Return to Sorrento

We have just driven down the Amalfi coast and have checked into the hotel Bel Air in Sorrento. Our room in the view from it is indescribably beautiful. We can see for miles up the coast, Mount Vesuvius towers in the distance in the bay of Naples, and the city itself basks gracefully in the Mediterranean sun.

Like most of the places we have visited, the Greeks discovered the bay of Naples. They named their trading post on the coast Neapolis (new polis or new city). Gradually that name elided into Naples.

It is not difficult to see why this place is the home of the beautiful people. Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and Ralph Lauren all have homes here. Our hotel seems about a thousand feet above the sapphire blue water, and it has all of the amenities one could ever want. We just gathered for dinner with friends. I enjoyed a delicious dinner of ravioli and grilled vegetables. I finished it off with a bottle of the local red wine. It was as perfect a meal as I have ever enjoyed. I know why those who can afford to live here do so. The Amalfi coast is literally a paradise on earth.Read more