Not expecting much for the neighborhood adjacent to Pompei, we were pleased to find Hortus Garden Bar, a lovely respite from the heat and more expected nearby snack bars. The setting was idyllic, flowers and fruit artfully posed for ultimate adorableness (or IG).

In addition to counter gelato and table service for food and drinks, Hortus also sells the mammoth lemons known in the area. The generally large ones go for 7 EUR and the gargantuan ones for 20EUR! This didn’t seem exorbitant at the time, but after learning they go for around 3 EUR in the town center, well, one could easily feel bamboozled.

Tomatoes from Mont Vesuvius also adorned the restaurant making it feel very “volcano to table.”

Ahead of the tour, I opted for a coffee creme, which usually is a shot glass sized bit of frosty, coffee goodness. This was more of a milkshake size and while tasty, was just too much.

The better drink choice was the house squeezed lemon juice. Refreshing and not too tart, this was the pickup I needed.

Several hours later, back for lunch, we opted for pizzas with sidecars of lemon juice. While not the greatest pizza ever (something about the cheese quality), it was certainly just fine and made for a surprisingly nice lunch on the footsteps of Pompeii.