fenice is closed on Mondays from the beginning of September each year until the start of the next holiday season.

For more information visit www.ristorante-la-fenice.com

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Step back in time along Via Pieta in Sorrento

Via Pietà in Sorrento

While in Sorrento take a stroll along Via Pietà, a quiet street that runs parallel with Corso Italia.

Away from the heat of the sun, you will be able to imagine what life was like in Sorrento as far back as the 14th century when some of the palaces in the narrow street were built

Via Pietà runs along the line of a decumanus (part of the Roman town plan) that appears on ancient maps. It is perhaps one of the most impressive of Sorrento’s historic streets, connecting Piazza Tasso with the bell tower of Sorrento’s Duomo.

Via Pietà used to be an important street in Sorrento before the construction of Corso Italia. It runs alongside the left side of the Corso as you walk in the direction of Via del Capo.

One of the most important buildings is Palazzo Veniero, which is an example of the late Byzantine and Arab architecture popular in southern Italy in the 13th and 14th centuries. You can still make out the decorative patterns made of contrasting stone beneath the arch shaped windows of the palace.

Arched window of old palace

Nearby, Palazzo Correale, with its beautiful mullioned windows, was built at about the same time as a residence for the locally important Correale family. It was converted into the orphanage of Santa Maria della Pietà in the 17th century.

Down a side turning to the left, in Vico Galantario, look out for a Loggia that is a rare example of Aragonese architecture showing he influence of Tuscan artisans working in Naples at the time.

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See Naples and die!

Bay of Naples with Vesuvius in background

It was on 17 July, 1823 that Marguerite, Lady Blessington began her Neapolitan Journals with an account of her first glimpse of the city that was to become her home for the next two and a half years.
She wrote: “ Naples burst upon us from the steep hill above the Campo Santo, and never did aught so bright and dazzling meet my gaze. Innumerable towers, domes and steeples, rose above palaces, intermingled with terraces and verdant foliage. The bay, with its placid waters, lay stretched before us, bounded on the left by a chain of mountains, with Vesuvius, sending up its blue incense to the Cloudless sky.”
Lady Blessington was to fall in love with Naples and embrace the culture, attending local events, making what at the time were adventurous excursions and entertaining Neapolitan aristocrats and intellectuals at the former royal palace that became her home.

Castel dell'Ovo - little changed since
 Lady Blessington's time

Those who know Naples will recognise in her vivid descriptions places that have remained unchanged for the last 200 years. She also provides a valuable insight into what life was like at the time for ordinary people as well as the rich and privileged.
A society beauty, she came to Naples after her marriage to Lord Blessington while making a long European tour and immediately became fascinated by the local customs, food and traditions. She also visited Ercolano, Paestum, Capri, Ischia and Sorrento and made an ascent of Vesuvius on an ass.
After her arrival she recalled: “We ordered our postilions to pause on the brow of the hill, that we might gaze on the beautiful panorama before us; and as our eyes dwelt on it, we were ready to acknowledge that the old Neapolitan phrase of ‘Vedi Napoli e poi mori’, had a meaning, for they who die without having seen Naples, have missed one of the most enchanting views in the world.”
People who already love Naples will find her journals witty and endearing and those who have never visited the city will be inspired to go there as soon as possible.
You can read an abridged version of Lady Blessington’s Neapolitan Journals in Edith Clay’s book Lady Blessington at Naples published by Hamish Hamilton. There are second hand copies currently available on Amazon.

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Live like an emperor at Sorrento’s stunning Bellevue Syrene

The Bellevue Syrene, in the left of the picture, enjoys
a spectacular clifftop position

You can breakfast on a terrace overlooking the bay of Naples during a stay at the five star Bellevue Syrene Hotel in Sorrento.
Many guests have praised the spectacular location of the hotel on the site of a former Roman villa built high above the sea to give wonderful views of Vesuvius from the rooms and terraces.
The villa is believed to have once provided a home for the Emperor Augustus when he was in exile for political reasons. It was rebuilt as a private home in 1750 and converted to an hotel in 1820.
The main entrance is in Piazza Vittoria, which is within walking distance of the best bars, restaurants and shops in Sorrento and handy for the port at Marina Piccola.
The Bellevue Syrene has 30 suites and rooms, some with large terraces overlooking the sea.
There is a choice of restaurants and dining terraces, including the terrace of the Villa Pompeiana, a copy of the House of the Vetti at Pompei that was constructed in the grounds at the beginning of the 20th century.
The hotel also has an extensive wine cellar housed in an original Roman grotto.
The Bellevue Syrene has recently been renovated to provide guests with up to the minute facilities such as a beauty centre, gym, pool, library and free wifi throughout the whole building.
Distinguished former guests include Vittorio Emanuele III, many members of the European aristocracy and writers such as Ivan Turgenev and the French poet De Lamartine.

Check prices at the Hotel Bellevue Syrene with venere.com and Hotels.com

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