Italy

Monday, October 9, 2023

Going to Sorrento Italy - Travel Guide

SORRENTO

Looking to VESUVIO

From SORRENTO

MARINA GRANDE

SORRENTO

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BAR FAUNO

The CENTER of SORRENTO

Close to Corso Italia, stop at Fauno Bar after shopping. Having coffee is an obligatory part of Italian culture and no trip to Sorrento would be complete without it. Have your coffee al banco (coffee at the counter) as Italians do, or get a table overlooking Piazza Tasso. This way, you’ll enjoy the theatrical passing of Vespas (the traditional Italian motorcycle) or people-watching.

Fauno bar is great for a post-shopping energy boost, as it serves artisanal ice creams and local patisserie. Try the Sfogliatella, the classic Neapolitan puff pastry filled with whipped cream. Don’t expect the waiter to engage in conversation with you as this is the most popular café in town. Nevertheless, it’s a great place to stop and you’ll feel right at the heart of Sorrento’s world.

Address: Piazza Torquato Tasso 13, Sorrento

Read More About BAR FAUNO & SORRENTO - Positano The Amalfi Coast Travel Guide - Cookbook 0n Amazon

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Michael The FISHERMAN

KISSES a BABY'S FOOT

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MARINA GRANDE, SORRENTO

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Hotel Bellevue Syrene

Sorrento

TERRAZZO RESTAURANT

HOTEL BELLEVUE SYRENE .... Piazza della Vittoria 6, Sorrento, Italy

This property is 1 minute walk from the beach. Offering panoramic views across the Gulf of Naples, Bellevue Syrene is an elegant choice for your stay in Sorrento. It offers an outdoor swimming pool and free Wi-Fi throughout.

This 18th-century villa combines classic architecture with modern design. Each room is air conditioned and features a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Rooms also come with satellite TV, a mini-bar and a private bathroom with a hairdryer and free toiletries.

Hotel Bellevue Syrene serves only the highest quality cuisine from the Campania region in its 2 restaurants, 1 of which with a sea-view terrace.

The hotel includes a private sunbathing deck and a lounge bar with live piano music. Drinks and snacks are free in the club lounge between the hours of 10:00 and 20:00.

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Bellevue Syrene

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SORRENTO

The GRAN HOTEL EXCELSIOR

SORRENTO

STAY in The HEART of SORRENTO

This property is a 6-minute walk from the beach. On a rock overlooking the Bay of Naples, the Vittoria includes 3 historic buildings set in a private Mediterranean park. The property's entrance is in Sorrento’s main square. A elevator links directly to the harbor.

Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria's La Serra spa is complete with hot tubs and massage rooms. The outdoor Swimming Pool with hydromassage area is set on a sun terrace with free parasols, sun beds and deck chairs. With elegant parquet or tiled floors, all rooms come with free Wi-Fi, air conditioning, and flat-screen TV with satellite channels. Some rooms offer a balcony overlooking the bay, or the beautiful Mediterranean gardens. There are several top-quality restaurants on site, and an elegant bar with sea views. Entertainment and live music are organized regularly. Breakfast is a varied sweet and savory buffet.

Private parking with valet service is available on site. A pick up service from Napoli Train Station is available on request.

This is our guests' favorite part of Sorrento, according to independent reviews.

GRAND HOTEL ESCELSIOR .. Via Tass0 34, Sorrento ITALY

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The MOST LUXURIOUS ADDRESS in SORRENTO

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IL PARRUCCHIANO

Sorrento is all about lemon gardens. I can hardly think of anything better than relaxing in the shade of fragrant lemon trees. If you’re looking for a truly traditional meal, go to Il Parrocchiano. Founded in 1860, this three-generation business claims to be the owner of the ancient pasta dish cannelloni.

This restaurant has an ancient tradition. In fact, the place was originally founded by Antonio Ercolano, a seminarian who learned to cook in the kitchen of the local archbishop’s palace. Later, he opened a tiny tavern called La Favorita. The tavern became popular over time and Antonino gained the name o Parrucchiano, parish priest in the Neapolitan dialect, for his previous spiritual vocation.

Today, the restaurant is managed by Enzo Manniello. Apart from delicious cannelloni, all traditional pasta recipes are great at this restaurant. Try a classic lasagna or the Gnocchi alla Sorrentina, which literally translates to “gnocchi cooked the Sorrento way,” for a taste of the Italian South.

Known for its spectacular patio and setting, this popular restaurant is busy on holidays and weekends. So, I suggest booking a table at Il Parrocchiano on a weekday. Go for a table on the patio to dine under fragrant lemon tree.

Monday, September 11, 2023

Venice Hemingways Favorite Hotel Hemingway

The GRAND CANAL

The GRITTI PALACE

The GITTI PALACE HOTEL

VENICE

The GRITTI PALACE

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Ernest Hemingway with Wife Martha Gellhorn

The GRITTI PALACE

VENICE, ITALY

Not only can I look down from Hemingway’s window, I can also sit in his chair."

