An early start this morning, met our group of 8 on the wharf for our gastronomic tour of Naples/Sorrento. From the outset we knew it would be a good day as our driver, Nuncio was most pleasant and accommodating particularly since I mentioned that I would like to meet up with Toni (niece) and Roger for a few minutes in Sorrento!
Our group consisted of a couple from Scotland, another from the US and a couple from Waikerie in SA. Our first stop was at an olive oil factory where we were taken across the road to a lone olive tree!!! But when I asked how big the plantation was she said 1500 acres so was some orchard!!! The picking season starts mid October so was too early for us to see the plant in operation but we did have an explanation of the process and got to taste as many as 35 different oils! Some were infused with orange,
lemon, garlic, rosemary, thyme, chilli, ginger, truffle, etc etc etc.
On then to the next stop, a mozarella cheese place. Must admit I thought we were going to a cheese factory but turns out it was a deli - a typical Italian deli, of course, with a couple of tables in the back room. Our host, Nello, was buzzing around, setting the table for the 8 of us, bringing wine and water to the table for starters. Remember, this was not lunch. He explained that he lived in Melbourne when he was younger but came back to Italy to marry. First he brought bread to the table, wonderful freshly baked crusty bread, followed by a massive plate of tomatoes, sliced and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil (remember we'd been to the olive oil place!!!!!) and basil. So fresh and delicious. We also had a plate of lettuce with sliced ham. Then he came to the table with the starter for the mozzarella and proceeded to make it in front of us. Next, a platter of salami was delivered along with some super freshly baked bread which he could barely slice as was too hot!!! We were pretty much stuffed by now as you can imagine.
So the next stop was, yes you've guessed, lunch. Fortunately we had about a half hour drive before arriving at the restaurant on the southern side of Sorrento. This was all a bit of fun as four people at a time donned aprons and worked with their own ball of dough to create a disc for their own pizza! But first we had to throw to each other, catch and throw back. We added toppings and they were cooked to perfection! The only problem was we could only eat a small portion because of Nello's genosity at the deli!!!!!
After several facetime calls and messages, I was finally able to let Toni know we would be in Sorrento by 2 pm - Nuncio really wanted us to meet up and very kindly gave us 30 minutes free time in Sorrento. He dropped us off in the town square right opposite the restaurant Fourno where Toni said they would be.
How lovely to be in a city in Italy and be able to meet up with relatives!!! Toni and Roger both looked very relaxed, as did their friends Dal & Dave and other than photographing and kissing every cat since leaving home (her words) I don't think they are missing anything!!
Back in the car we drove a bit before stopping at a Limoncello place for tastings. Then on towards Naples but not before stopping for gelato on the way!! This was all included in our tour and we all agreed it was such a fun day.
An early night after a light dinner as up early again tomorrow for a tour in Messina, Sicily.
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