Napoli/Capri

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Naples and Capri, Italy:

Note to self: DO NOT EVER GO BACK TO NAPLES! Talk about having the wrong idea, we were so wrong about Naples! We were expecting to get off the train and find a quaint beach town with trees, beaches, and blue water, and what we found were gypsies, homeless people, and trash! The weather was great, but the city was in terrible condition. (If you can call it a city!) There really was no city center, and not much to do there at all! But we figured that we couldn’t be entirely misinformed, so we were trying to give it a shot and make the best of it. Our first night in the city, we went to the Galleria Umberto near a place called Piazza Municipio that is supposedly fun for young people and has lots of good restaurants. We ate a great meal before we headed to a few different places that we were told to go to. We got in a taxi and headed to the first of 3 clubs that were recommended to us as the “hottest” clubs in the city, and some of the best in Italy. It was Friday night, so we were pretty exited to see what a Friday night in Naples would be like compared to LA or other cities, but when we pulled up outside of Club Chez Moi, it was closed! Unbelievable! But we had 2 more places on our list, so the taxi driver was very nice and was enjoying trying to speak a mixture of English, Spanish, and Italian to us, so he drove us to the next place, Club Smile. Closed again! Back in the taxi, and on to La Mela, the last of our list. Strike three. On a Friday night, all 3 of the best places in the city were closed, and the taxi driver, who was only about 25, was completely shocked himself. There was no explanation he could give, and we were dumbfounded. If a couple of tourists came to LA and found 3 of the best clubs to be closed on Friday night, it would have to be due to some catastrophic series of events, such as nuclear war. How could they all be closed on a Friday night??

But alas, we were not ready to give up. Park’s Frommer’s Guide, apparently the best Europe guide to have, recommended a few areas that had been good so far, so we decided to try it again. It had told us to go to the Galleria Umberto, which was a great place for lunch and dinner, and it was right on the money. So it said that a place called Piazza Bellini is where you want to go. When we stepped out of the taxi in the Piazza, it looked more like a drug den than anything that we wanted to be a part of. There was graffiti everywhere, and hundreds of 35-40 year-old-guys sitting on motorcycles in the small square. There were only about 4 or 5 bars and restaurants, and I couldn’t imagine that we were in the place that Frommer’s had told us was so good. But we checked the signs and asked the restaurants, and sure enough, we were in the right place. Well, more like the wrong place.

So unsuccessful, tired, and out about €30 each from taxis, we went back to the hotel. Our hotel was incredible though, which made it enjoyable to go back to. It is a brand new 4-star hotel that is made in a very clean, modern style. It is a refurbished 6-story apartment building that is probably at least 100 years old, most likely a lot more. The bed frames and the walls are all sleek wood-paneled with a contrast between a very dark brown wood and bright red walls and ceilings. There was a plasma tv on the wall, and the bathroom was a beautifully marble-tiled black and grey. (I have pictures.) They also had a restaurant on the top floor with a rooftop sitting area that was in the same style. This was definitely the nicest hotel we have stayed in, and we got a great deal on it because it is less than a month old. However, their internet access wasn’t set up yet, which was a real bummer because it would have given us wireless access in the hotel.

So the next day, we got up early and went to the Island of Capri, easily the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life. We left on the 10:30 ferry, and our round trip tickets cost us €28 each (almost $40), which was only a sign of what was to come. When we got to the island, the first thing we did was to get on another boat and take a tour around the island for about €13 each. The island is beautiful, and the water is so clear and blue it is even nicer than the Caribbean waters. There are no beaches though, it is mostly cliffs and large rocks, so the only beaches you will find are private beach clubs that will charge you to rent a chair or a cabana for the day, but we didn’t have time to sit out on the beach. In the water are huge boats and yachts all around the island, and there are some of the most beautiful houses as well in certain parts of the island. The tour was great to see all of these things from the water because you never would be able to see them all from the island itself.

Then our boat arrived at the Blue Grotto, a natural phenomenon where a small hole into a water-cave lights the water from underneath and creates a beautiful blue color in the water. So from our boat, we had to board a small rowboat, 4 at a time at another €10 euros a head, to go into the small hole into the Grotto. This was basically why everyone comes to Capri, and it really was incredible. There is nothing in the cave, you just have to look at the water, take pictures, and appreciate it all while the row man is singing to you. You are in and out in about 15 minutes, and then we were back on the boat. (All of these boats were rocking violently, I was lucky not to get sick but it definitely could have gone either way!)

After returning to the main harbor, we took the Finiculare (a small cable car) up the steep hill to the city of Capri. This is the picture perfect Capri you see in magazines and on tv, and the view was incredible. The city is so small with all kinds of little cafes and restaurants, and mixed among them is every designer store you could imagine and high-end jewelry retailers. Of course we were not there to shop, so we first wanted to go to the Hotel La Palma, which is owned by the Portalano family whom a cousin of my aunt just married into. (Did i get that right??) We figured they would be able to recommend a good place for us to eat and spend the rest of our day there before we had to leave on the last ferry off the island at 7pm. The concierge was incredibly nice, and they immediately took to Park and I once we explained to them our connection to the Portalanos. (Thanks Aunt Kit!) He gave us a map and sent us down the hill on the other side to a place called Marina Piccola, which literally means “small harbor.” There we found a great restaurant (albeit we paid for it) that overlooked the water and the small private beach in front of it. It was a beautiful view, and one of the best places I’ve ever eaten lunch anywhere!

We spent the afternoon in Marina Piccola, before taking an open air taxi back up to Capri where we spent the rest of our time just walking around and eating Gellato. The weather was great, and the island was beautiful. But as we had almost forgot, we would soon have to return to Naples…

When we finally got back to our hotel by about 9pm, we were exhausted from the sun and all of the walking, but our night had not even begun. When we walked up to our room door, we noticed that it hung open about 2 inches, and Park just pushed it wide open with no key or anything. ARE YOU SERIOUS?! The door would not even lock! We pulled it shut over and over again and just pushed it back open! We had been in Capri the entire day, and we returned to find our door wide open! And this is a 4-star hotel! We immediately searched through all of our things and checked the safe, and lucky for both us and the hotel, nothing was missing. This was a huge relief for us, but we could have been in a real mess. I guess if anything had been stolen, however, the Una Hotel Napoli would have sponsored a Price and Park shopping spree in Italy. We immediately demanded a new room, and they moved us to a room that they said was larger, but if it was it was impossible to tell. But at least our door actually locked, and by this time we were done with Naples. We went up to the restaurant and had a pretty decent meal, and we retired early so we could just get up and go in the morning. Never again.

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Photos

Capri
read it and weap

Galleria Umberto
Naples, a great kind of mall like structure with light coming in from the room and great places to eat and shop.

Fraglioli Rocks
Capri landmarks

Hotel La Palma
the lobby

Blue Grotto
amazing

Blue Grotto
amazing

Blue Grotto
amazing

Capri
amazing

Capri
the water around the island is this color blue