Adrian Mourby in the newly unveiled Hemingway Suite at the Gritti Palace which reopened last month after an 18 month refurbishment.

Outside my window the men who punt the black traghetti back and forth joke while waiting for customers. The traghetto has crossed at this point for centuries. There are only a few places on the great serpentine coil of Venice’s Grand Canal that are still served by them, but when Hemingway, Somerset Maugham or John Ruskin wanted to get across the Grand Canal, these eminent men of English letters could just walk outside the Gritti Palace and step on board. It’s one of the many advantages of this sixteenth century brick palazzo that became a hotel in the nineteenth.

To commemorate these writers, the newly reopened Gritti Palace has named a suite after each.

Not only can I look down from Hemingway’s window, I can also sit in his chair. When the Gritti closed eighteen months ago for refurbishment, every item of furniture, every picture and Murano glass chandelier was labelled and stored, which is why I know that Papa Hemingway sat in this unremarkable low green chair. By the time Hem was staying at the Gritti he had grown corpulent, sitting here his belly would have rested low on his thighs. As I take his place, I can’t help wondering what he would have made of the new Gritti and the suite that bears his name. No doubt he would have found it all a bit over-decorated, and more to the taste of “Miss Mary”, his hard-faced fourth wife who is pictured on the wall opposite. She and Papa are standing on the terrace of the Gritti during one of her visits, circa 1949.

The HEMINGWAY SUITE

The GRITTI PALACE HOTEL

STAY in The HEMINGWAY SUITE

There is only one Gritti Palace, and there is only one true Hemingway's Suite.

Of course, as an avid Hemingway fan, I’m aware that when that black and white photo was taken Hem (left with Mary) was infuriating Miss Mary with a new infatuation. Ernest Hemingway was 50 and had recently fallen for a young Venetian artist, Countess Adriana Ivancich. She was only 19 and quite unaware of the strength of his feelings. Frustrated, Hemingway poured his passion into the worst he ever wrote, Across the River and into the Trees. The story is a thinly veiled fantasy in which an old American colonel, marked for death, is having a barely unconsummated affair with Renata, a young Venetian aristocrat. Hem wrote the book fuelled by crates of Valpolicella which he would buy from Harry’s bar round the corner. I feel rather sorry for the author, physically old before his time, staggering back to the Gritti at night or waking as light played on the surface of the Grand Canal, and taking a bottle of Valpolicella and the Herald Tribune to the lavatory with him, as Colonel Cantwell does.

A man needs toys. Big men need big toys.

When the book came out, it was a critical disaster. Worse Hemingway made the guilty mistake of dedicating his book of Adriana fantasies to Mary. No wonder she looks so tightly wound in that photo. Ironically the critical mauling that Hemingway received over Across the River and into the Trees spurred him to hit back with The Old Man and the Sea, which won him the Nobel Prize for Literature - though I’m sure Mary Hemingway would have had something to say about the fact that the cover illustration of that book was done by the young woman he fell in love with in Venice.

The HEMINGWAY SUITE

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Models of HEMINGWAYS BOATS

The HEMINGWAY SUITE

And finally: Rum with a view.

The bar in the author's former suite is well stocked ...

The HEMINGWAY SUITE

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In 1948, Hemingway stayed in Venice’s glamorous GRITTI PALACE Gritti Palace has also hosted other celebrated figures, like Peggy Guggenheim, Elizabeth Taylor, and Richard Burton, and is still known as one of Venice’s most alluring luxury hotels. Even when Hemingway was in Venice and not staying at Gritti Palace, he came often to dine and socialize.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY

Behind The BAR - HARRY'S BAR

VENICE, ITALY

At this time Hemingway began to frequent Harry's Bar and befriends the owner Giuseppe Cipriani, a warm local man who took much pride in his establishment. At Harry’s, Hemingway could observe and meet people, while eating, drinking, and writing in style at his table in the corner. Although Hemingway was Harry’s Bar most celebrated guest, perhaps because he went so frequently, it is also known for entertaining famous creative characters like Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Truman Capote, Orson Welles, and Woody Allen. The owner, Ciprani invented the ‘Bellini,’ a light, sparkling cocktail made with Prosecco and fresh white peaches, which is still served at Harry’s Bar. Hemingway was partial to Harry’s Montgomery cocktail, which was made with gin and a touch of vermouth, as well as Venice’s divine wines.

Seduced by Venice’s excellent wine and food, Hemingway soon craved more solitude and invigorating stimulation to write, so he moved to the Venetian island of Torcello. On Torcello, Hemingway had the chance to hole himself away to write. He also was able to engage in more active, adventurous pursuits, like jetting across the Grand Canal, and hunting game with his Venetian friends. On this tiny island, Hemingway wrote another novel, Across the River and into the Trees.