Capri - The Isle of Love

---

Capri is truly a romantic island just a short cruise from the Sorrento peninsula. Once again, the pictures below tell the story better than anything. This was the most crowded port we visited and we were told it was actually pretty early in the season and not bad at all. The scenery and the tour up the mountains in a convertible taxi and then the chairlift were really pretty spectacular. The shopping was crowded and we only had the patience to buy a couple of things, a linen shirt for me and some perfume from the perfumery where Liz Taylor used to buy her perfume before she had her own line (per Suzy Gershman, of course). Enjoy the pictures.

---

Photos

Our First View of Capri
We started off our day with a cruise around the island at 7:30 am. Both Kelly and I were up taking in the beauty of this tiny island of limestone rock.

Sail Boat in Capri
This was one of many scenic views on our morning cruise around the island. In the upper left of this picture is one of the many caves that dot the dolemite cliffs that fall right into the sea in many spots.

Kelly and the Marina Grande
This beautiful marina has been home to ships since the Stone Age first inhabited by the Phoenicians, then the Greeks before passing to Roman hands in 326 BC.

Breakfast on the Balinese Sunbeds
These sunbeds were fabulous and we enjoyed bacon, eggs and pancakes while we cruised around Capri. Breakfast was my favorite meal on the ship with eggs and omlets made to order and different fruit filled pancakes and french toast every day. Kelly really wanted some biscuits and gravy, but while the crew understood many languages, biscuits and gravy was not in the chef's vocabulary.

Little Guy Waving at You
I think this is a replica of something famous in Rome, but I wasn't paying attention to what the tour guide was saying. I thought it was one of the reknowned topless sunbathers.

Emerald Water
Kelly and I fell in love with the Mediterranean coast. This is a picture of emerald color water which is where the sea is more shallow.

Mediterranean Blue
Most of the time, the water was a gorgeous, deep blue as in this picture with the Mount Vesuvius in the background.

Mediterranean Coral
The orange color near the surface of the water in this grotto is coral. You could find exquisite jewelry made of this substance all over the coast and I was most pleased that Kelly was "just not in love with that Coral" and the color "just wasn't me". I think that may have helped us escape the crown of "most prolific shoppers on the cruise".

The Faraglioni
We actually cruised through the middle of these three rocks rising precipitously from the sea. They are known as the Faraglioni. Our cruise ship went between the two larger stones in the morning and then on our tour, "Discovering the Isle of Love" we rode through the arch which brings good luck if lovers kiss while going through. My luck was that Kelly didn't like the Coral.

My Favorite View of Capri
I took this shot from Anacapri, the second village of the island. The big bluff is where Tibereous, the Roman emporer during the time of Christ built a villa. The cliff is known as the Salto di Tiberio over which the crazed emporer is said to have flung his wife and other victims. You can see the SeaDream in the bottom left of this picture.

A Real Home in Capri
We rode a chairlift from Anacapri to the island's highest point, Monte Solaro which is 1932 feet above sea level. It gave a us a rather unique view of both upscale and normal homes in Capri. It's hard to imagine being comfortable with tourist riding over your house all day!

View of the Faraglioni from Mone Solaro
While this was a trip of indescribably beautiful views, I think Capri was my favorite from that standpoint. You can see the Faraglioni and can get a better view of where the SeaDream was able to fit through.

Tiberius' Wife's Last View
You had to read the previous captions to understand this one.

My Love in the City of Love

The Chairlift
Here's a colorful shot of Anacapri on the way down the chairlift.

The Famed Grotto Azzure
This was the most touristy thing we did. You line up in your transport boat in front of this little cave with a floating concession stand and a bunch of row boat drivers who take you through this small hole into a beautiful cave that was said to be Tiberious' swimming pool. They sing to you while you are in there and I took some video on the camera that was really pretty cool, but I don't think it will work on the blog.

The Blue Grotto from Outside
Believe it or not, we fit through that little hole all laying down in the boat with the driver pulling us through using a cable when the tide was at a low point. It was actually pretty scary.

Little Italian Shop Owner
Kelly thought this guy was cute, so she took a picture. We were buying some olives and olive oil, I think.