Days 50–52: Sorrento and the crazy traffic

The next morning we drive on, and the drive to Sorrento is the absolute culture shock for us and above all for me as the driver. The normal traffic rules do not apply here and it takes me a while to understand how it works instead. Everything is in flow, like water in a river that keeps running even if you put a red traffic light into it – it simply flows around it. On top of that scooters everywhere, riding between the lanes and overtaking even with oncoming traffic. I drive as predictably as I can and without sudden movements, and in the end we arrive in one piece. The entrance to the campsite is then an adventure of its own, because it turns off sideways from a busy main road into a steeply falling almost hundred-and-eighty-degree hairpin, and from there down further bends.

A little luxury

We are at Camping International Nube d'Argento above the Marina Grande. There is not much choice here, because everything is extremely tight, and this site looks very nice. The pool is another tempting reason and Maddi is the first one in with Lavinia and Valentino. After fourteen nights of free camping these four nights cost us 187 euros and it is worth it to us. On the playground there is also a red scooter, one of those larger models with an electric motor that really do drive, although the motor on this one no longer works. The two of them are delighted anyway, and ever since Lavinia says at every scooter of that kind that this is the one she likes.

Pizza twice

Pizza they make to perfection here and we go out for it twice straight away. The second time we order two whole pizzas for Lavinia and Valentino for the first time, because it simply tastes too good to them – and one would not have been enough for the two of them any more. And the rest we gladly take with us and eat it the next day in the camper.

An hour on the water

On the last day we book a boat trip with a skipper through the Cooperativa Azzurra. We book one hour, because the other trips are all much longer and more would be too much with Lavinia and Valentino. We travel along the rocky coast, where a few grand villas look out over the water. There are weathered arches down at the waterline that belong to those villas, small coves and even a few caves. We go into one of them and so get our own small Blue Grotto moment (that trip would have taken all day). Then there is a stop for a swim, and Lavinia dares to jump in even though it is very deep there 🤩

In the evening we walk up to the Villa Comunale above the Marina Piccola and look out over the gulf from the terrace. Before we leave the next day I treat myself to one more espresso at the campsite bar. As with the pizza, they know how to do coffee here too, and it is the best espresso I have ever drunk. Then we move on, because between Naples and Rome we find no place that convinces us and at Civitavecchia we have an appointment, so four hundred kilometres lie ahead. The bends and the main road come round once more right at the start …and the crazy scooter riders too 😉