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Published: June 14th 2017
What a view!
Checking in at the Hotel Weber Ambassador. Turns out my cousins Mikey and Laura stayed at the same hotel for their honeymoon not too long ago!The Italian adventure continued on Sun when I met Shweta on Capri. She had booked us a very nice hotel called the Weber Ambassador down on the southern side of the island (Marina Piccolo). Capri (with the accent on the first part of the word not the second like the pants), is a fairly small island (1/2-1/3 the size of Ischia) with a TON of hills. The whole island really is a mountain with shops and houses built right into the sides. There are 4 main parts of the island (and a bunch of local houses etc in between): Marina Grande, where the port is; Capri city center where some really high end shops are; Anacapri which is much like Capri center; and Marina Piccolo which is mainly hotels and beach.
Speaking of beach, anywhere in the Mediterranean, at least this part, is a rocky pebble beach, mostly with volcanic debris. No soft sand here unless it's imported. Also the water is pretty cold. This is not the place to go for the beach, though the weather was amazing! 70s and sunny almost the whole time.
The hotel has a shuttle van right from the port, so it was
Relaxing Capri style
Killing time waiting for Shweta with a local beer. pretty easy getting there. And they weren't joking about the roads being narrow. I guess the area is known for it, and it's entertaining to watch if you have no stake in any damage to the car. They were actually quite good at it, and we only saw a side view mirror smack once. The streets are all zig zags because they're either going up or down a very steep mountain. At times (often) they would have to stop to let cars pass the other way because that section is too narrow for both ways at once. There are cute narrow stairs you can walk if so inclined, which cross the same road about 25 times haha. They actually weren't too steep in most parts, so it was doable.
The hotel, like most hotels there, is situated on the mountain face with a gorgeous view of the water. The really cool thing on the island is that it seems like there are no bad places to stay. They all have gorgeous views because of the tiered design. After a brief venture down to the beach, which involved a lot of stairs, I decided it was way too crowded and
Second course of relaxing
It took longer than anticipated (she had some trouble getting in) so I ordered the appetizer plate and some nice rose! Even better way to kill an afternoon. Still with a great view! rocky to be enjoyable. Capri is a very easy weekend destination from Italy - it almost touches Sorrento and there are a ton of ferries that go. It's also a super popular tourist destination in general, and we heard the most English than we had on the whole trip to that point.
Instead of the crowded uncomfortable beach, I hung by the gorgeous hotel lounging area, had a Peroni, and relaxed while waiting for Shweta. I had a nice view of the street below where I could watch the small shuttle buses try to navigate oncoming traffic for entertainment.
Once Shweta arrived that evening, we freshened up and headed to the hotel restaurant for dinner since our room included half board (breakfast and one other meal). It wasn't bad and again included many courses. The gnocchi was really good! After dinner both of us were pretty beat so we just called it a early night. There are apparently very nice clubs and "discoteques" in Capri city center, but I wasn't really that into them before, and the older I get, the less interested I am. Fortunately we're on the same page.
We slept well despite the beds
View from the hotel
In the background there are the faraglioni. and pillows being so firm it was like sleeping on the floor (which came back to haunt me a couple days later when my shoulders/neck was crazy sore). Our room, like most we had along the way, had 2 twin beds fully made but pushed together. There was actually a separate bedroom in the front that had ANOTHER bed - queen. Since the twin room was at the back near the balcony that's where we slept. And man what a view! If I really were there on my honeymoon, hanging out on that balcony would be awesome! But we had too much to do - we were on a schedule!
Breakfast at the hotel was a huge buffet, complete with pizza. And zeppeles. And prosecco. All of that happened. We were meeting up with Paula for the day - she was taking the one ferry over from Ischia. We hopped the hotel shuttle back to the port (even though we weren't supposed to, apparently it's only for check in and out) and made it just in time to have gelato while waiting for Paula. One of many 😊
When she got in we went straight to the line
That's the beach
It might look nice, but close up it's all rocks, super crowded, cold water, and lots of sea debris floating there (which grosses me out). Looks way better from here :) for one of the more well-known tour companies for a boat tour around the island. It was very nice with a few exceptions. It was supposed to be 12 people- was more like 40 (did we get on the wrong boat?) At least a few of them were super obnoxious Italians with no manners. And Shweta got seasick. We were supposed to be able to go into the blue grotto (probably the most famous thing there), but because it was gorgeous and noon, and high tide, there was a 2 hour wait. We waited a little (which is when Shweta started feeling bad) then the captain threw in the towel and we pushed on.
During our tour of the island though we saw the white and green grottos. Cool, but would've been way cooler if we could actually swim in them. Maybe for next time either a private boat tour, or this cool-sounding 7 hour kayak tour that Shweta found. If only we had one more day there! We also saw the number 1 rated site on trip advisor - I faraglioni, which we can also see from our hotel, so it's not that special. Supposedly there's some good
The med
Just gorgeous views from the hotel! luck if you kiss your love while going through the tunnel, but this loses its allure if you're traveling without a significant other.
After the tour we stood in line for the bus, which is often a long line and very crowded. Instead of that wonderful experience (we were next in line before it was full) we struck up conversation with the people behind us and all shared a cab instead. They were from Raleigh! They went off to lunch in Anacapri while we went to the chair lift.
