Sorrento, Italy: Hotel de la Ville in the Daylight

 We awoke on our first morning in Italy to see this beautiful sight - the Bay of Naples with Mount Vesuvius in the background. It was delightful and well worth the upgrade to the Deluxe Plus room. The trees in the foreground are lemon trees. Lemon trees are absolutely everywhere in this region.

 Stepping out onto the patio gave me this even better view of Mount Vesuvius. I can't quite describe the feeling I got from finally seeing that mountain, the one I had read about for so many years...the very mountain that erupted 2,000 years ago and completely covered Herculaneum and Pompeii

 Standing on the patio and turning right (east), this is the view. On the left just beyond the trees in the foreground is a soccer field, it looked like it was part of a school but we never checked to find out.

 Here is that house across the street in the daylight. Over the days, we noticed that they opened the front door in the morning and pretty much left it open all day. There would be a few visitors each morning, but not alot. We began to wonder if it was just shop for the surrounding lemon grove, though it did appear to have furniture in it.

 And here is the rest of the lemon grove. There were plenty of ripe lemons on the trees.

 Going downstairs for the free breakfast, we entered this room which was about half-full with Brits of all ages. Like us, they were wiping the sleep out of their eyes trying to jump-start their morning. The breakfast they serve here is without a doubt the best free hotel breakfast I have ever had. There were tables upon tables of food, including all sorts of meats and cheeses, desserts, breads, champagne, and a chef waiting to cook you an omelet however you wanted it. Top notch - I can't think of a way they could have done it better

 The next morning we ate on the outdoor patio, which was just as delightful as the indoor dining room. And equally full of Brits (they aren't invisible, I borrowed these photos from the hotel website).

 Another view I borrowed from their website.

 This photo was also on the hotel website and, if I'm not mistaken, it was taken from the very room we stayed in. Compare it to the first photo in this post, I think you'll agree.

 Here is what the front of Hotel de la Ville looks like in the daylight. I can't remember which day, but I snapped these pics on the way back to the room. The hotel is the creme colored building.

 Here is my wife in the blue top, hurrying back to the room probably to get off her feet for awhile (I set a fast pace when we are on vacation).

 Looking straight down from our balcony, there was motorcycle parking. Each of these bikes has a helmet stored under the seat, and this area fills up very fast each morning. That is something to note: this street had an abundance of buzzy motorcycles going by at all hours of the day and evening. There was a brief respite deep in the night, but it is worth mentioning. Not that I think any other hotel would have been much different - motorcycles are as common as flies in Italy.

 We spent this first full day in Italy at Herculaneum (details in my next post) and then returned to the room. This store, called New Life, was across the street when looking east from our patio. The next two pictures shows people heading home on the road after a long day. And the last: Mount Vesuvius ushering in the night.