Almost vegan in Capri/Sorrento

After leaving Rome, we ferried over to the beautiful Isle of Capri.



I strolled the narrow streets with Kim and Leigh, and then we sat down for lunch at a café down the road from the docks. I had a really lovely pizza marinara.



We were going to boat over to the lagoon for a swim in the grotto, but strong winds interfered with our plan. Instead, we spent a leisurely afternoon at the beach. I wasn’t in the mood to swim, so I borrowed a friend’s towel and took a nap on the sand—SO relaxing.



We ferried back to the mainland and arrived in Sorrento.



Sorrento is famous for its limoncello, so Kim and I walked around their tiny streets, ducking in every liquor shop we saw to try samples. After five or six stops, we each bought a bottle to take home. Just check out the size of those lemons (bottom right)!



The group reassembled and we bussed up the windy cliffside roads to our hotel. It was a quiet night; Sorrento was more of a stopover than an attraction, so we dined in the hotel. They had a delightful accidentally-vegan antipasto spread.



I filled my plate with peppers, potatoes, chickpeas, cornbread, eggplant, zucchini, grean beans, bread and oil, and more.



I built myself a tasty little grilled vegetable sandwich. There’s Brad and Greg in the background admiring my handiwork!



Overcompensation for my dietary requests seemed to be the rule in Italy—not that I minded! Here, I was given more unexpected pasta, a plate of wonderfully al dente penne with another great marinara sauce and fresh basil chiffonade.



They also had a mouthwateringly colorful fresh fruit buffet...



...and, of course, a dessert buffet. Who knew hotel food could be so good?



The next morning, we left early to visit Pompeii, another oft-read-about and much-looked-forward-to stop for me. We wandered the ancient streets, where you could still see homes, shops, marketplaces, fountains, mosaics, signs, columns, murals, and of course the famous brothels.



We viewed bodies (many were plaster casts, but some were real, with still-visible bones and teeth) of people (and one dog) frozen in time at the moments of their death when the volcanic ash rained down on the town. It was haunting as well as fascinating. Here’s me with the mighty Mount Vesuvius herself in the background. I didn’t intend to look so sinister here, heh.



After leaving Pompeii, we drove south to the port of Naples, where we boarded our overnight ferry to Greece. To be continued!