LEMONADE, lemon beer, lemon cocktails, lemon tea, lemon cakes and, of course, that dangerously tasty liqueur, limoncello.
There is no escaping lemons on Italy’s Amalfi Coast.
They adorn tea towels, shirts, skirts, dresses, trousers, and bags galore.
Our base on Travelsphere’s eight-day tour of the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii and Capri was the charming, laid-back seaside village of Minori, at the excellent family-run 4* Hotel Villa Romana.
Just three miles and a glorious 15- minute boat ride from Amalfi itself, Minori is quieter and classier, with stylish and affordable restaurants and bars.
Surprisingly for a village of its size, Minori has an 18th-century neoclassical domed cathedral. Surrounded by lemon groves, of course.
One of my highlights was walking the Path of Lemons, which connects Minori to the larger neighbouring village of Maiori.
The trek takes around 90 minutes, with an initial climb up several hundred steps and a similar descent.
But the view of the village and sea is spectacular and worth every straining leg sinew.
The beauty of our schedule is that there is still plenty of free time for you to pursue your own holiday agenda.
You’ll get the chance to indulge at Minori’s sumptuous Sal De Riso patisserie or watch the famed limoncello being made at the Liquorificio Mansi Carlo.
Alternatively, stop by at one of Minori’s beachside bars and watch the tide roll in.
But the best place to see the Amalfi Coast is from the sea and the area is served by efficient, reasonably-priced ferry operators.
It is only from the clear blue waters that you fully appreciate the stunning coastline and its tumble-down towns with pastel-coloured houses perched precariously atop majestic cliffs.
Our first trip was to the historic town of Amalfi itself, dramatically set below those same cliffs.
On arrival at Amalfi, we had the freedom to see the town for ourselves.
The main square and its streets were packed with sightseers.
But climb a few steps up one of the alleyways and you will find peace and quiet and cheaper restaurants.
A lunch of cured meats and seafood, in cool stone surroundings behind a church, cost £21.50 a head with drinks.
By the time we had finished, the crowds had thinned out at Amalfi’s magnificent medieval cathedral, which holds the remains of St Andrew.
But there was no escaping the crowds at Capri, a gorgeous 90-minute boat trip from Minori.
The island has been home to the international jet set for decades and it’s not difficult to see why.
A walk down to the gardens of Capri Town was followed by a look, from outside anyway, at the amazing designer boutique shops.
A glass of fresh orange and lemon juice from a stall was a cheaper alternative to buying a designer Patek Philippe watch — and then it was time to get our minibus to Anacapri.
This village, with views of the Bay of Naples, is much quieter and more affordable than Capri Town.
We got the chairlift up to the highest point of the island, almost 1,800ft above sea level with a view to die for.
There are optional tour trips to the lively lemon-filled town of Sorrento and the gorgeous cliffside village of Positano.
Or you could take the 45-minute ferry from Minori to Salerno, a bustling coastal city where we had a superb fish lunch at Mama Rosa.
The undoubted gem of the tour was our visit to Pompeii, destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD.
The last agonies of victims frozen in time when they suffocated from poison gases are captured in plaster moulds created from their remains.
It is a powerful experience.
And yet the humanity of this once prosperous and thriving coastal Roman city, discovered in 1748, shines through from the haunting remains.
The municipal buildings, public baths, grand villas, lead pipe water system and amphitheatres paint a picture of an advanced society on which much of our own world today is based.
Our last scheduled trip was to the gorgeous medieval mountainside village of Ravello, with its cobbled streets lined with pottery and linen shops leading off the main square and 11th-century cathedral.
The journey up to the 1,200ft-high village involves navigating hairpin bends with sheer drops below.
It was not a drive I would have relished but in the expert hands of our driver I felt safer than being on the M25.
A delicious lunch followed at the Il Rifugio family-run restaurant in Tramonti, a 15-minute drive from Ravello up into the Lattari “Milk” Mountains — so-named because of the goats which graze there.
After taking in the spectacular view of the sea, and sampling local wines, we were then driven to a small local vineyard to see how it was produced.
All too soon it was time for the journey home from Naples Airport, with its abundance of lemon gifts and souvenirs.
Fortunately, you don’t get a hangover from vitamin C.
GO: AMALFI COAST
GETTING / STAYING THERE: Travelsphere’s eight-day escorted tour of the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii and Capri starts in Naples and visits Amalfi, Capri, Minori, Sorrento, Pompeii, Positano, Ravello and the Amalfi Hills.
Seven nights is from £1,699pp, including return flights from London, overseas transfers, seven nights’ half-board in a 4* hotel, select meals and a welcome drink as well as Travelsphere holiday director and specialist local guide.
See travelsphere.co.uk.