I didn't get to see the blue grotto, but of all the things we did do in Capri, the chair lift to Mount Solaro was my favorite. It's a 13min ski lift kind of ride all the way up the mountain. It goes over people's houses and gardens, and had a gorgeous view over the city, and eventually the whole island! Swinging up there in the gorgeous weather, gently swaying in the sun, with total silence except the birds in the trees. Idyllic. At the top there's a little bar, but more importantly amazing views!
There's an option to hike up or down. Paula and I rode back
The balcony
So cute! Perfect for honeymooners.. down, but Shweta decided to run down fast enough to try to meet us, which turned out to maybe not be the best on vacation since she couldn't do any stairs for the rest of the trip haha. But she got a good workout in! She said it was pretty rough terrain with tons of small rocks making it challenging to navigate. Maybe not bad with hiking gear and a more leisurely pace, but we amazingly got down at the same time!
We walked through Anacapri after and stopped at a super cute tiny pizza stand for a bite. I could never get tired of the food! Paula had to catch her ferry back so we ate and walked checking out the town as we went. A sprinkling of tourist shops, many cafes, and a few regular stores. Many people just lounging outside in the cafes. That seems to be the most popular thing to do, which is maybe why there are so many cafes and restaurants everywhere.
We were walking in search of the bus, but after again seeing the long line and being on a schedule, we snagged a cab instead. Another scenic and very narrow
Breakfast pizza!
It's always the right time for pizza in Italy. I think it's probably because of the Americans (all tourists?) that pizza is all over the place there, but I'm not complaining! Pop a little fresh mozzarella on top and it's a phenomenal breakfast! road drive down to the port. We said goodbye to Paula, and got some gelato and tickets for the funiculare. It's a good thing the gelato scoops were small, because we tried many flavors over the course of the trip.
The funiculare connects the port with Capri city center, for the same price as the bus- 1.80 Euros. And spectacular views! Capri city center has even more little tourist shops, cafes, restaurants, and a ton of upscale stores. I'm not usually one for shopping there (I don't know one expensive label from another) but hanging out with someone who does is a good way to learn. I bought my first very expensive purse and sunglasses, with no regrets, and made me happy 😊 The only thing I regret is not having time to stop at customs for the VAT return on the way home, but that's a story for the next blog.
We walked most of the middle of the island from there. There were some other recommended activities, but most of them were views so we skipped since nothing would top Mt Solaro. Our last stop on the "must see" tour was the Augustus Gardens. It's flanked
Breakfast bruschetta
Seriously. Amazing breakfast buffet at the hotel! Complete with espresso, mimosas, and pastries. by a highly recommended scenic walk, which was closed. For 4 years. For no reason. So we paid the 1 Euro entrance fee to the gardens, climbed the few steps, and were rewarded with a tiny park sky the size of a large backyard. It was cute and had a nice view, but way out of the way. Not recommended. But it was a nice day out for a long walk!
On the way back to the hotel we passed a couple of stray kittens. I lingered for a while and got my kitten fix. Poor babies had colds :/ The interesting thing about a small island is almost no one had their dog on a leash, either in Ischia or Capri.
For dinner we headed back to our free half board at the hotel. The food there was so so, but not bad for free 😊 And you can never have too much pasta. But we were getting pretty tired of seafood by then, so double pasta course it was. We also slipped some goodies to the stray friendly kitty who was visiting the tables.
The next morning I was planning to go straight to the
blue grotto before leaving the island to finish off my Capri list. However, when we woke up it was cool and overcast. During breakfast it started sprinkling. And there went my blue grotto plans. It probably would've been ok, but I think one of the things that mages it special is the sun shining into the grotto, which wouldn't have happened. Also it was hard to get in with good weather, I can only imagine in choppier water. The grotto is a cave with a fairly small opening, so you have to pay these little row boats to take you in. It's such a small opening that you have to wait for the waves to calm before you can rush in, otherwise the water obscures the opening. Crazy! You're not allowed to swim there anymore, supposedly because a Japanese tourist hit his head on the rocks and died. Sounds like an urban legend to me.
So instead of packing in one last Capri adventure before heading to Sorrento, we had a leisurely breakfast, and just planned to relax. My favorite breakfast moment was when I put our dishes on the table next to us and a HUGE seagull hopped
Dinner in Capri
So light so late! Which is odd since it's the same latitude as NYC. through the fishing twine barrier and just went to town on leftovers. He managed to snap up a lot in the 5 seconds or less before the waiter rushed over to shoo him, then he hopped back through the fishing twine barrier like a ninja. Really impressive to watch!
After breakfast we hung out in the hot tub in the rain for a while. We probably would've stayed longer but it really wasn't that hot. So a little earlier than planned, we gathered our things and took the shuttle back to the port (which it turns out wasn't free, but still cheap), had one more gelato and pizza, and boarded the ferry to Sorrento.
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Aunt Mad
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Loving it!
When U Mike & I took our Grecian Isle cruise last year, the last port was Naples & we had booked an all-day shore excursion to Capri. Sadly, U Mike got sick (bronchitis that eventually turned into pneumonia after we got back home), so we couldn't go. Luckily, we had already been to Capri several years earlier, so we weren't TOTALLY devastated. But your blog & pictures are letting me visit vicariously -- just like I did when Mike & Laura posted their honeymoon pictures almost 2 years ago. So lovely!!