Upon arriving at our hostel, we glanced up at the sign that read "Village Camping". Yes, we would be camping. Or very close to it. We were one step up from tents, miniature cabins. The eight of us would split up into three different cabins: 1) Me, Jenn, Kaleb 2) Melissa, Joanna, Katie 3) Jennifer and Shelley. Guided by the "English speaking" personnel, we arrived at each of our respected cabins...and laughed out loud. It looked exactly what I imagined it would look like for 9 euros a night. Each cabin was a small, bright green house on wheels. Ours included: one queen sized, one twin sized bed, cheap wood paneling, two electrical outlet, one window, and no air conditioning. Yes, there was no AC. *gasp* The eight of us put on our happy-go-lucky faces and just looked at the situation like a group of great stories waiting to unfold.
After setting our luggage (in my case, backpack) down in our very hot cabins, we made our way back to the entrance of the campgrounds and waited for another bus to come take us down the mountain and into town. The goal for the night was to explore the town of Sorrento and find a local place to have my celebratory birthday dinner. Once we made it down the mountain, we hopped of the city bus, picked a street that looked busy, and started walking. Every other store was full of Limoncello, where they gladly handed out free samples of their precious drink. From just the Limoncello drink to chocolate balls filled with Limoncello, it was very clear that Sorrento is famous for lemons and very proud of it. Many of their other stores were filled with shoes, leather bags, and other nice products. It was very relaxing to spend a few hours just strolling up and down cobblestone streets exploring the small shops. Around 6:30 or so, I began to get very hungry. Being the birthday girl, it was my choice for dinner. However, I had no idea where in the world to go and Jenn had looked up a place in her Rick Steve's book for dinner where they served seafood on the water. I love seafood, so it was decided. Jenn is sort of like our pack leader. With her Rick Steve's travel guide book always handy, she has places for us to visit and knows how to get to them. Within twenty minutes or so, we made it to our dinner place. (I forgot the name) It was a breathtaking view as the sun was setting and the weather was perfect.
The menu was small and didn't included the typical seafood that I am used to seeing. Examples are: catch of the day (sea bass), anchovies, fried mixed fish (no idea what kind), and fried calamari. I settled on the calamari for 10 euros. When my calamari arrived, most of it looked like onion rings. And...there were three miniature squids, tentacles and all. No sauce, no fries, just the calamari. I pushed the thought of what I was eating out of my mind, squirted some lemon juice across my plate, and began eating my dinner. It really wasn't that bad once I stopped thinking about it, but there wasn't a whole lot of food and I was still hungry afterwards. Kaleb befriended a stray cat at dinner which he decided to call "Charles". He fed/threw him leftover calamari and gnocchi, some of which landed on Charles' back and caused quite the laugh at dinner. Around 10:00 or so we made our way back up the mountain to our campsite, this time by foot. Fireworks (someone probably told them it was my birthday) illuminated the night sky from a boat out in the harbor. Tomorrow we would take a boat tour to the island of Capri, but for now, it was time to get some shut eye in Cabin 17.
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