Bathing here is so civilised you could make it a pastime . Leonelli, established three generations ago, was recommended as the place to bathe - reason being - why people come from all over the Country to eat here!!!

So it's not just about throwing your towel on the sand and taking your chances with the elements? On arrival you hire a lettino and umbrella, park yourself comfortably in the midst of the ancient cliff face, dip in the ' if you have not experienced it, do so before you die' water , swimming with your lunch, so to speak. Yes this is how fresh the fruits of the sea are presented for our midday meal.

My choice was Linguini with baby octopus - Linguini polpettini - a very rich sauce cooked with tomatoes and black olives ( see photo ) How did they make the polpettini so tender? Don't know but they were fished this morning. This dish was mouth watering. Wash it down with a local vino Bianco and dip up the sauce with bread or was it cake with a very crunchy crust? Yum !

Loredana chooses spaghetti with a fish ( Riccioni a local white fish ) sauce, a much more delicate dish, cooked with an occasional baby tomato and lots of finely chopped parsley. You need to concentrate on eating seafood here down South, as this is what they do best.

In the background is the hum of people just enjoying themselves. It is so soothing. Punctuated with the concentrated shrieks of women competing in Buracco, the local card game . And oops - young Salvatore just cut his head on a rock..... No worries - lots of mammas to attend his wound.

After lunch return to the lettino for a Siesta, followed by more bathing, and eventually, saunter home through the tiny lanes which the ancients trod. This, dear reader is a day at the beach in Sorrento - almost surreal .......

[CUISINE ADAGIO] - Sorrento, bathing with the fish