Captivating Italy!

For this year’s summer holiday, I was going to take my daughter to Canada as it is somewhere we both desperately wanted to go to. However, an almost perfect house popped up on the market and we fell in love with it. So, our holiday budget was somewhat downscaled a bit and we headed off to Sorrento instead!

We chose the Grand Hotel Riviera for its proximity to the town – 10 minute stroll – and the fact that it was on the cliff side of the busy coastal road, but in a small side street. At the time of booking, we had the choice to pay an extra £800 or so for a side sea view room, but we decided not to.

Flights with Easyjet from Stansted, return private car transfers and an 8 night stay in the hotel on half board – we were ready to go!

The Italians have made some vast improvements on the journey from Naples to Sorrento with two tunnels – one of which is very long and very recent so the journey time was about an hour.

The Grand Hotel Riviera is in a lovely position right bang next to the luxury hotel Ambasciatori. It is beautiful inside in predominantly white with small accents of colours, and with a traditional twist in the old-fashioned staircases and lifts. We were shown to our room on the 1st floor and were delighted to see that our aspect was over the lovely olive groves to the side of the hotel and a distant view of Vesuvius! Everything was beautifully appointed and spotless.

I had pre-booked two trips during our week. The first one to celebrate my birthday was a boat trip over to Capri – a place I had longed to go and see for a long time! We were collected from our hotel and taken down to the harbour where we boarded the catamaran for the 20 minute journey across. Our guide Ugo (everywhere I go, you go) was brilliant and fast tracked us on to various transports to see the sights. Our first port of call was a journey up the hill to Anacapri which is just so picturesque. We had a few hours there so we had a quick lunch, and then Lily and I headed off for the 12 minute chair lift ride up to Monte Solaro. We wandered around enjoying the fantastic views over the small island. Back down in Anacapri, we wandered around the pretty shops, had an ice cream and then we wandered along to the Villa San Michele, home of the Swedish physician Axel Munthe who was famous for his love of animals and birds. Interesting artefacts, beautiful gardens and stunning views make this a place to visit.

Ugo then organised us transport back down to Capri Town which is less impressive – the rest of the group stayed here and wandered about, but Lily and I took the funicular down to the harbour and wandered along to the town beach for a lovely swim before re-joining the group for the ferry back to Sorrento. A great day out!

Our second day out was a small group tour to Pompeii and Herculaneum. Again a pick up from the hotel by minibus with a great guide and a good walk around Pompeii. The Italians have made massive improvements on the site since I was last there in the 1980’s. After lunch in a nearby restaurant, we headed off to Herculaneum. It is a much smaller site than Pompeii and cannot be excavated further due to its location bang in the town. We were about 20 minutes into our visit there, when my daughter collapsed! Around the corner pops Ugo and he summons help – interestingly they have no first aid centre there and the only help that arrived was a security guard who stood and watched. Fortunately, an amazing stranger (Paul from Halifax) stepped in and helped me half lift / half haul Lily who was drifting in and out of consciousness the mile back to the visitor’s centre where an ambulance was waiting. A quick check of her blood pressure showed 17 over something – not good – and her sugar levels were low – so various drips with various drip stuff – and 45 minutes later we were good to go in the minibus back to the hotel! Teenagers!!

The rest of the time we spent in and around the hotel – we wandered into town several times – Lily found an amazing make up shop – we looked at all the little touristy shops down the little lanes off the main square – but to be honest, it was really crowded in August.

The hotel has a lovely freshwater pool right on the cliff top – and also has a lift down to the bottom of the cliff where they have a bathing platform in the sea which creates a lovely sea water lagoon to swim in. Both pool areas had plenty of sun beds and a hut for towels and ice creams.

The food in the hotel was waiter service and really good – and all the staff we encountered were excellent. I can thoroughly recommend this property.

We had a lovely holiday in Italy – we loved the scenery, the trips we did, the food and the people. We will be back!