My cultural experience in Sorrento // 蘇連多遊記 - 我的一次文化體驗

• My friend’s wedding place at Villa Antiche Mura. 朋友的婚禮場地Villa Antiche Mura。

It was back in September when I travelled to Sorrento for my friend's wedding, a place that I would never think of going as a tourist. After all, it has been a good time and it was truly valuable to see a different (?) culture.

到蘇連多參加朋友的婚禮已經是去年九月的事了，要不是她，我從沒想過我會去意大利南部旅遊。總的而言，我在蘇連多渡過了幾天很放鬆的時間，也覺得這是一個很好的文化(?)體驗。

• The pilot used the in-flight announcement to introduce the view of Geneva through the flight window during the flight from London to Naples. 在倫敦到拿玻里的飛機上，機師透過機內廣播給乘客介紹日內瓦的鳥瞰景觀。

Why did I put a question mark after different? I would say, 90% of people I came across on street were English speaking, so in some ways it just felt like I was still in England when I walked around. And in the town I saw quite a few Wedding venues along the coast, but still, all guests were speaking British English! May I quote what my friend said, that what Sorrento means to British is like Okinawa to Hong Kong people? It seems they have both become a popular place for British / Hong Kongese to travel, relax and what’s in common, a very popular choice as a place for big days.

為什麼會寫文化(問號)體驗呢，那是因為，走在街上遇到的路人目測有90%都是英國人，這讓我有時候覺得自己還在英國好麼！而且在沿海走著的時候，還會路過很多婚禮場地，而裡面的人都是說英語的！套用我同行朋友的一句話，蘇連多對英國人來說大概就像沖繩對香港的意義一樣，是個適合隨意得空了就去閒逛、放鬆，還有就是，都是十分熱門旅遊結婚的地方。

• Beautiful coast // 美麗的沿海小風景

Another thing which was quite interesting to me is the tipping culture in Sorrento. Unlike England and other Asian cities which I usually stay, all restaurants / services do not include service charges in their bills. Some of the staff did kindly remind you to give some tips, but still I was very impressed with their services and was always happy to pay extra for the total bills.

另一個讓我覺得很有新奇的地方是這地方的小費文化。跟我經常生活的英國或亞洲城市不一樣，在蘇連多用餐或其他服務都不會在帳單上標明服務費。即使有部份餐廳的服務生會十分友善地提到小費，但這也無礙我對蘇連多每一個服務員(包括酒店的，甚至超市)的良好印象，也總是很樂意多給小費。

• Nice service even buying ham in supermarket (note the price for top-class Prama ham! 34.9eur per kg!). 在超市也能遇到的良好服務 (其實亮點是34.9歐元一公斤的Parma ham！)。

Another way of tipping is the tipping in person instead of adding to a bill, which I felt funny at the beginning as a Hong Kongese when I saw the guests shaking hands with the staff, thanking them for the service and at the same time passing the money gripped in hand - it just feels like the old classic Hong Kong movies in the 1980's which talked about offering bribes! 😂

除了在付帳是加上小費外，很多人還會對給個別服務員遞小費，而且形式非常有趣 --- 都是邊握手，邊寒暄 (像是說謝謝，或者說再見這樣的)，同時在握手的手心塞小費的 --- 這場面就很像80年代老舊電影中的行賄畫面了好嗎！😂

After all I did enjoy the atmosphere in Sorrento very much, and am planning to write a separate article to share my hotel report for the place we stayed, Grand Hotel de la Ville - with a very nice receptionist who knew that we were leaving the hotel at 7am before the hotel breakfast room opened, and offered us a packed breakfast – that was so sweet and we were surprised indeed.

總括來說，我很喜歡蘇連多的整體氣氛，另外還準備在下篇酒店報告吹一波我們待的酒店Grand Hotel de la Ville --- 酒店的接待知道我們要趕早上7點的車而等不到早餐開始時間，居然還想到了為我們提供外帶早餐，這真的是很讓人驚喜的貼心動作了。

Sorrento is good. If you haven’t been to there before, I believe you won't regret going there once. However, to me as a Hong Kongese, I don't think I will visit Sorrento again. It is a very small town where I could walk along the coast forth and back to view most nearly everything within one day. I do understand why I met so many British on street, it was a great and good value place to relax and rest, but seems not attractive if we need to travel all the way from Asia to Europe for such sights.

如果你沒去過蘇連多的話，我會跟你說，你不會後悔到那裡一趟的，即使我個人不打算再去了(大概除非又有朋友選擇在那結婚吧…) 蘇連多其實只是一個很小而漂亮的小鎮，一天到兩天的時間已經很足夠讓遊客逛幾圈。雖然我能理解英國人把蘇連多當定休閒渡假的好地方，但對我來說實在提不起勁再次山長水遠的飛到歐洲還山長水遠的去這個小鎮了。

• I have tried to recall but still can’t name any attraction in Sorrento, just that all architecture along the nice coast is arranged nicely. 我實在是有想過在Sorrento有什麼叫得出名字的景點，也是想不出來，大概蘇連多整個建築群配上海岸線就是賣點！

Oh right! I missed one thing! The lemon, the gold of Sorrento! Shops in Sorrento were full of lemon snacks and limoncello, also there is lemon garden. The other product is also alcohol, just that it is not exclusive in Sorrento, but along the South Italy – Aglianico, wine that is very full-bodied and nice.

寫完了都要按發送了才想起一個很重要的… 蘇連多可是有名的檸檬出產地，巷子兩邊的商店基本上全都是各式各樣的檸檬零食、檸檬香甜酒，還有檸檬莊園呢！另一個想到的還是酒，不過不是蘇連多獨有，而是意大利南部都有的紅酒Aglianico，以意大利南部氣候下產出的葡萄釀造出來的紅酒口感特厚，果味濃，十分有特色。

• Cheers!

A good memory to keep 😊

無論如何，我會把自己在蘇連多的經歷作為美好的回憶封存 😊

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