Stop 3: Lemons, Oranges, and Exhaust Fumes (aka Sorrento)

Next stop (after a crazy flight/layover decision) was Sorrento/Pompeii/Capri/Positano. I stayed in this bed and breakfast which was in Piano di Sorrento and was actually this woman who rented out two of the rooms in her apartment. I was the only one there for the 5 days so luckily I got the bathroom all to myself. She served the best breakfast ever and it was completely authentic Italian: a perfect espresso, a slice of cake, and homemade jams. Each day she had a different local sweet thing with breakfast. Once morning it was a homemade delizia al limone (lemon delight) which was a dome shaped cakes with whipped cream and (of course) lemon. Another day there was a real Sicilian Cannoli. She totally read my mind because after having a northern Italy cannoli I had always wanted to try the sicilian kind. So good! The Sicilian ones are a crunchy shell filled with a ricotta cheese type mixture with candied lemon and orange pieces and almost a hint of cinnamon (although I could see no tract of the spice in the mixture). I also sat up with her two of the nights and she shared some homemade lemoncello and an amazing cream of coffee liquor. Both of which were like nothing I had ever tried before and showed me that both types of liquor can in fact be delicious. Thanks Rachele!

So back to the trip. First and foremost this area of Italy is dominated, and I mean dominated, by lemon trees. There are a few orange trees too, but the lemon is the local celebrity. It is in EVERYTHING and I love it. The first day was my walking, picture taking, death by motorcycle/car avoiding, shopping day. The streets there are about one and a half car-widths wide and naturally there are no sidewalks, so as much as I feared for my life I also found my new heros: the ladies walking down these same streets with strollers. I guess the children were the real heros. Plus to add insult to possible injury there are apparently no emission standards here. By the end of the day my cough had picked back up after breathing so much exhaust (and cigarette smoke)!