Ischia/Capri

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We took the boat from Naples to the Island of Ischia Wednesday afternoon. When we arrived at the Ischia Port Forio we were supposed to take a bus to our hostel but we couldn't find it. A taxi driver offered us 10 euro to take us to the hotel which was definitely a good pirce after the very complex route to get to the hotel. When we arrived two of the guys who run the hostel greeted us, checked us in, and took us to our room. We were very impressed with the hotel for how little we paid. For 20 euros per night per person we got a room to ourselves with a private bathroom, a pool, and a restaurant on site that served incredible food.

Craig's bug bites were still really bothering him so we decided to go to Capri the next day instead of to the thermal baths where we would be laying out in the sun all day. So, this morning we headed down to the port to pick up the boat to Capri. When we got off, we took the cable car to the twon of Capri, just at the top of the hill. From this point, we could see that Capri really was the paradise that we had heard about. It has beautiful mountains with lots of quaint hotels nestled in each corner. The streets are only wide enough to let one car down at a time and the views are incredible.

We sat down to have pizza (again) overlooking the bay. We saw the packed busses passing by to Capri's second town Anacapri. After lunch we joined the crowd and jumped on the bus to Anacapri. The bus trip took us up the mountain and around some curves that seemed near imposisble for a car to get around. When we arrived in Anacapri we found ourselves in a small town lined with expensive stores and more restaurants. From here we found the chair lift to Monte Solero. Monte Solero appeared to be the highest point on Capri. Each chair held one person and allowed a beautiful view on the way up. However, the views from the top were certainly the bets on the island. We were able to look at at each side of the island and take some amazing photos.

Rick Steeves reccomended walking down the mountain, so we foudn the trail and started the walk down. Fifty minutes later we arrived at the end of the trail and a side shopping street. We walked around a bit and then took the bus back to Capri. When we got to Capri town we walked over to the Augustus Gardens which overlooked the other side of the island. This appeared to be the rich part of the island as five huge yachts were docked below.

We made our way back to the center of town and got in the crazy line to take the cable car back down. Two old men almost got in a fight. Down at the bottom we got an ice cream, checked email, and then hopped on the boat back to Ischia.

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