Day trip to Capri

The town of Capri is nestled on the ridge above the harbour.
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Today was Capri. We did not have high hopes based on the family’s last experience there. However, we were wrong and ended up having a great day. The boat ride over was entertaining, with some great swells and as we sat right up in the front of the boat, we got the most vertical movement. Kathy was wondering about the wisdom of her doughnut just before boarding and the crew were handing out white PLASTIC BAGS if anyone felt they needed one… However, I don’t think anyone used them and we arrived sufficiently early in Capri for the crowds to be bearable.

Nice coffee, lovely time...
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The first news was that due to the swell, the Blue Grotto was closed for the day. I was not too disappointed about this, as I was the only one who was going to go for this aspect of the day anyway and it was a lot of time and money for about 4 – 5 minutes in the grotto itself. I will save it for another trip. So, we took the funicular up to Capri town and then a bus to Anacapri, the other town on the island. Just as the Amalfi Road, this is steep, windy and in some places simply a notch cut into a sheer rock face.

Stunning views all around like this one from the top of the chair lift. I can recommend it.
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We enjoyed a lovely coffee at Anacapri before we spied the chair lift to the high point on the island and took it. What a great thing, when we saw the amazing views from the top. It was lovely and quiet up there and we soaked up the atmosphere and the sheer beauty of the place, before returning to Anacapri for an early lunch ahead of the hordes about to descend on every café in sight.

We visited an unusual “red house” that was an eclectic combination of every style and filled with quite nice paintings. I went on to see the local cathedral, which has a huge mural of Adam & Eve in the garden of Eden done in ceramic on the floor (which you don’t walk on). We wandered the back streets of Anacapri and enjoyed the old streets too narrow for cars, with houses from an earlier era, with sand mounds on the roof to make it cool in summer and warm in winter. Anacapri used to be a very proud and distinct village from Capri itself and is still quite different, with less of the tourist crowds venturing up there. The shores of the entire island itself are very steep and inhospitable except for the port that both Capri and Anacapri share.

We at least had a sit on this rocky attempt at a beach, but it is the best Capri has to offer.
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We also toured Capri and window shopped all the big brands you could ever imagine before returning to the port and the one “beach” there. It was super stoney and there was one guy there, who it appeared had one purpose and that was to show off his profile, so I thought you should see it. All in all, we enjoyed the day very much and returned to Sorrento happy that we had seen this famous and beautiful place, which is somewhat over-run by its own reputation, but you can see why even Roman Emperors loved it here.