The Isle of Capri By Sun and Moonlight

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Geo: 40.5509, 14.2429

We are back on the move today. We caught a ferry boat early this morning to the Isle of Capri. It was just a 45 minute ride from Sorrento. The ride was very relaxing. We arrived in Marina Grande but this time on the island. Remember , Sorrento also had a Marina Grande. The marina was a busy spot since it's for commercial and tourist use. Right next to the port there was a beach where many people were already swimming at 8:30 a.m. There were many people snorkeling too. The beach had a small sandy area but many people were just swimming around the rocks not near the beach. The water was very clear.

We caught a bus to AnaCapri where our hotel is located. The bus just kept winding up this narrow road climbing a mountain. At times I couldn't look out the window because the edge of the cliff was right there. The road is really only wide enough for one vehicle at a time. The bus driver kept pulling into little areas in some spots to let cars go in the other direction. A couple of times he had to back up into one of these spaces to let someone by. It was scary at times. This was no regular bus. It seats only 11 people and has standing room for others. It's amazing how many people they cram into these small vehicles. We got off at our stop and walked the rest of the way. These roads were even narrower. They only had space for motorcycles or one passenger trucks on three wheels. It has a cab for the driver and a flatbed for carrying things.

Our hotel is in a country setting although you can walk to the city centre. There are a lot of narrow passageways with several climbs. After checking in, and getting the necessary info needed to travel around we set out for first sight. We caught a bus to Grotto Azzurra (Blue Grotto). By the looks of things I wasn't sure I wanted to do this. But it's one of the major attractions of this island so it had to be done. We descended several sets of stairs to a platform where we got into a small rowboat. There is a guide on board who does all the work. People sit on the floor of the boat and he takes you into a cave to see the blue water. It's very dark in there but the light shining in the mouth of the cave allows you to see the blueness of the water. It was very blue and beautiful!

When our ride ended we climbed back up those several sets of stairs. Seeing sights often gives you a good work out! Again we caught a bus and went into the village of Anacapri. We visited Piazza Vittoria and walked down the main street of via Orlandi. It had some shops and restaurants but on a smaller scale than Sorrento. We visited the church here which was very pretty inside. Remember yesterday I mentioned the bells chiming. Just as we sat down in this church they started to chime the noon hour. It was beautiful!

We stopped soon for a picnic lunch in a piazza which was very relaxing. We strolled the street for a while longer then stopped in Piazza Vittoria for a water break before heading back to the hotel. We met a man from Sarasota , Florida area who just loves it her e in Anacapri. He's been here three times because the beauty of the area keeps bringing him back.

Refreshed, we began the walk back to our hotel. Many of the businesses here are closed in the afternoon. They close at 1 o'clock and reopen later in the afternoon. I guess they need a rest too Even the children's park in the city center closes in the afternoon for a few hours.

Later in the day we walked to a spot that overlooks the Mediterranean. The views were wonderful. We attempted to go to Faro Punta Carena which is a good place, with a panoramic view to watch the sun set. That didn't happen. We waited for the bus for almost an hour and it never came. We were at the right stop because several people including another bus driver told us to wait for it where we were.

We couldn't wait any longer because we had dinner reservations at 8:30 and were to be picked up by the restaurant at a predetermined spot. After the driver picked us up and we were enroute to the restaurant we did get a glimpse of the setting sun. It lit up the sky in very beautiful shades of pink.

Dinner was very nice tonight. The restaurant was out in the country and couldn't be reached by foot or bus. It was on the side of a hill and the gardens out front were filled with colorful flowers and lemon trees. The lemons grown here are huge. We had a table by a large open window and right outside were the lemon trees.

Our dinner consisted of melon with proscuitto, tomatoe and fresh mozzerella, gnocchi, veal marsala, potatoes and sparkling white wine. It was just delicious.

The restaurant car then returned us to our hotel. By now it was quite dark and those narrow, winding streets had us worried. The other concern was that the streets near the hotel can't accomodate cars so the driver got as close as he could, set us in the right direction and was gone.
It's hard enough navigating around here in the day let alone in the dark. Although we did have almost half a moon to light the way. We had no problem and soon reached our hotel.

We started this morning before the sun rose and finally stopped when the moon was shining feeling very good about all we had seen and accomplished!

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Comments

[Kathy Nichols]

Don't even know what to say - the Blue Grotto is amazing!!